Roger Mitchell has left the Scottish Premier League, his departure mourned by just about nobody. Paul Hutton rushes to join the chorus of disapproval
It must be open season on football administrators. Just a couple of weeks after Adam Crozier took his leave from the FA, Roger Mitchell, chief executive of the Scottish Premier League, is handing in the keys to the company car.
The FA's permanent fixture, David Davies, has been left in charge of the shop again. Philip Cornwall reflects on a career that defies logical explanation
Amid the swirl of crisis at Soho Square, with the departures of Adam Crozier, Frank Pattison and Howard Wilkinson and the (so far false) rumours about Sven-Goran Eriksson, one man still stands. David Davies’s second term as acting chief executive of the Football Association, this time in joint control with Nic Coward, marks him down as a great survivor.
Stephen Wagg offers a revisionist view of Adam Crozier's time in charge at the Football Association
When Adam Crozier left his job as chief executive of the Football Association, I was intrigued by the language in which this was rendered by the football media. It seemed for all the world as if some tribune of the people, having heroically held the line against “commercialism” in the game, had now departed the stage. In his wake the fat cats of the Premier League would now continue to boost their own financial power at the expense of ordinary football folk. When one considers the circumstances of Crozier’s appointment and the key events of his comparatively short tenure at the FA, this seems more than a little absurd.
Down at the bottom of the First, something is stirring. Chris Eldergill reports on Steve Coppell's attempts to keep Brighton up with no visible means of support
When Steve Coppell took on his latest quest in management at Brighton & Hove Albion, there were more than a few eyebrows raised. Coppell was taking over a team that sat rock bottom of the First Division, having lost ten games in a row and still with no permanent home. Brighton were employing a man who had managed their greatest rivals, Crystal Palace, on and off for over a decade. Supporters even had a terrace chant dedicated to him.
Life is complicated at both ends of the First Division. Norwich's chief executive Neil Doncaster explains how the Canaries are trying to plan for all eventualities
How well off are Norwich compared to other clubs in the wake of ITV Digital?
We certainly weren’t the worst hit, but we weren’t the lightest hit either. There are a number of clubs in the First Division whose aspirations year-to-year are not necessarily promotion and who had not pushed the boat out quite so far in terms of player salaries. Our wage bill this season of £5.5 million was budgeted for on the basis that we would receive £2.5 million income from TV. Even receiving it we expected to make a loss of £2.5 million over the year, so when the ITV Digital situation arose, you’re then looking at a budgeted loss of £5 million – which is why we had to go down the route of the share offer very quickly over the summer.