I think the gap between the big clubs and smaller clubs will widen even further. The days of the likes of Bolton, Wigan, Blackburn or even Newcastle spraying millions at rising foreign stars every summer are probably over. Meanwhile, those in with a chance of regularly occupying the European places at the top of the Premier League in the years to come - that'd be the "big four", plus Spurs, Villa and Manchester City - will probably stay pretty much as they are for a good while yet.

Globally, football is healthier than it's ever been. A telling stat: last year, for the first time ever, the Champions League final had higher TV ratings - and presumably generated more advertising revenue - than the Super Bowl.

these last 6 months have been absolute torture. A document in the press yesterday showed that our owners (a 'reputable' boxing promoter from Liverpool...) have amassed an astounding £703,000 of debt since June. This includes a £485,000 amount of 'directors loans'...

My lovely, 125 year old Club still does not have zero points in the Conference (we started on -25 because of the same owners financial mismanagement of last season. How can an owner who takes a club into administration to the tune of £5m buy the Club back for £100k???), and couldn't send a team to Forest Green last Tuesday as they hadn't paid any wages for 3 months. They also hadn't paid the bus company.

Peoples dreams and memories are tied up in football clubs, and they should never be stepped on. A rigorous fit and proper persons test should be passed prior to ANY person taking control of these cornerstones of our community. Maybe the government need to protect it's National Game TM. Self governance clearly isn't working.

Our club will be kicked out of the pyramid this week. This should not be allowed to happen. It is heartbreaking.

just have to look at the decline of Serie A in Italy. Italian football was at the top in the eighties and the bubble burst leading Juventus to take the most extreme steps to try and ensure their survival in the top flight. Stadiums there now are half empty and very few of the the top players ply their trade in Italy. Beckham at AC is an example as Beckham wouldn't get in the squad of any of the other Champions League top clubs. In England Sky hold the key, if they ever pull out the English clubs are in even bigger trouble but it feeds itself as Sky won't work without football so it's all down to public interest.
For me this is the most interesting of seasons, Palace, Portsmouth and their like are unfortunately inevitable but Liverpools current plight if they don't make 4th place will become worse maybe a Leeds Utd situation.
In answer to the original question, not yet but clubs lowereing their sights and furiously getting their houses in order with lower wages, administration if required will become more common place. Coventry's chairman was on Sky last night saying they have removed 40million of debt in the last 2 years and they are on schedule, they are currently in the bottom half of The Championship and for them that is success.

is a refrain we hear from time to time when discussing English football's ponderables but there's not the slightest suggestion they're going to do that. Which isn't to disagree with the basic notion that the professional game would be turned upside down if they did.

By the way, have there been any recorded instance of anyone failing the FA's "Fit and Proper Persons" test, because I can't think of any. Or would such failures be kept secret for fear of legal action?

we've been through a torrid few years that we're really only coming out of this season. Thankfully we look stable in League 1, and the 10 point deduction from administration has been overcome fairly quickly, and it finally looks like we have reached a point that we can start to build from.

I totally sympathise, it looked likely at one point less than a year ago that my club would be wound up....

I can see even further increasing gaps between the leagues, to the extent that you wonder if some clubs now actually welcome promotion to a higher division that they can't afford. Do you 'chase the dream' with potentially catastrophic financial consequences or be prudent with your budget and spend a season getting thrashed each week?

on the same day this week, avoiding winding up orders (Pompey, Southend and Cardiff). Doesn't bode well given what's already happened to Southampton and Palace.

A lot of teams have spent cash they have yet to earn, from big money games that may never take place. Seems that no one learned much from what happened to Leeds.

As soon as the Premier League was created, football as we knew changed forever. The money created caused a rift which helped destroy the (relatively) fair playing field. The Premiership has become the holy grail and although only three teams are lucky enough to be promoted to that pinnacle, there's far more than 3 clubs spending way beyond their means to obtain promotion. A close friend of mine for the first time didn't renew his season ticket this year after our star midfielder allegedly turned down £6000 a week (the most the club have ever offered) because he wanted £12000. This was the straw that broke the camels back for him. My club are currently fifth in the Championship, in the playoff positions and I genuinely don't know whether I would want us to get promotion. I have seen so many teams (Leeds U, Norwich, Southampton, Leicester, Nottingham Forest) in the Premiership, overspend and end up getting relegated two divisions. Relegation can be catastrophic, and I don't want my club to spend what we haven't got to reach hold of that poisoned chalice that is the Premier League.

Charlie, I honestly don't know. If we got promoted and our board didn't spend beyond their means...then yeah. My fear would be if somehow we managed to not get relegated in season 2, and start spending to become a top 10 side, and then get relegated. Then you have two seasons to remove all your highest earners before the parachute payments end. And then, with your best players gone, no parachute money, you have to stay in the Championship. It's not as easy as it looks.

Sullivan would not have touched it if the implications of rekegation were as catastrophic as he makes out. He leaves a trail of slime wherever he walks but he's no mug. He's trying to put the frighteners on one and all in order to justify the swingeing cuts that are coming.

Sullivan would NEVER buy into something where he would lose money. The I'm a fan story is garbage. He's a fan of money and, when West Ham move to the Olympic Stadium he will make his killing by selling up the Upton Park land. That's the only reason he's at West Ham, just as he was at Birmingham. Profit pure and simple.

