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West Ham 2018/19: Flares’n’Slippers
In January 2020 David Sullivan, West Ham’s controlling shareholder said “Overall, I believe the club’s in a far better state than 10 years ago” so we thought we’d put that to the test with a look at the club’s finances during that period. Decade of success or standing still? The West Ham that Sullivan and Gold acquired from the former Icelandic Bank owners was certainly in crisis, but have their efforts improved the happiness of fans who now attend the rented London Stadium? Rebelling fans know West Ham have just announced their accounts for the year ended 30 June 2019, and like events on the pitch last season, disappoint more than…
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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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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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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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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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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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Manchester United 2018 Finances: Made of Stone
Introduction Tuesday 25th September 2018 may not go down as a great day in Manchester United’s history, as the club lost in the Carabao Cup to Derby County and there was a very public spat between Jose Mourinho and Paul Pogba, but off the field the club announced record revenues for the year ended 30 June 2018. How this was achieved is more to do with the abilities of the marketing department which continues to set a standard that most other clubs can only envy. Earnings this high are likely to ensure that United are once again top or close to the top of the Football Money League when other…