05-24-2019, 03:48 PM
Martyn Ziegler, Chief Sports Reporter
May 24 2019, 12:01am, The Times
The growing gap between the Premier League and lower-league clubs has been starkly illustrated by figures that show nearly three quarters of English Football League sides are losing money.
Premier League teams had record revenues of £8.4 billion and 12 of the 20 top-flight clubs made a net profit in 2017-18. By contrast, 52 of the 72 clubs in the Sky Bet Championship, League One and League Two ended the season in the red.
Taking into account all profits and losses, the 20 Premier League clubs made a surplus of £304 million while the 72 EFL teams had a collective net deficit of £388 million.
The financial struggles of lower-league clubs have been brought sharply into focus in the past season. This month Bolton Wanderers became the first English league club since 2013 to go into administration and the situation has resulted in unpaid staff being provided with a food bank. Bury are also in a financial crisis, with players saying they have not been paid for 12 weeks, and the club facing a winding-up petition next month over unpaid taxes.
The biggest losses have occurred in the Championship, with several teams enduring tens of millions of pounds in losses as they chased a place in the lucrative top flight, where income of at least £100 million a season is guaranteed. The four biggest loss- making teams in England were all in the Championship — Birmingham City and Queens Park Rangers, along with Fulham and Wolverhampton Wanderers, who were both promoted to the Premier League.
Derby County have balanced the books by selling their stadium to Mel Morris, the club’s owner, for £80 million, creating an on-paper profit.
Kieran Maguire, a lecturer in football finance at the University of Liverpool, said: “The gap is now so big between the Premier League and the rest that the Championship clubs are prepared to gamble on getting to the Promised Land.
“If you look at it as a three out of 24 chance of winning the lottery then many people might think it’s good odds and so raise the stakes. Club owners who might be sensible in other areas seem to lose their business sanity when it comes to football.”
Maguire said that the financial gap between the Championship and Leagues One and Two was also growing.
An insolvency expert said that most clubs outside the Premier League are technically insolvent and believes that more will go into administration before the end of next season.
“The expenses in terms of player wages are too high and there is not enough income coming in,” the expert said. “It’s unsustainable.”
The situation at Bolton has led to calls for the EFL to toughen its owners’ and directors’ test. Ken Anderson, who bought the club three years ago and paid himself £525,000 in consultancy fees in the first year, had previously been banned as a company director.
He attempted to sell the club to the former Watford owner, Laurence Bassini, who had a three-year ban from any football involvement imposed in March 2013, but was still given the go-ahead by the EFL. The takeover collapsed for other reasons.
Anderson will not end up out of pocket from his time in charge. He is one of several secured creditors who will be paid in full any money owing.
Paul Appleton, the joint administrator of David Rubin and Partners, said that he was hopeful of finding a buyer by the end of June. Interested parties have until 4pm on June 7 to make a declaration of interest and pay a non-refundable £25,000 fee, which will give them access to all the financial information about the club. Four or five potential buyers are expected to pay the fee but they must also provide proof of funds of at least £25 million and have confirmation from the EFL that those involved have passed the owners’ and directors’ test.
Bolton’s players have not been paid since March but have agreed their wages will be deferred until a new owner takes over. “We have had talks with the players via the manager Phil Parkinson,” Appleton said. “They understand the situation and the difficulties we are facing.”
The 92 League clubs ranked in order of profitability
Accounts for last season reveal a gulf in wealth in the English game, with 52 of the 72 EFL clubs losing money.
