Cod Almighty | Diary
The doors of perception
21 February 2025
Your A46 Diary has been reading an article in the Times about a tax relief avoidance scheme that clubs in the top divisions of football, rugby and cricket have been able to take advantage of. The government offers tax relief on research and development, a sensible idea that allows companies to make advances without worrying unduly about whether or not they can keep their cashflow healthy. It provides a further national bonus of encouraging scientific and technical developments that will help us all in the long run.
Nottingham Forest have benefited by hundreds of thousands of pounds, Harlequins FC and Dundee United have both avoided £1.3m and Chelsea £2.3m. The total tax relief for sports clubs between 2020 and 2023 is £13m. A drop in the ocean for clubs like Chelsea whose wage bill in the 22/23 financial year was £326m, and the Premier League's current TV deal - £12.25 billion over three years – makes £13m appear less than insignificant.
That insignificance is perhaps an automatic reaction for many. In a recent interview Kieran Green said that playing against Brighton was "a different game," and that is as true off the field as it is on it. They remain able to play by their own rules - or at least have their own unique opportunities to bend the rules – from their Mount Olympus while we, the mortals, are punished for any displays of hubris (how's it going, Luton Town?). The numbers are astronomical, unimaginable, brain-freezingly befuddling, so it feels only natural that we ignore them, maybe get a little bit bitter sometimes, but on the whole, we can't help but place them on that pedestal, that ingrained British deference that they are our betters and so must operate on different rules to us. That's still Manchester City's problem, and to a lesser extent Chelsea's: they're not really part of the elite, they're new money, somehow undeserving of the riches they have, so we can all agree that they're upstarts, interlopers, not part of that set we feel are our betters.
That's a generational thing, of course, and I'm sure there will be some reading this, those under 35, who will question the idea that Chelsea do not have a divine right to their success. Those under 25 may say the same about City.
We come back again to perception: once we place a monetary value on a thing, then it leaves the court of moral and ethical opinion; its value is set and therefore judged only by that, and the possession of that value is in itself a thing outside of morality. Sport copies the society it serves, and in our society the wealthy operate according to their own rules, and if you happen to be wealthy and part of the accepted elite, then the sky's the limit for freedom of behaviour. In 2016 the Duke of Westminster avoided inheritance tax after receiving his father's £9billion fortune, Donald Trump claimed during a 2016 presidential debate that avoiding tax "makes me smart". Neither man had any serious censure, despite vocal complaints from some and plenty of debate on the issue in the mainstream media. Ultimately, we shrug and assume there must be a reason for the benefits enjoyed by these people.
The more sport, particularly elite football, is measured by these definite terms, the more we distance ourselves from any moral measurements. £13m in tax avoidance? Doesn't sound so serious, in fact, it's nothing to them, barely a headline in today's multi-billion pound deals, so why is anybody bothered? How will it affect us? We've been warned and warned and yet here we are, still standing. It will never be us, right?
How have the elite clubs justified this avoidance? How have they proved their developments in science and technology for the benefit of all? They have declined to comment. As is their right.
In the mortal realm of the financial shallows, Town take on Fleetwood tomorrow. Artell has revealed that Geezer has a visa but won't be involved for a while yet due to lack of match fitness. He also told us of Vernam's season-ending thigh injury and told us everyone's devastated for him. I second that and to echo yesterday's Guest Diary, Vernam is the kind of player that can be enjoyed across generations, uniting grandparents, parents and children in the simple pleasure of powerful running and long-range shooting. He's the kind of player who creates memories. And from a more pragmatic point of view, CV is arguably our most potent attacking player and without him we have struggled to break the opposition down.
Still, as we've so often been able to say recently, things are looking up, things are even looking good; we're far from a one man team and tomorrow we have the chance to win our fourth game in a row. It'll be tough; Artell tells us that Fleetwood's performance on Tuesday night against Wimbledon was the best he's seen this season, but we're seven points and five goals better than them, so we'll be expecting a win tomorrow. Expectation. Not looking over our shoulders. They're strange feelings, and ones that I'm not yet fully comfortable with. I guess I'll have to settle myself with the best feeling of all: we get to watch that delightful little dancer Svanthorsson again. The money and the rules and the opportunities to bend those rules may be different but the excitement's just the same.