The Opaque Architecture of Football Finance:

Rights and Media Funding Limited (R&MF) has established itself as one of the most significant, yet least transparent, financial institutions operating within European football, specialising in providing high-liquidity debt to clubs in the Premier League and the English Football League (EFL). Registered in the UK since 2011 (Company No. 07575619), R&MF presents a sophisticated model for risk-transfer lending.
R&MF’s operational scale is substantial, reflecting aggressive growth in recent years. The company states it has deployed over $3.6 billion in capital over the last ten years, with $2.5 billion of that deployment concentrated in the last five years alone.
This capital has been directed towards numerous high-profile clubs, including Everton FC, West Ham United, and Nottingham Forest.
The core financial characteristic of R&MF’s activities is the imposition of premium, double-digit interest rates upon borrowers. For example, Everton FC has been reported as paying an effective rate of 10.25% on its substantial debt, resulting in a significant, regular cash drain. This high-yield debt was rigidly secured through fixed charges over key club assets, including property (e.g., land around Goodison Park) and the assignment of future media rights and other stable receivables.
Despite its UK registration, R&MF operates functionally as a conduit. Investigative sources confirm the company operates with “zero employees” and holds negligible internal assets apart from its growing loan book. The capital it distributes is sourced almost entirely from opaque creditors domiciled in international financial centres).
These creditors, currently Carroch (Bahamas), Galloway (Cyprus), and Mh Finance (Bermuda)—are instrumental to the structure.
Crucially, the ultimate beneficial ownership of this network of capital is strongly linked to Michael Tabor. Tabor, a high-profile tax exile, is the inferred recipient of the substantial interest income generated by the R&MF portfolio. Furthermore, the historical funding infrastructure linked to R&MF’s predecessor company shares documented, geographical connections, specifically in the British Virgin Islands (BVI), with entities associated with Sir Philip Green and Robert Earl, confirming R&MF’s origin within a high-opacity, specialised finance ecosystem.
This report provides a detailed examination of R&MF’s financial mechanisms, growth, personnel, and deep-seated offshore connections.

The Rise of Private Credit in Football

The English professional football industry, despite its enormous wealth generated primarily through escalating media rights contracts, is structurally volatile. The intense competition for success, the inherent financial risk of relegation, and irregular income streams necessitate specialised liquidity management. Historically cautious traditional banks have largely retreated from this market due to the specifics of the football industry (the football creditor rule), the risk of systemic failure, as well as the unpredictable nature of sporting performance and the associated high failure risk.
This withdrawal has created a significant financial void which was aggressively filled by private capital providers. These providers range from alternative asset managers, such as Ares Management and Apollo Global Management, to specialist niche lenders like Rights and Media Funding Limited (R&MF).
The involvement of these non-traditional financial actors signals a market maturation, treating football clubs increasingly as high-yield, albeit high-risk, asset classes. These private financiers offer larger and more flexible credit facilities compared to traditional banks, however almost always at a significantly higher cost.
The reliance on this expensive, non-traditional capital suggests a systemic financial fragility among clubs. When clubs overspend in pursuit of success, particularly around transfer windows where cash flow demands are condensed, they become dependent on expensive credit. The substantial accumulation of debt facilitated by these flexible funding methods exacerbates the fundamental financial weaknesses already present in the sport, leading to what analysts refer to as “cliff edges”, severe financial crises triggered by relegation, poor recruitment, or failure to qualify for profitable European competitions.

Receivables Financing and Risk Mitigation

R&MF’s strategic approach centres on receivables financing, a structure designed to provide immediate access to future, guaranteed income streams. This model is predicated on the collateral strategy used to de-risk the debt package for its ultimate financiers.
The primary collateral targeted by R&MF are financial assets whose value is largely insulated from the on-pitch performance of the borrowing club. These assets predominantly include Premier League basic awards, central distribution payments, and instalment payments owed to the club from player transfer fees.
By obtaining legal assignments and fixed charges over these high-quality, predictable future cash flows, R&MF effectively shifts the insolvency risk away from itself and onto the club’s core operations.
For instance, Premier League media rights payments are guaranteed regardless of a club’s mid-table performance; they only cease if a club faces formal liquidation. This prioritisation of collateral that is resistant to sporting failure justifies the large capital deployments and high interest margins R&MF commands, creating a highly stable investment for the offshore principals.

