Leicester City

Want to find out the potential reasons behind Leicester City's reported loss of £89.7m for the 2022-23 season?

The When You're Smiling podcast featuring Owynn, Pipes, Kieran Maguire and Iain Wright debates the potential consequences and reasoning behind the financial losses at King Power Stadium.

Listen to the latest episode on BBC Sounds here

We asked for your views after Leicester City published their latest accounts for the 2022-23 season.

The results came after the Foxes were charged by the Premier League for allegedly breaking financial regulations.

Here are some of your responses:

Nathan: Inept leadership from the top down. An invisible CEO and director of football, and total disconnect with the fans. Overpaid players who don't seem to care too much as long as they get their money. More in a week than most of us earn in a decade. A mess. Sailing blindly towards that iceberg.

Warren: How can this take more than a year, since they were relegated, to get a resolution on what LCFC's fine/points deduction is going to be? If they go up this season, surely that is unfair on other teams fighting for promotion and then they'll probably go down again due to a points deduction. It needs sorting before the season ends, surely?

Jon: What a shocking set of results. The writing was on the wall at least two years ago when it was obvious that a number of players would be out of contract simultaneously at the end of the 2022-23 season. Without either selling players at an appropriate distance from the expiry of their contract, or stopping recruitment, the club was in trouble.

Anthony: Leicester are going to get walloped with a points deduction. £89.7m loss despite £74.5m in sales.

Ben: It isn’t fair considering the big seven can spend lots of money and comfortably stay the right side of the line. Everton, Forest now us. They need to change the rules otherwise there is no chance of any other side threatening them and it makes it boring. Really unfair rule and needs changing.

Barry: I don't understand how Whelan or Rudkin still have jobs. Upmost incompetence and we deserve a stern points deduction. I don't know if I've ever been this disappointed in my club.

Leicester City have put their £89.7m loss down to three key issues.

First was the drop in Premier League prize money - falling from eighth to 18th in the table in the space of 12 months. That drop off resulted in the club's relegation from the top flight, but also a drop of around £30-35m in prize money revenue.

There's also the lack of European football, after the club failed to qualify the previous season. Plus, a clear message on the significant and "costly" price to move Brendan Rodgers and his backroom staff out of the club 12 months ago.

It is a jaw-dropping amount of cash for a football club to lose. It is the result of Leicester trying to bridge the gap to the Premier League's top six – and failing in their recruitment of personnel and performance on the pitch.

For me, what is most significant is the amount of money clearly being spent on wages. Despite a near £75m profit in player trading, they still find themselves the best part of £90m in the red.

The Foxes have become a club that are known for handing out generous contracts and looking after players and their agents. But, here we see how badly it has affected the financial state of the club – with a huge wage bill resulting in relegation rather than pushing them on.

• Send your views on the club's finances here

Leicester City have published their latest accounts for the 2022-23 season.

It comes after the Foxes were charged by the Premier League for allegedly breaking financial regulations.

The 2015-16 Premier League winners are currently third in the Championship - two points behind leaders Ipswich Town and one point behind Leeds United in second - as they continue to push for promotion back to the top flight.

How are you feeling, Foxes fans? Did you expect this outcome from the financial results?

And do you think this news will affect the end of the season?

Let us know your thoughts here

Former Leicester City winger Matt Piper has been discussing how important it was for the Foxes to get back to winning ways against Norwich City, after losing their lead at the top of the Championship table, on the latest When You're Smiling podcast.

Goals from Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Stephy Mavididi and Jamie Vardy saw Enzo Maresca's side come from behind to grab all three points and record just their second win in seven Championship matches.

"We were all feeling the pressure. I think Enzo [Maresca] was because it had got to that stage in the season where everything had been going really right for him," said Piper.

"He would have been so confident. We were 17 points clear at one point and that was the gap that we had. We were sort of reeled back in and then you couldn't even buy a win over these past couple of months.

"He is not an experienced manager but his players stepped up for him. I don't think it was a vintage performance, but they stepped up.

"They dug in, when the pressure was probably the highest it has been this season, and they got the job done.

"That was such an important win to hopefully change this flow that has happened over the past six or so weeks."

Piper also praised Dewsbury-Hall's performance against the Canaries: "Him getting into that inside-left position really caused Norwich a lot of problems. He had the confidence out there.

"He was front-footed, getting on the ball in certain areas and his passing was neat and tidy. He delivered a couple of wicked balls into the Norwich penalty area.

"He was the driving force and personality and that was important from him."

Listen to the full podcast on BBC Sounds

Leicester City were crucified on Good Friday. Our promotion hopes were resurrected on Easter Monday.

