Paul Quinn is an independent analyst of the finance, ownership, governance and regulation of professional football. He publishes The Esk through CWTE. Its analysis is written for boards, regulators, professional advisors, lenders and lawyers, and is free to everyone: no advertising, no paywall.
What The Esk covers
- Club finance and accounts: forensic readings of annual reports, group structures, cash flow and transfer debt.
- Ownership and capital: takeovers, valuations, multi-club and sovereign ownership, and the private credit now lent against clubs and players.
- Regulation and governance: the Independent Football Regulator and the Football Governance Act 2025, Premier League financial rules, UEFA and FIFA regulation.
- Litigation and disputes: Premier League commissions and appeals, and football cases before the CJEU and CAS.
Each report sets out its sources, grades its evidence and states its limitations. How that works is explained on the Methodology & editorial standards page.
Advisory work
Paul provides advisory services to professional investors, professional service providers and media organisations. To discuss an engagement, email paul@theesk.org. Advisory work never buys coverage or pre-publication review; see Independence & funding.
Media
Paul has been quoted in numerous journals and newspapers including the Financial Times, The New York Times, Bloomberg and other trade and financial journals. His articles have been quoted in many newspapers, locally, nationally and internationally. Press enquiries: paul@theesk.org.
Podcasts
- Talking the Blues: Paul’s flagship podcast, heard in more than 160 countries and territories. It covers every Everton game of the season and the issues around the club, co-presented with Andy Costigan and George Costigan. Free and advert-free, and it will remain so.
- The Esk Podcasts: longer conversations on football finance and governance (listen on Acast).
- Talking about Strokes: away from football, and drawing on Paul’s own experience, a podcast on life after stroke, alongside Stroke-Survivors.org.
- Everton Business Matters (launched 2017): the first podcast dedicated to the off-field business of a single football club, hosted by Rodger Armstrong with former Everton Shareholders’ Association chairman John Blain.
Everton
Paul is a lifelong Evertonian; his family’s support for the club spans five generations. Much of The Esk’s early writing examined Everton’s finances and governance, and it continues to hold the club’s owners and board to account. The views expressed are his own; he does not speak for the wider fan base.
Contact
Email paul@theesk.org · X @theesk · LinkedIn