Rights and Media Funding Limited: Operational Scale and Opaque Growth

Rights and Media Funding Limited is incorporated in the UK (Company No. 07575619), registered at an address in Cheshire. However, the physical registration and limited operational footprint belie the substantial scope of the company. Multiple detailed investigations confirm that R&MF operates with “zero employees”. This operational anomaly means R&MF functions essentially as a Special Purpose Vehicle or shell vehicle, primarily for the purpose of managing debt assets and conducting the necessary legal filings in the UK.
The operation of R&MF with minimal staff and internal assets suggests the structure is optimised to reduce UK tax obligations and minimise complex regulatory filings associated with large financial institutions. While R&MF claims expertise in “legal and regulatory expertise” and “data driven risk analysis”, the delivery of these services is almost certainly outsourced or handled remotely by the overseas principals and their advisory firms, enabling R&MF to act as a highly efficient conduit for cross-border capital deployment.

Quantitative Growth Trajectory

R&MF’s stated lending volumes confirm a rapid acceleration in its activities over the past decade. R&MF has lent more than $3.6 billion over the last ten years and significantly ramped up its operations, deploying over $2.5 billion in the last five years.
The expansion of R&MF’s loan book can be directly measured by the growth of its own liabilities to its creditors. R&MF’s outstanding debt obligations have consistently grown, rising from approximately £290 million reported around 2016 to £321.7 million as of its last accounts filed in June 2023.
This continuous and substantial increase in R&MF’s indebtedness to its offshore financiers proves a parallel, rapid increase in its lending to UK football clubs. R&MF is fundamentally a financial intermediary; therefore, the growth in its liabilities is a direct metric for its success in securing capital from external, opaque sources and immediately redirecting it as secured lending into the football market.
It should be noted that the growth in lending will by now (October 2025) have reduced significantly following the successful takeover and refinancing of Everton Football Club by the Friedkin Group in December 2024.

Case Studies of Premier League and Football League Borrowers

R&MF has cultivated long-term relationships and engaged in repeat business with some of the largest clubs in European football. Its involvement in English football is characterised by providing substantial, revolving credit facilities to clubs requiring immediate and flexible access to cash.
The most visible instance of R&MF’s activity was its relationship with Everton FC. The club’s debt with R&MF originated in September 2019 with an initial £80 million credit facility. This debt rapidly escalated, making R&MF the single largest lender to Everton, owed approximately £225 million as recently as 2024. Everton had borrowed extensively for many years from companies who are considered to be previous iterations of R&MF.
This willingness to drastically increase exposure to a club battling consistent financial issues, including multiple breaches of the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR), highlights R&MF’s confidence in its collateral position over the club’s assets.
Other high-profile borrowers have utilised R&MF’s facilities, including West Ham United, which secured a multi-million-pound credit facility against property assets including Chadwell Heath, Rush Green, Little Heath, and the Beckton clubhouse. Nottingham Forest has also previously been a recipient of R&MF’s revolving credit facilities.

Cost of Capital and Security Arrangements: Exposure of UK Clubs

The financial terms imposed by R&MF reflect the bespoke, high-risk nature of the football industry and the limited pool of willing lenders. R&MF does not offer standard institutional rates; instead, it utilises a floating rate structure characterised by a significant margin applied to the UK benchmark interest rate.
Specific corporate filings and reports relating to Everton FC suggest the R&MF debt is subject to interest charges calculated at 5% above the Bank of England Base Rate. Assuming a contemporary Base Rate near 5.25%, the effective interest rate paid by Everton is understood to have reached 10.25%.
This rate places R&MF debt firmly in the high-yield, specialist lending category. While comparatively lower than some distressed financing options offered by large private equity funds (where rates have been documented up to 19.4% or 22% in certain cases by firms like Ares Management), the R&MF rate is vastly more expensive than standard bank financing.
The financial drain resulting from these premium rates has been devastating for borrowers. The £225 million debt Everton owes R&MF resulted in annual interest charges approaching £30 million, equating to a cash outflow of about £438,000 per week. This extreme operational cost severely compromised the club’s financial sustainability, directly impacting its ability to comply with financial fair play regulations. The required high yield is necessary to satisfy the commercial terms of the structured financing, compensating the ultimate beneficial owner (UBO) for placing capital within this complex, multi-jurisdictional architecture.
To mitigate the inherent risk associated with football, R&MF insists upon comprehensive and robust security arrangements, ensuring that the debt is effectively de-risked. Lenders utilise formal legal instruments, such as debentures and mortgages, to establish fixed and floating charges over the borrower’s assets. They also frequently use negative pledge provisions to control lending from other sources.
R&MF’s security strategy targeted both physical, fixed property and intangible, guaranteed revenue streams:

1. Fixed Charges on Property: R&MF placed fixed charges over valuable, physical assets. For Everton, the loan was secured by rights to property surrounding Goodison Park. For West Ham United, the credit facility was secured against multiple training ground and club property sites. These arrangements ensure R&MF has senior, prioritised access to the real estate value should the club become insolvent.
2. Assignment of Future Receivables: The central security mechanism is the assignment of rights to future, guaranteed income streams, primarily Premier League media revenues and, in some cases, player transfer fee installments. This strategic selection ensures a predictable, reliable cash flow for debt servicing, regardless of competitive failure (such as relegation from the Premier League) that would significantly reduce ticket and sponsorship revenue.