2017-18 Net profit and loss
1 Tottenham £113m
2 Liverpool £106m
3 Chelsea £62m
4 Arsenal £57m
5 Burnley £37m
6 Southampton £29m
7 Newcastle £19m
8 Hull £19m
9 West Ham £17m
10 Norwich £15m
11 Barnsley £13m
12 Huddersfield £11m
13 Brighton £11m
14 Manchester City £10m
15 Exeter £2.4m
16 Leicester £1m
17 Preston £1m
18 Port Vale £1m
19 Stevenage £0.8m
20 Luton £0.6m
21 Peterborough £0.5m
22 Forest Green £0.4
23 Accrington £0.4m
24 Fleetwood £0.4m
25 Burton £0.3m
26 Shrewsbury £0.3m
27 Gillingham £0.1m
28 Plymouth £0.1m
29 Newport £0.1m
30 Yeovil £0.1m
31 Walsall no profit/loss
32 Barnet no profit/loss
33 Grimsby -£0.04m
34 Cheltenham -£0.1m
35 Carlisle -£0.1m
36 Mansfield -£0.1m
37 Bradford -£0.3m
38 Rochdale -£0.3m
39 Crawley -£0.3m
40 Morecambe -£0.4m
41 Oldham -£0.5m
42 Rotherham -£0.5m
43 Wimbledon -£0.5m
44 Wycombe -£0.7m
45 Crewe -£0.8m
46 Cambridge -£0.8m
47 Chesterfield -£1.1m
48 Lincoln -£1.1m
49 Derby -£1.1m
50 Portsmouth -£1.4m
51 Notts County -£1.5m
52 Swindon -£1.8m
53 Sheffield Utd -£1.9m
54 Northampton -£2m
55 Oxford -£2m
56 Blackpool -£2.1m
57 Coventry -£2.5m
58 Doncaster -£2.8m
59 Bury -£2.8m
60 Swansea -£3m
61 Southend -£3.1m
62 Colchester -£3m
63 Bristol Rovers -£3m
64 Scunthorpe -£3.6m
65 Brentford -£3.9m
66 Leeds -£4.3m
67 MK Dons -£4.6m
68 Millwall -£4.6m
69 Ipswich -£5.2m
70 Bolton -£5.4m
71 Nottingham Forest -£5.6m
72 West Brom -£6m
73 Middlesbrough -£6.6m
74 Wigan -£7.7m
75 Sunderland -£10.2m
76 Charlton -£10.4m
77 Bournemouth -£11m
78 Everton -£13m
79 Blackburn -£16.8m
80 Reading -£21m
81 Sheffield Wed -£21m
82 Bristol City -£25m
83 Watford -£31m
84 Stoke -£32m
85 Aston Villa -£35m
86 Cardiff -£36m
87 Crystal Palace -£36m
88 Manchester Utd -£37m
89 Birmingham -£37m
90 QPR -£38m
91 Fulham -£45m
92 Wolves -£57m
Compiled by Martyn Ziegler
May 24 2019, 12:01am, The Times
The growing gap between the Premier League and lower-league clubs has been starkly illustrated by figures that show nearly three quarters of English Football League sides are losing money.
Premier League teams had record revenues of £8.4 billion and 12 of the 20 top-flight clubs made a net profit in 2017-18. By contrast, 52 of the 72 clubs in the Sky Bet Championship, League One and League Two ended the season in the red.
Taking into account all profits and losses, the 20 Premier League clubs made a surplus of £304 million while the 72 EFL teams had a collective net deficit of £388 million.
The financial struggles of lower-league clubs have been brought sharply into focus in the past season. This month Bolton Wanderers became the first English league club since 2013 to go into administration and the situation has resulted in unpaid staff being provided with a food bank. Bury are also in a financial crisis, with players saying they have not been paid for 12 weeks, and the club facing a winding-up petition next month over unpaid taxes.
The biggest losses have occurred in the Championship, with several teams enduring tens of millions of pounds in losses as they chased a place in the lucrative top flight, where income of at least £100 million a season is guaranteed. The four biggest loss- making teams in England were all in the Championship — Birmingham City and Queens Park Rangers, along with Fulham and Wolverhampton Wanderers, who were both promoted to the Premier League.
Derby County have balanced the books by selling their stadium to Mel Morris, the club’s owner, for £80 million, creating an on-paper profit.
Kieran Maguire, a lecturer in football finance at the University of Liverpool, said: “The gap is now so big between the Premier League and the rest that the Championship clubs are prepared to gamble on getting to the Promised Land.
“If you look at it as a three out of 24 chance of winning the lottery then many people might think it’s good odds and so raise the stakes. Club owners who might be sensible in other areas seem to lose their business sanity when it comes to football.”
Maguire said that the financial gap between the Championship and Leagues One and Two was also growing.
An insolvency expert said that most clubs outside the Premier League are technically insolvent and believes that more will go into administration before the end of next season.
“The expenses in terms of player wages are too high and there is not enough income coming in,” the expert said. “It’s unsustainable.”
