Financial Results
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Everton 2017/18: The Long and Winding Road
Introduction: Farhad Moshiri, Everton’s new owner, had a busy year in 2017/18, sacking two managers and trying to make progress on a new stadium for the club. After sacking Ronald Koeman in October 2017, the club’s fans grumpily tolerated the alehouse tactics of Sam Allardyce that took them from 13th to 8th in the Premier League, and then he too was jettisoned. To an outsider this seems harsh, but phone ins and social media comments clearly indicated that Allardyce’s pragmatism in achieving results was not enough for a fanbase that had high expectations last season. Spending restrictions under the previous owner Bill Kenwright were replaced with both managers splashing the…
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West Ham 2018: Plastic Passion
Introduction: Getting to the London Stadium was supposed to be a game changer financially for West Ham, according to the club’s owners, David Gold and David Sullivan. Once the move was completed the additional capacity, combined with the greater opportunities for developing sponsorship and commercial agreements should have given the club the extra income to allow West Ham to break through the glass ceiling of the ‘Big Six’ clubs who had taken nearly all of the Champions League places this decade. Local fans however have not been happy with the move, leading to an uneasy relationship with the owners that manifested itself last season on occasion with demonstrations and hostility…
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Brighton 2017/18: What Do I Get?
Introduction: Tony Bloom, Brighton’s owner, probably heaved a sigh of relief in 2017/18, not just because his team had been promoted, but for the first time in living memory the club made a profit. Over the six initial seasons that Brighton had played in the Championship at the Amex stadium, the Albion had lost £110 million. Nevertheless, Bloom still ended up lending the club £32 million in 2017/18 as he underwrote investment in new players and capital projects. Yet for some Brighton fans this benevolence from Bloom is not enough, and recent tantrums and whines on social media suggest that some fans will always want more, especially if someone else…
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Stoke City 2018: Coat(es) of many colours
Introduction: There’s not a huge number of famous people from Stoke, Stanley Matthews and Robbie Williams come to mind, but then most people may be struggling. Recent events have brought one person to the public’s attention, and that’s Denise Coates, the main shareholder in Bet365, who own 100% of Stoke City Football Club Limited’s shares. She was paid £220 million in 2017/18, a record for a private company, which will come as little cheer to Stoke City fans as their club was relegated from the Premier League. The club was one of the first to publish its financial results for 2017/18. Key figures for year to 31 May 2018: Stoke…
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Bristol City 2017/18: Mezzanine
Introduction: The insanity of life in the Championship chasing a place in ‘The Promised Land’ ((c) Alan Green and all other unimaginative commentators) is highlighted in Bristol City’s latest financial results. City were 2nd in the table on 26th December 2017 but were slid to mid table by the end of the season, and with that had to disassemble the squad as the vultures came picking off their best players. Key figures for year to 30 June 18: Bristol City Holdings Ltd Income £25.2 million (up 19%). Wages £27.3 million (up 30%) . Losses before player sales £24.2 million (up 26%) Player signings £12 million Player sales £1.8 million Steve…
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Rangers: Automatic for the people
Introduction 8pm on 31st October is when I’m usually wondering if I can eat all the fun size Mars Bars that haven’t been vacuumed up by local youths dressed in Freddy Kreuger or Gary Neville fright masks trick or treating for Halloween. Instead my email inbox pinged, and something came through about Rangers. Initially I ignored it, couldn’t be important surely, as after all the first team were playing high flying Kilmarnock at the same time. At half-time, having prised myself away from the match on TV, it appeared that Rangers had published their annual results, a good time to bury bad news perhaps? Key figures for 2017/18 Income £32.7m…
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Norwich City: In the Country
Introduction Norwich City Football Club Ltd announced its financial results for the year ended 30 June 2018 recently. Norwich are the third team in last year’s Championship to produce their results, following Hull and Birmingham. It may be a new EFL rule that clubs whose name ends in ‘City’ are legally obliged to publish their accounts before any others, or it may be coincidence, though with Shaun Harvey in charge anything is possible. Any tables for the division as a whole use figures from 2016/17 for other clubs. Norwich finished a forgettable 14th in 2017/18, which, given their financial performance, will have been seen as a bit bobbins by fans.…
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Celtic: Rattlesnakes
Introduction Celtic announced their 2017/18 results in mid-September 2018, but these came in the form of a detailed press release, rather than the full annual report. Like many things in relation to Celtic, it left a few unanswered questions where perhaps it would have been easier to give a fuller story. Having failed to make the qualifying rounds of the Champions League, the club face a challenging season where for the first time in many years there could be a credible challenge to their domination of the domestic game. Ambivalent comments from manager Brendan Rodgers, a Rangers who are getting a lot of attention since the arrival of Steven Gerrard…
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Walsall 2018: Heading Out on the Highway
Introduction Walsall have just published their financial results, the first for a League One club for 2017/18, and, just as they have done for the previous five years, they’ve made a profit and kept their status in that division for the eleventh consecutive year. That seems to be enough to satisfy the ambitions of the club owner, Jeff Bonser, though some fans seem to be fed up with his control of the club, and the way he extracts money from it through owning the stadium. Financial summary Income: £5,853,000 (down 12%) Wages: £3,376,000 million (down 0.3%) Sustainable operating profit £63,000 (down 89%) Wages to income 58% (up from 51%) Player…
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Birmingham City 2018: The Lion Sleeps Tonight
Introduction Birmingham City’s parent company Birmingham Sports Holdings Ltd, announced its financial results for the year ended 30 June 2018 in October. We wrote about them at the time and can now slightly refine the figures after Birmingam City Football Club plc sent their accounts to the company registrar. Key Figures Income up 7% to £18.8 million Wages up 69% to £38.0 million Trading losses up from £16.1 to £38.8 million Player purchases up from £11.6 to £15.4 million Income Every club must split its income into at least three categories to comply with EFL League recommendations, matchday, broadcasting and commercial. Birmingham’s matchday income rose by 9% last season to…