Lord David Triesman, chairman of the Football Association, said in October that English soccer was carrying a combined £3 billion of debt. UK Sports minister Andy Burnham called for measures to ensure debt doesn’t endanger the “very existence of one of our great clubs.” However, Richard Scudamore, the English Premier League’s chief executive officer, said today, "Top English soccer clubs have 'manageable' debt because revenue can be maintained even in the financial crisis". He went onto state, "the level of debt is not a huge concern". About half the debt at the twenty Premier League teams was “soft debt” in the form of loans from owners, who don’t expect to recoup the funds, Scudamore said.Still, the operators of Manchester United and Liverpool took out loans to fund their purchases. The U.S.-based Glazer family has debt of more than £660 million linked to United following its purchase in 2005. George Gillett and Tom Hicks at Liverpool owe around £300 million after buying the Premier League leader last year. Bearing this in mind, it will be intersting to see if these words come back to haunt Scudamore if a leading club falls victim to the credit crunch.
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