What a difference four days make and, to pinch a saying from north London, what a very 'Leicestery' weekend.

Perform badly against a team essentially playing for nothing and on paper we should beat.

Play a team off the park who are fighting to stay in the play-off places and were second going into this game on form for the past five played. Yes, Norwich City are not the best away from home, but you could say Leicester have been better away.

All these stats and form were turned on their head. Three points was the aim and the performance did not matter. But we got both.

After going 1-0 down I expected Norwich to come at us, but in fairness we controlled the game.

There is a lot going on around Leicester City at the moment, but perform like this for the rest of the season and Leeds United and Ipswich Town fans may be thinking they have celebrated our demise and downfall too soon.

As someone once said: "It's a funny old game."

Chris Forryan can be found at Leicester Till I Die, external

Image source, PA Media

The Championship resumes on Friday and with most teams having eight matches to play, the race for automatic promotion could hardly be closer.

Only one point separates leaders Leeds United, Leicester City and Ipswich Town, and while fourth-placed Southampton may be eight points adrift of third spot, they have games in hand on the sides above them.

Before Friday's match against Bristol City, Leicester supporter Amie Wilson told BBC Radio 5 Live: "I think everyone was expecting a blip - it just happens that Leicester's has come at the most crucial time.

"It was such a good start under the new manager with a completely different style of play and we were winning every game. The performances have still been there - it's just been that stuff is not going for us. I think the international break came at the perfect time for Leicester.

"Even with all of the off-field stuff [being charged by the Premier League for alleged breaches of financial rules], it's given the team the time to reset and go again for the last nine games."

Listen to live commentary of Bristol City v Leicester City from 12:30 GMT on BBC Radio Leicester

Image source, Getty Images

Leicester boss Enzo Maresca says his side's Championship promotion rivals will push them "until the end".

The Foxes go into Friday's trip to Bristol City second on goal difference behind Leeds, having played a game fewer than the Whites.

"Before, we were playing to win games and we continue that," Maresca said. "We have one game in hand. At the moment, the goal difference is for Leeds. Because of the amount of games in a short period, you don’t have time to look at the table. You just have to win games.

“I’ve been involved in football for 25 years - the mentality is not to win the league with 10 or 15 points more than second. I respect Leeds, I respect Southampton, I respect Ipswich.

"I know that until the end, they are going to be there with us. What they [players] have done is something incredible. Winning 19 of 23 in the first half of the season is something not normal.

"In Leeds' last 12 games they have won 11 and drawn one. Fantastic. They deserve to be where they are now. With us."

Since their last match, Leicester have been charged by the Premier League with alleged breaches of financial rules, but Maresca says it is his job to make sure any possible points deduction, if they are promoted, does not affect his players.

"It is also my duty to try to convince them of that [not to waste energy]," he added.

"Probably some of them didn’t even know about it. I have said many times, the noise is outside, not inside.

"Even thinking about when we lost games, there were many noises about that. But inside there is no noise. These things are normal, so the noise is outside."

Image source, Getty Images

Former Leicester City and Chelsea defender Robert Huth was one of the key names who stood out in the latest episode of BBC's Match of the Day: Top 10 podcast.

Ranking the best Germans to play in the Premier League, Alan Shearer and Micah Richards placed Huth third and seventh respectively.

"I played against him when he was at Chelsea, at the back end of my career," said Shearer.

"I had a bit of a set-to with him and he got up and he got me in the nuts."

"We love Robert Huth in Leicester," added Gary Lineker.

"I loved his quote when someone asked him, 'how can you win the Premier League with a back four of Danny Simpson, Robert Huth, Wes Morgan and Christian Fuchs' and he went, 'N'Golo Kante'."

Watch the full episode on BBC iPlayer or listen on BBC Sounds here

Image source, Getty Images

The Premier League appears desperate to destroy its position as the go-to league.

Who needs competition from Serie A and La Liga when you have overcomplicated, Byzantine financial rules? Just about every club is living in fear of making an accounting error that could lead to docked points.

Nottingham Forest suffered a four-point deduction from what was a technical breach, simply because they were trying to be competitive after years away from the top table.

Everton were dealt a heftier blow and there may be more to come.

Suddenly the lawyers feel the need to go after Leicester City, who aren't in the league but could face a knockout blow if they have the audacity to get promoted.

Manchester City and Chelsea fans must be quaking in case they are next to fall foul of the financial hit men.

The rules are overcomplicated and the implementation is bizarre.

It is perfectly possible we will not know who has been relegated until rulings have been challenged.

The game is being run by people who have no love or knowledge of the sport, specifically that the 'nuclear option' of points deductions should only ever be used in extraordinary, exceptional and unusual circumstances.

