Establishing and Budgeting a Sixth Division Football Club, Case Study: HH Palloveikot
Kivikoski, Aatu (2025)
2025
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-202504176819
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-202504176819
Tiivistelmä
This thesis explores the process of establishing and budgeting a football club in the sixth division of the Finnish football ladder where revenues for teams largely rely on membership fees. A sixth division student-run football club called HH Palloveikot is used as a case study for this thesis. The research aims to establish clear processes for any new teams wanting to start in the same division. The case of HH Palloveikot is studied to provide accurate financial data.
The research question and the investigative questions supporting the research question relate to costs, revenues, budgeting methods, administrative tasks required to establish a club, and recommendations for first year survival.
The theoretical framework of this thesis contains two different chapters. One focusing on the administrative tasks such as registering an association and registering with the Finnish football association while the other chapter defines some financial terms used in the thesis.
In the empirical part of the thesis the financial data of HH Palloveikot was analysed. It entailed breaking down every single transaction that happened during the first year (2024) of HH Palloveikot operations. These transactions related to either administrative tasks, season related costs or equipment costs. A preliminary budget that was made at the start of the season was analysed and then compared to end of year numbers. Although HH Palloveikot accounts and budgeting methods were looked at, no personal information of any player or staff was shared in this thesis.
The results of the analysis reveal that the budgeting done at the start of the season was too low and the real expenses for the year are higher than expected. Luckily, this did not pose an issue for HH Palloveikot since they had prepared by making sure their yearly revenues left around a 20 % buffer for extra costs that they had not budgeted for. At the end HH Palloveikot had a budget surplus of 141.44 € which translates to 3.8 % of their revenue. This was deemed a good result by the club since the membership fees were kept as low as possible to ensure students participating did not have to use a large amount of money to play for the team.
Furthermore, the numbers shared within the empirical part offer the reader with a good idea of what to aim for in a club’s first year of operations. Finally, some recommendations are shared with the knowledge acquired from this thesis. These recommendations hopefully offer clubs facing a similar situation with knowledge otherwise not available to them.
The research question and the investigative questions supporting the research question relate to costs, revenues, budgeting methods, administrative tasks required to establish a club, and recommendations for first year survival.
The theoretical framework of this thesis contains two different chapters. One focusing on the administrative tasks such as registering an association and registering with the Finnish football association while the other chapter defines some financial terms used in the thesis.
In the empirical part of the thesis the financial data of HH Palloveikot was analysed. It entailed breaking down every single transaction that happened during the first year (2024) of HH Palloveikot operations. These transactions related to either administrative tasks, season related costs or equipment costs. A preliminary budget that was made at the start of the season was analysed and then compared to end of year numbers. Although HH Palloveikot accounts and budgeting methods were looked at, no personal information of any player or staff was shared in this thesis.
The results of the analysis reveal that the budgeting done at the start of the season was too low and the real expenses for the year are higher than expected. Luckily, this did not pose an issue for HH Palloveikot since they had prepared by making sure their yearly revenues left around a 20 % buffer for extra costs that they had not budgeted for. At the end HH Palloveikot had a budget surplus of 141.44 € which translates to 3.8 % of their revenue. This was deemed a good result by the club since the membership fees were kept as low as possible to ensure students participating did not have to use a large amount of money to play for the team.
Furthermore, the numbers shared within the empirical part offer the reader with a good idea of what to aim for in a club’s first year of operations. Finally, some recommendations are shared with the knowledge acquired from this thesis. These recommendations hopefully offer clubs facing a similar situation with knowledge otherwise not available to them.