The combination of fixed charges on real estate and the prioritised assignment of media revenues places R&MF in an almost unassailable financial position relative to other creditors. This structure maximises yield while effectively minimising the risk of capital loss for the offshore providers.

Corporate Governance and Directors’ Profiles:

Rights and Media Funding Limited maintains a small executive presence, consistent with its function as a debt management vehicle. The company currently lists two directors:

1. David Angus McKnight (British, born July 1957).
2. Jonathan Christopher McMorrow (Irish, born October 1978).

The corporate history reveals that Jonathan Christopher McMorrow held the position of sole listed director when the company changed its name from JG Funding to Rights and Media Funding at the end of 2015.

The James Grant Group Connection

The professional background of the directors provides essential context for R&MF’s specialised operational focus. Both David Angus McKnight and Jonathan Christopher McMorrow have previous professional affiliations connected to the James Grant Group. JGG is characterised as a management agency, or a “one-stop talent shop”, operating within the entertainment and media sectors. Corporate records show McKnight and McMorrow held director roles associated with JGG entities, with appointments and resignations documented between 2005 and 2014.
With this specialised career background the directors possess specific expertise in managing, valuing, and monetising intangible assets such as media rights, celebrity profiles, and content revenue streams. This is not a profile typical of traditional institutional bankers, but rather one suited to the complex financing of media assets. The appointment of these specific individuals to lead R&MF confirms that the company’s core function is the expert securitisation of intellectual property and media assets, aligning precisely with its name (“Rights and Media Funding”). The expertise required to execute the lending model is intrinsically tied to the directors’ backgrounds in talent and rights management.

Tracing R&MF’s Ultimate Funding Sources

The most critical and opaque aspect of R&MF’s operation was the source of its immense capital, which resides in multiple jurisdictions and is deliberately layered to obscure the Ultimate Beneficial Owner.

Mapping R&MF’s Current Creditors (2023)

R&MF act as a pass-through entity, borrowing funds from offshore entities and subsequently lending them to UK clubs. As of June 2023, R&MF owed its creditors £321.7 million. This liability is secured by charges held by three primary entities, none of which are domiciled in the UK:

The intentional use of multiple International Financial centres (IFCs)—including classic offshore tax havens like the Bahamas and Bermuda, alongside Cyprus, which offers access as an EU financial center, is a sophisticated strategy. This geographical dispersion is implemented to optimise the movement of capital, minimise public disclosure requirements, and establish favorable tax residency for the underlying beneficial owner, thereby optimising the tax efficiency of the interest income generated by the high-yield loans.
The lineage of R&MF, particularly through its predecessor, JG Funding, demonstrates clear historical connections to specialised, high-opacity financial structures utilised by prominent UK business associates.
R&MF’s earlier funding mechanisms involved Kirkton Investments Limited (registered in the Isle of Man), which held charges against R&MF assets until 2021. Prior to this, R&MF’s funding stream was linked to Vibrac Corporation.
The forensic connection that defines the origins of this opaque funding methodology lies in the registration details of Vibrac. Vibrac Corporation was registered in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) at the precise address of Vanterpool Plaza, Wickhams Cay 1, Road Town, Tortola.

Documented Links to Philip Green and Robert Earl

This BVI address serves as a crucial node connecting R&MF’s funding origins to the financial infrastructure of high-profile associates, namely Sir Philip Green and Robert Earl.
BCR Sports, a company previously used by the American businessman and former Everton director Robert Earl to hold a 23% stake in Everton, was also registered at the exact same BVI address (Vanterpool Plaza, Wickhams Cay 1).
Robert Earl is a documented business associate of Sir Philip Green. Reports confirm that Earl’s shares in Everton were held by a BVI-registered company.
The co-location of R&MF’s predecessor funding chain (Vibrac) and a shell company (BCR Sports) linked directly to Robert Earl within the high-opacity environment of the British Virgin Islands establishes a clear lineage. This confirms R&MF originated within the specialised financial and legal architecture historically favored by the Green/Earl nexus for structuring significant UK investments in a manner designed to maximise secrecy and tax efficiency. The methodology of leveraging offshore vehicles to finance UK-based assets and the associated profit transfers is thus intrinsic to R&MF’s formation.

