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Leeds 2018: Heartland
Overview Standing on the brink of promotion to the Premier League, playing exciting football and with a cult hero as a manager, Leeds United are cool to like again. The club’s recently published accounts show that this success hasn’t come free but by the standards of the Championship Leeds have been a model of restraint compared to other owners who have gambled with the existence of their clubs. Elland Road regulars have plenty of experience of improper owners and at present they seem to be operating with a competitive budget without going overboard. Very few clubs get promoted making a profit and whilst Leeds are unlikely to do so themselves…
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Newcastle United 2017/18: Apply Some Pressure
Introduction Mike Ashley, Newcastle United’s unloved owner, has finally submitted the accounts for the year ended 30 June 2018 for public scrutiny as The Toon became the final Premier League one to produce results for 2017/18. In the club’s first season back in the Premier League after winning the Championship Newcastle reversed the big losses and managed to reduce wages from 2016/17, the latter of which is a first for a promoted club. Kind words are in short supply in Tyneside for Ashley, who bought the club in May 2007 and has overseen two relegations since then. Easy to criticise, and hard to love, but is Ashley as bad as…
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Derby County 2017/18: Say You’ll Be There
Making sense of Derby County’s 2018 accounts is a challenging task as the club’s structure has been changed nearly as often as the line-up of the Sugababes. Enigmatic is the politest word that could be used to describe way that a myriad of different companies that are now running different elements of Derby which was further complicated by a new holding company Gelaw NewCo 203, taking over on 28 June 2018. Legally such a structure is perfectly valid and is common in other industries, whereas previously all of the club’s activities went through Derby County Football Club Limited the new set up arose after Mel Morris CBE took control of…
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Crystal Palace 2017/18: I Just Can’t Be Happy Today
Surviving in the Premier League is even tougher than getting there and an eleventh place position is testament to Roy Hodgson in guiding the club to another season at the top table. Usually Palace start the season poorly and improve in the second half of the season and 2017/18 was no exception after the De Boer experiment was quickly jettisoned. Sustainability from a financial perspective wasn’t achieved however as the club, despite record revenues, lost £750,000 a week from day to day operations and was reliant upon the club owners to finance the gap. An increased capacity Selhurst Park is part of the club’s strategy to improve the finances in…
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Burnley 2017/18: I Thought You Were Dead
Seventh position in the Premier League and qualifying for the Europa League was an achievement for Burnley in 2017/18 and the club’s financial results were almost as impressive. Earnings, wages and player trading profits all hit record levels yet some fans seem bored by life in the Premier League. Income All clubs split income into three categories to comply with EPL recommendations, matchday, broadcasting and commercial. Nowadays most ‘Other 14’ clubs earn a small fraction of their total income from matchday sales and Burnley is no exception as frozen ticket prices and slightly less domestic cup progress meant that this fell by £200k compared to the previous year. Due to…
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Bournemouth 2017/18: Boom Boom Ba-Ba Boom
Introduction: Establishing yourself as a Premier League club, especially with only an 11,000 capacity stadium, is as much as a challenge as promotion from the Championship in the first place. Down at the Vitality stadium Bournemouth can look forward to their fifth consecutive season in the top flight in 2019/20 although financial results are not as impressive as those on the pitch. Detailed accounts have just been published which show that the price of recruiting the likes of Ake, Begovic and Defoe came at a significant price and the club made a loss in 2017/18. Investing in the squad wasn’t enough to prevent the Cherries falling from 9th to 12th…
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Aston Villa 2017/18 Finances and FFP: Devil in the Detail
Introduction Down at Villa Park fans are hopeful that the recent return to the first team of Jack Grealish can cement the club’s playoff position as they have the benefits of the final year of parachute payments. Over the other side of the city rivals Birmingham City have just been docked 9 points as a punishment for a breach of the EFL’s Profitability and Sustainability rules. Championship football is challenging as the clash between those with parachute payments, stalwarts of the division and recently promoted League One teams means that there is a lack of a level playing field between the 24 competing clubs. The reign of Doctor Tony Xia,…
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Middlesbrough 2017/18: Babylon’s Burning
To attempt promotion to the Premier League is an expensive business as revealed when Middlesbrough submit their accounts to the government registrar for the 2017/18 season and reported a £20.2 million operating loss Only the receipt of parachute payments and some player sales prevented these losses from being too damaging for Boro, who are fortunate to have a benevolent owner in Steve Gibson to fund the club’s operations. Key Financial Highlights for year ended 30 June 2018 Turnover £62 million (down 49%) Wages £49 million (down 25%) Pre-player sale losses £20.2 million (2016/17 profit £10.3 million) Player sale profits £15.3 million (up from £11.3 million) Player signings £66 million (up…
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Sheffield United 2017/18: Geisha Boys & Temple Girls
Introduction Championship finances are the most mind numbing in any division in the professional game and Sheffield United have just produced their accounts for 2017/18. Having to compete against clubs with the benefit of parachute payments as well as some with rich benefactors means that wages are high, and losses are common. Relative to other clubs in the division was always a tough task but a seaason of consolidation in 2017/18 has been the platform for potential promotion in the current season. I must confess to always liking Sheffield United as when I was a kid their Admiral kit was the one in the catalogue that looked cooler than a…
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Liverpool 2017/18: Toxteth O’Grady
Liverpool 2018: The Killing Moon Introduction: Jurgen Klopp has many reasons to smile at present with his team competing for the Premier League title and in the knock out stage of the Champions League. Under Klopp’s management, combined with what seems to be astute operational management by the club’s commercial and marketing department, the club has also announced a world record pre-tax profit of £125 million for 2017/18. Reds’ fans won’t give a hoot about the profits as they look forwards with anticipation and trepidation to the remainder of the season, but there is a link between good financial and footballing management depending upon the business model employed by different…