Pat Nevin was writing for the BBC Football Extra Newsletter

Former Leicester City captain Wes Morgan and ex-Leeds United goalkeeper Paul Robinson tell The Football News Show what will make the difference in the race for automatic promotion from the Championship and why the games against teams in the bottom half of the table could be more pivotal than those higher up.

Watch The Football News Show on BBC iPlayer

"We don't want too many Leicester Citys."

According to the Independent, external, this is what a senior official from a Premier League 'big six' club said back in February 2020.

If Leicester have breached Financial Fair Play or profit and sustainability rules then we will accept the punishment due to us.

But how can we be charged when we have not yet published our accounts for 2022-23 yet? We did not have to because we had been relegated. It is like failing your driving test before you have sat in the car.

Boss of the English Football League (EFL) Rick Parry was on national television on Sunday saying it is all about the clubs and the fans. But he was the man who helped plan the Premier League and negotiated its first TV rights deal - worth a then record £304m - back in 1992, which started all this mess.

And why is everything going on behind closed doors? What is so secret?

The Premier League has charged smaller clubs like Everton, Nottingham Forest and now Leicester. You are seemingly punished for having ambition. Who will be next?

The sooner we have the independent regulator in place the better.

The Premier League and EFL have a lot of questions to answer, but will they? Answers on a postcard.

What Leicester did in 2015-16 enabled all fans to dream, and maybe this legal action by the club, if successful, will make the process more transparent.

All I hope is that it galvanises the management, players and supporters to finish the job, and that we see a repeat of the Band Of Brothers attitude from that season.

We are stronger together.

Chris Forryan can be found at Leicester Till I Die, external

BBC Radio Leicester's Jack Rafferty is joined by former Foxes winger Matt Piper to discuss the club's response to their alleged breach of profitability and sustainability rules.

They are joined by sport finance expert Dr Dan Plumley who explains the club's legal proceedings against the Premier League and English Football League.

He said he did not expect a speedy resolution and that it was "unlikely" for the case to be resolved before the end of the season.

Listen to the When You're Smiling Podcast on BBC Sounds

Image source, Getty Images

Leicester City have issued two legal proceedings against the Premier League and English Football League, in response to the charge for allegedly breaking spending rules during their last three seasons in the top flight.

Leicester have been referred to an independent commission for breaching profit and sustainability rules (PSR) and failing to submit audited finances.

But the Foxes are also subject to a separate financial probe by the EFL. They are under transfer embargo as a result of the proceedings, as per EFL regulations.

In a statement, the EFL said: "Embargoes are intended to operate as a deterrent against clubs defaulting on financial obligations to clubs or players, and/or breaching other key relevant regulations."

Leicester say they have "disputed" this decision and called it "both restrictive and premature".

On the proceedings against the two organisations, Leicester said: "We reaffirm the club’s position that we will continue to fight for the right of Leicester City and all clubs to pursue their ambitions, particularly where these have been reasonably and fairly established through sustained sporting achievement."

We asked you for your feelings about Leicester's alleged breach of profit and sustainability rules and the prospect of a points deduction if found guilty.

Here are some of your responses:

Pete: It's a sorry state of affairs. They should also be looking at the top flight too. What baffles me is that in any other business in the real world, they would have gone under long ago. How is it possible to remain functional when constantly in debt?

Lee: Success and failure always come at a price - and I do not believe Leicester will be the last club to fall foul of these regulations!

Pat: Absolute joke. Financial fair play will be the death of football. No consistency anymore in football as it only services the rich clubs. Probably why most people are drifting away from football.

Rob: I am a Leicester fan, but rules are rules. If you break them, it is cheating. If you cheat, you should expect a points deduction. I believe any club that cheats should be automatically relegated. Vichai would not have allowed this to happen

Jamie: They're not the first, and they won't be the last. Expect to see many more clubs to fall foul of the rules, which seem to be designed to maintain the "top six" status quo as much as protect clubs from financial meltdown. We're having a great season and have a good shot at promotion. We just need to focus on ourselves.

Andy: Surely this is just down to poor business management because the rules are black and white? Spending over the odds on wages; declining offers for players we don't need.,Even signing Tom Cannon without offloading Patson Daka or Kelechi Iheanacho when we play with one striker. Who signs the cheques? I'd like to hear an explanation!

Chris: It feels a bit like the rules are designed to hit clubs coming up, and those trying to push on after some success harder than anyone else. But the fact remains we were one of the clubs who passed the rules. So in my mind, breaking them, still getting relegated and then apparently breaking them this season again, is utter incompetence from our board.