Stoke City on alert for Financial Fair Play change as Coates family makes £25m investment
News from the bet365 Stadium as Stoke City joint-chairman John Coates is asked about transfer kitty for summer window
John Coates revealed with almost a throwaway line mid-way through a Q&A with supporters that his family is preparing to make another £25m investment in Stoke City – and hopes to make more if Financial Fair Play rules change.
The EFL limits how much money owners can pour into transfer kitties and wage pots at clubs in the Championship and Coates, whose Stoke-supporting family is worth about £9 billion. But the restrictions do not cover infrastructure and Stoke are working through a five-year plan of major improvements at the bet365 Stadium and Clayton Wood training ground.
A new fan zone is planned for behind the back of the Boothen End while Stoke are set to build a two-storey complex for the first team in Trent Vale, leaving the existing building – which will also be extended – for the academy and women’s sides.
READ MORE: Stoke City accounts explained and what it means for current FFP rules
But there is also talk in the air of changes to FFP, also known as profit and sustainability, and Premier League clubs have met this week to discuss moving towards a model used by UEFA.
