In the Premier League alone, the owners of Manchester United sold bonds last week to refinance £500 million of bank debt and on January 19 Portsmouth failed to have an order to pay taxes dismissed at court. Liverpool is also thought to be £245 million in debt after its American owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett took over in 2007.
"Of course, in many cases there are very simple ways that they can deal with these problems. In other cases, football clubs don't have the income that is necessary to deal with the leverage that they have," said Brown at a news conference in London yesterday.
"But this is an issue and it's an issue football clubs are facing and it's a worry to supporters. These clubs have high levels of income from the supporters but the debt levels have been too high."
Asked whether it is a matter that may require government intervention, Brown, who is a shareholder in Scottish club Raith Rovers, said football clubs need to “look very seriously at their responsibilities.”
