Ed Malyon

1 week ago | footbiz.beehiiv.com | Ed Malyon |Matt Hughes

When it comes to football, you can always trust the South Americans to make it matter. From that point of view, they may be the only thing that can save Gianni Infantino’s bacon this month. Long before it even occurred to FIFA that they must find a way to cash in on club brands, the old Intercontinental Cup was a simple competition that pitted the European Cup winner against that of the Copa Libertadores in a two-legged (often three-legged) tie that spanned an ocean.

2 weeks ago | footbiz.beehiiv.com | Ed Malyon |Matt Hughes

And so it was that after all the questions and the controversy, the Club World Cup is finally here. It will certainly be interesting to see how it turns out. Will the American public care? Probably not a ton. Will fans back home care? That seems to depend on which club you’re talking about.

3 weeks ago | footbiz.beehiiv.com | Ed Malyon |Matt Hughes

There we go, then. The club football season is over (in every country that uses the European calendar). A raft of finals and deciders this weekend made or broke the dreams of many clubs. We also — apparently — finalised the 237 teams that will enter UEFA competitions next season while also finding out who would be the champion of this year’s biggest one. And in the end, it wasn’t even close.

1 month ago | footbiz.beehiiv.com | Ed Malyon |Matt Hughes

FootBiz on a Wednesday! What a treat. With everyone in the UK and the USA enjoying a (bank) holiday weekend, a massive Tuesday newsletter seemed a touch aggressive so we have shifted to Wednesday this week and may continue with that through the off-season as we look to focus on more content for our premium subscribers. That includes events, and the plan remains for our first US-based event to take place on the eve of the Club World Cup final. Stay tuned for more information on that.

1 month ago | footbiz.beehiiv.com | Ed Malyon |Matt Hughes

It was a game of huge consequence. Of these two Premier League goliaths, two of the 10 richest clubs in the world (and the top two by operating income, per Forbes) only one could win, and in turn save their season by qualifying for the Champions League. For that winner, this year’s embarrassing Premier League performances could be somewhat forgiven, if not forgotten. 100 million reasons for the pain to be softened and to believe that the future could be brighter. For the loser, darkness.