If only the days of splashing out on expensive foreign stars were over for the likes of Blackburn.
Over the last 12 months we've forked out, I am led to believe, our highest-ever salaries to El Hadji Diouff and Michel Salgado, both fitful contributors if we're being kind, taken a South African lad from a Dutch club last July on 30 grand a week who played 15 minutes of a Carling Cup tie before being mercifully moved out in January.
We have a Dutch lad called Maceo Rigters who was signed by Mark Hughes after impressing in the 2008 Under-21 tournament or some such - he has another year to run on his contract and is understandably keen not to terminate his lucrative fiscal arrangements despite performing wretchedly on loan to both Barnsley and Norwich.
In the last days of the 2010 January window we signed a 34-year-old Turkish player from a German club who has played about 11 games in the last 4 years and a French/Algerian midfielder on a "free" from St Etienne
Our other close-season Sam Allardyce acquisitions, all on decent wages & presumably agent commissions if not costing huge fees were Stephen N'Zonzi, Lars Jacobsen, £6m misfit Nicola Kalinic and, on-loan, Franco Di Santo - as the more astute among you may have ascertained, not many traditional Lancastrian surnames there
The football this season, while not totally unsuccesful results-wise, has been utterly unwatchable sub-Stoke long throw hoofball bilge
Last week a lad who supported us was killed during some rowdy behaviour under the concourse at Stoke at half time and during the week a few of us, while not having witnessed the incident I must point out, were discussing a disturbing shift in behaviour patterns.
Among away support of late, there has been an increasing level of general boorishness, racist chanting, inter-town parochial baiting, and general dissension about the rubbish performances, leading to an unprecedented amount of folks arguing bitterly among themselves.
The main thrusts of the basic counter-arguements often run: "This is crap, Allardyce, play it on the deck and get a second striker on," "Shut up moaning and get behind the team," and "Eff off, I'll say what I want I've paid good money to watch these overpaid tossers" ... and so on
My chums and I were saying that when people are charged 50 quid or so for a ticket, mediocrity is not something they are prepared to accept
In some ways, we were all easier to please in the old 1980's Second Division era - waddling out of the local WMC at five to kick-off time, paying three quid cash at the gate - you almost expected, at that low cost, to be presented with a bag of crap and didn't complain too much when you were. A decent performance was almost a bonus and if it wasn't forthcoming, what was the opportunity cost? A couple more pints in the pub maybe.
These days what it costs to watch a Premier League game could get you a movie and a bite to eat, or tickets to see a jolly decent band/comedian
I would love the days of spraying millions at mediocre foreign players to be at an end but fear we may not be as close to that point as we would like

is directly related to HMRC taking a much harder line with Football clubs than has been the case in the past.
This is a result of the Football regulation that states all Football related debts should be paid in full before other creditors get a slice of the pie. Consequently, we have had situations like when Bradford collapsed, when the Revenue were left £2.5 million light whilst Benito Carbone had his £40K a week contract paid off in full.
Other examples, more recently, include Leeds who owed HMRC £7 mill but only had to pay 10% of that.
It is estimated HMRC have lost over £30 million from Football clubs going into administration and this has resulted in the new tougher attitude.
Can't say I blame them when the salaries have got so out of hand.

we're caught right in the middle of the dilemma we're discussing at the moment and as a fan it is very frustrating. From spending two years in the Premier League (which actually corrupted and soiled the Club I love, but that's another story...) we are now on the slide.

On one hand we are seeing a team stripped of all it's assets, it's best players sold off and being replaced by the odd journeyman and the rest of the squad filled in by youth team players.

Instead of spending money to get a high profile Manager such as Hoddle or Curbishley, they get in the ex-youth team Manager, as he is cheap, grateful and knows the young players already.
He is shit, way out of his depth and is sacked after 6 months with the team in the bottom three and looking likely to "do" a Leeds, Charlton, Southampton etc etc.

But then the Board are saying that it is important not to spend out of hand, keep things in check for the long-term future of the Club.
But here's the problem, as a reasonably sensible chap I can understand this and appreciate that I don't want the Club to end of going into administration. However, as a Fan, I am screaming at the cheap bastards on the Board for not spending my season ticket money, the transfer and parachute payment money on better players and suchlike!

because at the moment the taxpayer is effectively subsidising football clubs all the while they aren't paying what they owe. In these tough times, I'd rather HMRC pushed clubs into insolvency and collected even 10p on the £ rather than getting nowt at all.

Soccer should take a look at rugby. There was a plan to make the Championship (we've even followed soccer's naming conventions) all professional but there simply isn't the money to do it. My Club - Bedford - is 6th in the Championship and this makes us the 18th best club in England. But you can't be full time professional on gates of 2,500 and we cut our cloth to suit. We have a small core of full time pro's and the rest are semi-pro. Contracts are for 1 or 2 years (3 would be very exceptional) and that's the deal.

We've lost a few good young players to Premiership clubs in the last couple of seasons and we've picked up a few good older Premiership players who've been released by their clubs. Top salaries in the Premiership? Danny Cipriani is generally reckoned to be one of the best paid and on about £350k per year. There's also a salary cap: not per player but the amount a club can play in wages to its squad. How they divvy it up is up to them but it helps to ensure the top earners (in theory the best players) are spread over the entire Premiership and not all collected into 1 rich man's club.

There is a gradual realisation that the football club is going to the wall. No-one is going to come riding over the horizon waving wads of twenties, no matter what the CE says about advanced discussions with various putative owners. The Revenue will have their day, the first Big Club will cease to exist and lots of other clubs will soil their Umbros and start looking over their shoulders. As Archie says, it's going to be the thing which brings in a European League for the big-hitters whilst the rest will operate at a much more sensible level.

I can think of plenty of players in the Premier League who deserve a bit of belt tightening at neck level.

it's all Manchester United's fault. Everything.