Green Goals or Red Flags: A Case Study on the Economic Sustainability of the World's Greenest Football Club Using the Revised Altman Z-Score
Öz
Purpose: Forest Green Rovers FC is considered to be the world’s first vegan football club and is cited by FIFA as the world’s most sustainable football club. These features highlight the club’s unique place in social and environmental equity, but they also raise questions about its financial risk profile. This study aims to assess the economic sustainability and bankruptcy risk of Forest Green Rovers FC, which competes in the English National League.
Method: This study employs the revised Altman Z-score model as an early-warning tool to assess the financial sustainability and bankruptcy risk of Forest Green Rovers FC. The analysis is based on the most recent five fiscal years of longitudinal financial statements.
Results: Analysis of the results indicates significant financial deterioration from 2022 onwards, as reflected in worsening financial ratios, shrinking liquidity and profitability, negative equity, and growing operating losses. Despite strong environmental and corporate social sustainability practices, the club exhibits a persistently high‑distress Z‑score pattern, indicating sustained vulnerability to bankruptcy risk in the long term.
Conclusion: The findings demonstrate the need for a holistic sustainability and multidimensional value-creation approach in modern sports management, with financial risk management explicitly integrated with environmental and social objectives. The case also illustrates how cost-intensive green initiatives, when financed through concentrated ownership and fragile cash flows, can generate a “risk of green ambition” that threatens long‑term financial sustainability. This study is the first research that examines the financial sustainability of Forest Green Rovers FC using the revised Altman Z‑score model.
Anahtar Kelimeler
Etik Beyan
Kaynakça
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Ayrıntılar
Birincil Dil
İngilizce
Konular
Spor Faaliyetleri Yönetimi
Bölüm
Araştırma Makalesi
Yazarlar
Kadir Çalışkan
*
0000-0001-7794-5991
Türkiye
Yayımlanma Tarihi
27 Mart 2026
Gönderilme Tarihi
19 Aralık 2025
Kabul Tarihi
15 Mart 2026
Yayımlandığı Sayı
Yıl 2026 Cilt: 9 Sayı: 2026