It's Not Just Portsmouth

The financial problems that now have seemed to have caught up with Portsmouth also plagued soccer clubs in other divisions of English soccer.

English League Championship club Crystal Palace recently went into administration themselves and were assessed a 10-point reduction penalty and are now in danger of relegation from the second level of England's football-----errrr-----soccer pyramid.

Meanwhile, down in League Two, the lowest level in the English Football League, AFC Bournemouth are trying to avoid the same fate, or possibly even worse, while at the same time, making a run at promotion to League One. Another club in the fourth level of English soccer, Notts County, narrowly avoided going into administration themselves.

Meanwhile, the English Conference, the fifth level, and highest non-league level, lowered the boom Friday on Chester.

And it's not restricted to England.

Over in the Republic of Ireland, Cork City FC from that country's Premiership went under this past week because of their own financial problems.  In their case, they failed to pay a tax bill.

Derry City (based in Londonderry, Northern Ireland) were expelled from the Republic of Ireland's soccer association last November in the wake of a players salary scandal.  The Candystripes have since resurfaced in the Irish Republic's second tier, the League of Ireland's First Division.

In Russia, two weeks ago, after their financial backer pulled out, FC Moscow withdrew from that country's Premier League. 

And then, there was the episode surrounding Excelsior Mouscron being thrown out of Belgium's Jupiler League (that's country's top flight) this past December, with their results expunged from league records.

Added material:  Financial problems finally did in this Dutch second-division club back on January 25.  And no, they were NOT nicknamed the Globetrotters.

I wonder if all these financial problems are lost on the powers that be----in both management and labor----in Major League Soccer.  That league's collective bargaining agreement with its' players expired this past week.  There is a chance that there would still be MLS soccer this season under the now-expired agreement although a strike or lockout is still not out of the question.