You are a football industry analyst working for Hunter Inc, a private sports consultancy. You receive the following email from your Chief Executive, .

To: Football Finance Analyst

From: Dale Steven

Subject: Football Club Analysis

We have been asked by a client, who is interested in acquiring a football club, to investigate a potential acquisition on their behalf.

I would like you to pick a football club of your choice, which can be located anywhere in the world. Please prepare a report which:

(a) Analyses the financial performance, position and liquidity of the club based on the most recent financial statements, and
(b) Calculates a guide value of the club, using whatever valuation methods you consider appropriate.

If there are any significant issues or transactions that have arisen in respect of the club since the date of the last set of financial statements please explain how such events impact upon the club’s financial position and valuation.

If you think it is beneficial you can benchmark the results of your chosen club against industry averages or another football club.

Dale

REQUIREMENT:

Respond to the email by preparing a report of no more than 2,500 words.

1. Instructions

This coursework requires single submission of your report via Turnitin, which is a plagiarism and collusion detection system. If you do not submit to Turnitin your work will not be marked.

To submit via Turnitin, you go to the assessment area for the module on VITAL and you will find a link for the coursework. Click on View/Complete and then on the “submit” icon for the paper. You are then prompted to submit a title for the paper. Use the “browse” button to locate the file you want to submit, then click “submit”. You will then be asked to confirm that you want to submit by clicking the “Yes, submit” button.

Only your report should be submitted. Do not submit the relevant annual report. You should however provide a link to your financial statements. When referring to the financial statements, reference should be made to page numbers.

The maximum length of the report is 2,500 words. The standard management school penalties are applied for exceeding this word count. There is no acceptable margin above this limit.

This overall assignment will contribute 50% of the available marks on this module.

The university’s rules and penalties with respect to plagiarism apply to all assessed work. The work must be entirely your own. Referencing of sources of information used must be made in a bibliography, including detailed website addresses.

2. Guidance notes
Obtain a copy of the latest available published annual reports of a football club.

Your answer should be based on the information available in the club’s annual report, and any other relevant financial information (e.g. in the club’s website, share prices, media commentaries etc).

Careful selection of a suitable club plays an important part of this assignment. Information on clubs can be obtained from lots of places, including (but not restricted to);
• The club’s website
• Companies House https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/
• The Swiss Ramble http://swissramble.blogspot.co.uk/
• Deloitte https://www2.deloitte.com/global/en/pages/consumer-business/articles/deloitte-football-money-league.html
• Football Benchmark https://www.footballbenchmark.com/
• Football Economy http://www.footballeconomy.com/
• Financial Fair Play http://www.financialfairplay.co.uk/
• Price of Football http://priceoffootball.com/
• Also consider the likes of the Swiss Ramble, Price of Football etc on Twitter.

The report should assess performance, position and liquidity as separate propositions.

Explaining what has occurred (e.g. revenues have increased by 10%) is not enough. You should try to attempt to explain how changes have occurred, why changes happened, and when during the year. Also ask the so-what question – i.e. state possible consequences arising from any changes.

Try to understand the business strategy (e.g. read the business review, financial review or chief executive summary) not just crunch numbers.

Be imaginative. Do not just use textbook ratios. Think what is relevant to your club. (For example, revenue may have increased due to promotion, or a new TV deal). Football industry data may be relevant.

Use tables, graphs and diagrams to improve presentation marks.

When valuing the club, look at a variety of valuation methods (balance sheet, transactions comparables, DCF, Markham etc.) to get a range of values that you think are appropriate for the club.

A discussion board has been created on VITAL where you can post any questions that you may have regarding this assignment.?
Please refer to your students handbook for guidance on;
– Word counts
– Style and layout of assessment
– Marking descriptors
– Penalties for late submission of work
– Other ULMS coursework penalties