Less Than Half of the Teams Pay Their Way Out of the Gate Receipts London, Dec. 10.
UNNING a big football team can be one of the easiest ways of losing money a benevolent director can find. There is little doubt that there is almost nothing to touch professional football for financial uncertainty.
How many clubs pay their way out of the income from ception in cup ties is the final, which can be relied on to bring in £5,000. lo money, from home anà away matches? The answer is, Jess than half, and of those who do manage to get through the season without sustaining a Joss there are few who do it by a margiñ of any considerable size. Perhaps half of those who do get along without reaching financial straits pay a divi" dend, and then it is limited by tule to 7% per tent. The man who puts his money into football knows that he may lose it and even if his highest hopes are realized he cannot make more than 7% per cent. on his capital By contrast in other sports there are fortunes to be made, in greyhound racing, for instance.
Few clubs could carry on but for ihe generosity of directors who dip @eep into their poeRets to support the sport they love. Pulham have been able to secure their ground, for example, because a business man, Mr. John Dean, has advanced £25,000, Mr. J. Gibson, another busines man, has helped Manchester United with £20,000, and at Charlton the brothers Gliksten have financed the club with £80000 m five years. Eventually the èb will become the owners of the freehold of the ground. These are merely instances of a spirit that pervades the football world. From First Division to minor league there are men Who are ready to serve their clubs with their work und with their money, with only the suet chaute of receiving any financial reward.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.