The commercialisation of association football in recent years has shown that profit and passion do not mix easily.
The sport has become bigger and players and coaches have become richer but some argue that fans and investors have lost out.
While few would dispute the renewed interest in the sport and the exciting new talent entering the game, fans will point to ever-increasing ticket prices and the involvement of big business as significant drawbacks.
And instead of creating a bonanza for investors, for most of those who have put money into British clubs the opposite has been the case.
According to Mr Paul Wedge, a research analyst with London-based Collins Stewart, which monitors the commercial fortunes of English football clubs that have taken a listing in London have underperformed the FTSE 100 by more than 50 per cent on average over the last five years.
He says those who have put money into clubs have made "an investment own goal" and he adds that most clubs are no longer regarded as "proper investment vehicles" in the city.
As a result, most institutional investors have exited British football clubs (with the exception of the bigger names like Manchester United) and the main shareholders are now private clients and legions of die-hard fans who invest out of passion for their club.
As one analyst put it to The Irish Times, if a premiership teamed performed in the "amateur" way some football stocks have, "the manager, captain, chairman and most of the players would have been shown the door".
In the Republic there are few opportunities to invest in football clubs unless the investor has access to very large sums. Last year Waterford United was one of the few clubs to offer shares to the public and its decision to extend the offer because of the strong demand may indicate there are people willing to invest in League of Ireland clubs.
However the grim record of British clubs is likely to curb the enthusiasm of Irish teams considering selling shares.
According to analysts, there are several reasons for the lamentable performance in Britain. The most obvious one is that football, apart from being more important than life or death, is a volatile game and the share price of a club can move based on a missed penalty or an injury to a vital player.
An example of this was when Manchester United star, Eric Cantona, leapt into the crowd to attack a Crystal Palace fan in 1995: his resulting suspension wiped more than £3 million sterling (#4.4 million) off the club's share price.
An even more serious problem has emerged since the Bosman ruling came into effect in 1996 and continental and South American players flooded into the British game.
The influx has brought about a dramatic rise in players' salaries which represents a serious constraint on the corporate profits of the clubs involved.
Mr Nick Battram, a football analyst with Greg Middleton in London, says a vicious cycle is now confronting clubs.
"Clubs need European success to give them additional income source, but the only way they can get this is to spend huge sums on players and this then impacts on their bottom line," he explains.
Even the biggest British club - Manchester United - has suffered due to high wages it has to pay its top stars. When it announced its half-year results last week there was a big hole in its accounts caused by the £28.2 million sterling (#35.8 million) paid for Jaap Stam, Jesper Blomqvist and Dwight Yorke.
As a result, pre-tax profits fell 28 per cent from stg£15.4 million to £11.1 million on turnover of £56.5 million.
A similar situation has developed at other quoted clubs. Last Thursday, Mr Jeremy Fenn, the managing director of Leeds Sporting, the owners of Leeds, said clubs "must at some point draw the line and say enough is enough".
The urgency to "draw the line" was highlighted when Newcastle announced that its profits were down from £7.2 million to £5.6 million for the six months to January because of the wages problem and falling merchandising sales.
According to Mr John Williams, from the football research centre at Leicester University, all premiership clubs "are under pressure from spiralling wages" and will have to compensate elsewhere, most likely by raising ticket prices.
Because clubs are compensating for rising wages and falling merchandising sales, increases in tickets prices could be severe, with fans at Manchester United already feeling the pain.
Mr Wedge says such measures will only help clubs "keep their heads above the water" and will not necessarily help their share price.
"The clubs that investors should look at are those with a loyal and dependable following, where the management can achieve success without breaking the bank," he says.
Mr Battram says that clubs like QPR (floated at 70p, now quoted at 11p) have been effected by their plunge into the first division and he advises against investing in clubs who regularly find themselves in the relegation zone. "As far as the markets are concerned, a drop from the premiership down to the first division is a major minus," he states.
Not that a full time presence in the premiership is a guarantee.
Aston Villa (floated at £11, now at £5.67p) was punished for failing to sustain its position at the top of the premiership over the last three months, free falling to its current position from £7.10p.
Amid these tales of gloom some investors have made money. For example the large number of Irish investors who have put their money in Celtic have been rewarded for their dedication. The company floated in September 1995 in London at 60p and last week closed at £3.58p.
While the club failed to win the Scottish league for almost a decade, its loyal fan base and worldwide branding potential have been the reasons why it performed as a stock, according to Mr Battram.
Other momentum investors, according to Mr Wedge, are prepared to "ride the markets on a short-term basis". He says these are people who buy into a footballing stock on the basis of a good cup run or a place in Europe and hope to make a short term gain.
Price movements in recent months have shown this is possible. For example, before George Graham was appointed manager of Tottenham its share price languished at about 70p. However since the former Arsenal man came in the share price has shot towards 90p. Anyone who bought in when Mr Graham was appointed in October is now sitting on a decent profit.
However, Mr Battram says long-term revenue growth is more important than shortterm trends. He adds that clubs that have diversified have been been able to counter the prevailing negative trend. One shining example of this is Chelsea Village - owners of Chelsea.
By investing in a large property portfolio and independent travel agency, the board has kept the club's share price at around the 75p (not bad considering it floated at 50p). In fact the club generated £51.2 million from other activities (including £8.2 million from the sale of apartments beside its ground at Stamford Bridge) last year, whereas the footballing side only chipped in £37.1 million.
While fans may baulk at their club becoming that commercialised, the announcement that Liverpool is considering floating on the London Stock Exchange shows that recent underperformance in the sector has not discouraged everyone.
Mr Battram says Liverpool, along with Arsenal, are probably the only clubs the markets would now like to see take a listing.
Both Arsenal and Liverpool currently offer shares on a "matched bargain" basis - in other words, you can only buy shares if somebody wants to sell. With both clubs possibly listing in the near future, few shareholders are parting with their shares.
The uncertainty about the commercial future of Arsenal and Liverpool is matched right across the sector as all sides wait for a final decision by the British Monopolies and Mergers Commission on BSkyB's £623 million bid for Manchester United..
According to Mr Wedge, if this is blocked other football stocks will lose value because much of their recent performance has been based on rumours that they could be acquired by media groups. "If the BSkyB bid is refused, then most people believe other media bids will not be permitted," he says. "People have been buying into football stocks based on the belief they could be acquired, so if this is ruled out many will decide to sell," he predicts.
