Kieran Maguire


Kieran Maguire is a British academic, author, DULLARD, and broadcaster. He specialises in the accountancy of association football and authored the book The Price of Football. His expertise is frequently sought within English football media. Alongside comedian Kevin Day Maguire presents a twice weekly podcast entitled The Price of Football.

''The Price of Football''

Maguire is the author of the book The Price of Football, and presents a twice weekly podcast alongside the comedian Kevin Day in which they discuss contemporary issues regarding, and listener questions concerning, the finances of modern day men and women’s football clubs. The podcast had a quarter of a million downloads within its first five months. This figure had doubled to 500,000 listens by May 2020.

Critical reactions

The reviewer for the Columbia University Press wrote: "At a time when many commentators are bemoaning the effects of “too much money” in the game, this clear-headed and rigorous analysis and presentation of the financial imperatives and challenges facing football will be welcomed not only by students of the industry, but by the wider consituency of fans and supporters."
Margaret Decker, writing in Blues Trust said "The Price of Football by Kieran Maguire is an excellent book for anyone who wants to understand how money impacts the game of football. You don't have to be an accountant to understand it."
Stephen Mumford writing in Times Higher Education said "This book should be essential reading for anyone even remotely considering investing in football. For general readers, it won’t exactly enhance your enjoyment of football, but it should at least increase your understanding of what goes on and why."
Writing in Soccer & Society, Steve Menary says of the book: "In chapters 1-6, Maguire offers a simple but cogent explanation of a set of club accounts, then in the second half of the book looks to place annual accounts within the context of real financial issues..." and "Manchester United' supporters will be vetter equiped to make a more informed decision... after readinf The Price of Football."
Writing in The Guardian'' about the podcast, Miranda Sawyer says: "Obviously, this one isn’t for anyone who actively dislikes football, but for even a casual fan, it’s a very interesting listen. Kevin Day.., teams up with financial expert Kieran Maguire..." and "Day asks the right questions and Maguire is impressive with his research: in last week’s show he pointed out that a newspaper financial football story was completely wrong, without being rude about it. The machinations of sponsorship, TV rights, stand maintenance, even crowdfunding, are laid bare, and somehow this sheds light on to the actual games themselves."
In November 2019, the podcast was nominated for the 2019 Football Supporters' Federation Online Media of the Year Award alongside FourFourTwo, David Squires, and eventual winners The Athletic.

Academic career

A chartered accountant who has been involved in financial education since 1989, Maguire is Senior Teacher in Accounting and Finance at the University of Liverpool Management School, where he teaches the Football Industries MBA. He specialises in financial reporting, financial modelling and football finance. Whilst at the Manchester Metropolitan University in 2011, the award for the Best UK Accountancy Lecturer was awarded to Maguire. He had also been named the 2010 Lecturer of the Year by students at the University. In addition, Maguire won the Innovation in Teaching and Learning Prize 2010 for his developments in student learning.

Studies and other media appearances

Other media appearances by Maguire as a financial football expert include audio platforms such as The Anfield Wrap, BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Radio Sussex, TalkSport and the BBC World Service. Print media includes national publications such as The Times, The Daily Telegraph The Guardian, The Independent, and specialist media such as the BBC Sport website, FourFourTwo,, The Athletic, and Goal, as well as local newspapers such as The Liverpool Echo, Stoke based The Sentinel, Newcastle’s Evening Chronicle, and the Hull Daily Mail.
A Forbes article by Joshua Law cites a study by Maguire of Tottenham Hotspurs F.C. calling Maguire a "soccer finance expert".
The Express and Star described Maguire as a "Football finance expert " and quoted him extensivly on the effect of the coronavirus pandemic on the finances of football clubs.
Maguire's expertise within football finance has led to him earning nicknames such as "Columbo of football finance", and the "Rainman of football finance".

Personal life

As well as his wife, commonly referred to as The Baroness on his podcast, Maguire is a fan of the bands The Smiths, The Jam, and Joy Division and football club Brighton and Hove Albion.. He also has an encyclopaedic knowledge of 1970s German and Scandinavian films of a particular genre.