The Profile of Michael Tabor and establishing Beneficial Ownership

The deliberate structure of R&MF, a zero-employee UK entity funded by multiple offshore SPVs in the Bahamas, Cyprus, and Bermuda, necessitates investigative tracing to identify the ultimate beneficial owner. Multiple authoritative journalistic sources have explicitly reported that the trail of debt, secured against substantial UK football assets, leads directly to Michael Tabor. While legally shielded by the layers of international incorporation, the evidence strongly suggests Tabor is the individual deriving the yield from R&MF’s lending portfolio.
The concealment of the UBO behind complex international legal entities is a calculated maneuver common among ultra-high-net-worth individuals. This architecture facilitates the avoidance of both public disclosure and UK tax scrutiny, demanding forensic analysis to effectively pierce the corporate veil.

Tabor’s Background and Financial Philosophy

Michael Tabor is one of the UK’s most significant, yet private, investors. His background is rooted in finance, having made his initial wealth as a bookmaker before diversifying into substantial investments, most famously as a co-owner of the Coolmore Stud horse racing empire.
Tabor’s financial status is defined by his residency as a tax exile, primarily dividing his time between Monte Carlo and Barbados. This non-resident tax status is the crucial factor driving the entire, multi-jurisdictional structure of the R&MF funding network.
Tabor also possesses a documented history of major investment in the media and entertainment sector, demonstrating familiarity with the asset class R&MF finances. He backed the creation of Global Radio (owners of Capital Radio and Classic FM) with £375 million in 2008, using an investment vehicle known as Honeycomb Investments Ltd. Furthermore, Tabor has a long-standing personal interest in English football, having made a failed attempt to purchase West Ham United in 1996.

Tabor and the R&MF Profit Mechanism

The entire R&MF structure is optimised for efficient wealth extraction tailored to a tax-exile UBO. R&MF serves as the crucial UK-registered interface, originating and securing the debt against high-quality UK assets (Premier League media rights, club property). However, the profit margin, the substantial 10.25% interest yield, is generated by the UK football clubs and flows upward through the offshore vehicles (Carroch, Galloway, Mh Finance) domiciled in tax-advantaged jurisdictions (Bahamas, Cyprus, Bermuda).
The structure ensures that the resultant profit is accrued in a jurisdiction where the UBO, Michael Tabor, faces minimal or zero income tax liability, significantly reducing the net financial benefit retained within the UK economy by the clubs themselves. This mechanism permits the financiers to maximise secured returns while simultaneously placing immense pressure on the borrowers’ operating capital, as evidenced by Everton’s reported former near £30 million annual interest payments.

Conclusion and Systemic Implications for English Football Governance

The detailed investigation into the lending activities of Rights and Media Funding Limited reveals a highly sophisticated financial operation designed to leverage the specialised liquidity needs of English football clubs for high, secured returns directed toward offshore interests.
R&MF’s high-interest lending model systematically extracts substantial capital from UK football clubs, directly compromising their financial health and sustainability. The necessity for clubs like Everton (pre Friedkin) to service debt at an effective 10.25% rate, equating to millions of pounds in interest charges annually, compounds their financial distress and actively works against the regulatory objectives of the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR). The significant cash outflow to service this debt means capital that could be used for investment or stability is instead redirected to offshore creditors.

Regulatory Challenge Posed by Opacity

The operational architecture of R&MF, a sero-employee UK conduit funded by multi-jurisdictional offshore entities (Bahamas, Cyprus, Bermuda), presents a significant challenge to governance and regulatory bodies. The deliberate layering of corporate structures obscures the source of capital and the identity of the Ultimate Beneficial Owner, frustrating efforts by UK football and financial regulators to ensure full financial transparency and adherence to governance standards.
The historical documented connection to the British Virgin Islands infrastructure previously utilised by associates of Sir Philip Green and Robert Earl confirms that this opaque methodology is established within a lineage of financial engineering designed specifically to conduct high-value UK business while maintaining strict investor anonymity and tax efficiency.
Rights and Media Funding Limited was and is not merely a conventional lender; it functions as a highly specialised risk management and wealth transfer vehicle. It successfully monetises the predictable revenue streams of the Premier League by offering essential, albeit expensive, liquidity to financially stretched clubs.
The primary objective of this structure is not club stability, but the maximisation of secured debt yield for its high-net-worth, non-resident beneficiary. The model is highly efficient for the financiers but fundamentally exacerbates the financial precarity of the football institutions upon which it preys. This structural reliance on secured, high-cost, opaque debt introduces a layer of systemic risk that demands enhanced regulatory scrutiny over the ultimate source and intent of capital entering the professional game.