The situation at Bolton has led to calls for the EFL to toughen its owners’ and directors’ test. Ken Anderson, who bought the club three years ago and paid himself £525,000 in consultancy fees in the first year, had previously been banned as a company director.
He attempted to sell the club to the former Watford owner, Laurence Bassini, who had a three-year ban from any football involvement imposed in March 2013, but was still given the go-ahead by the EFL. The takeover collapsed for other reasons.
Anderson will not end up out of pocket from his time in charge. He is one of several secured creditors who will be paid in full any money owing.
Paul Appleton, the joint administrator of David Rubin and Partners, said that he was hopeful of finding a buyer by the end of June. Interested parties have until 4pm on June 7 to make a declaration of interest and pay a non-refundable £25,000 fee, which will give them access to all the financial information about the club. Four or five potential buyers are expected to pay the fee but they must also provide proof of funds of at least £25 million and have confirmation from the EFL that those involved have passed the owners’ and directors’ test.
Bolton’s players have not been paid since March but have agreed their wages will be deferred until a new owner takes over. “We have had talks with the players via the manager Phil Parkinson,” Appleton said. “They understand the situation and the difficulties we are facing.”
The 92 League clubs ranked in order of profitability
Accounts for last season reveal a gulf in wealth in the English game, with 52 of the 72 EFL clubs losing money.
2017-18 Net profit and loss
1 Tottenham £113m
2 Liverpool £106m
3 Chelsea £62m
4 Arsenal £57m
5 Burnley £37m
6 Southampton £29m
7 Newcastle £19m
8 Hull £19m
9 West Ham £17m
10 Norwich £15m
11 Barnsley £13m
12 Huddersfield £11m
13 Brighton £11m
14 Manchester City £10m
15 Exeter £2.4m
16 Leicester £1m
17 Preston £1m
18 Port Vale £1m
19 Stevenage £0.8m
20 Luton £0.6m
21 Peterborough £0.5m
22 Forest Green £0.4
23 Accrington £0.4m
24 Fleetwood £0.4m
25 Burton £0.3m
26 Shrewsbury £0.3m
27 Gillingham £0.1m
28 Plymouth £0.1m
29 Newport £0.1m
30 Yeovil £0.1m
31 Walsall no profit/loss
32 Barnet no profit/loss
33 Grimsby -£0.04m
34 Cheltenham -£0.1m
35 Carlisle -£0.1m
36 Mansfield -£0.1m
37 Bradford -£0.3m
38 Rochdale -£0.3m
39 Crawley -£0.3m
40 Morecambe -£0.4m
41 Oldham -£0.5m
42 Rotherham -£0.5m
43 Wimbledon -£0.5m
44 Wycombe -£0.7m
45 Crewe -£0.8m
46 Cambridge -£0.8m
47 Chesterfield -£1.1m
48 Lincoln -£1.1m
49 Derby -£1.1m
50 Portsmouth -£1.4m
51 Notts County -£1.5m
52 Swindon -£1.8m
53 Sheffield Utd -£1.9m
54 Northampton -£2m
55 Oxford -£2m
56 Blackpool -£2.1m
57 Coventry -£2.5m
58 Doncaster -£2.8m
59 Bury -£2.8m
60 Swansea -£3m
61 Southend -£3.1m
62 Colchester -£3m
63 Bristol Rovers -£3m
64 Scunthorpe -£3.6m
65 Brentford -£3.9m
66 Leeds -£4.3m
67 MK Dons -£4.6m
68 Millwall -£4.6m
69 Ipswich -£5.2m
70 Bolton -£5.4m
71 Nottingham Forest -£5.6m
72 West Brom -£6m
73 Middlesbrough -£6.6m
74 Wigan -£7.7m
75 Sunderland -£10.2m
76 Charlton -£10.4m
77 Bournemouth -£11m
78 Everton -£13m
79 Blackburn -£16.8m
80 Reading -£21m
81 Sheffield Wed -£21m
82 Bristol City -£25m
83 Watford -£31m
84 Stoke -£32m
85 Aston Villa -£35m
86 Cardiff -£36m
87 Crystal Palace -£36m
88 Manchester Utd -£37m
89 Birmingham -£37m
90 QPR -£38m
91 Fulham -£45m
92 Wolves -£57m
Compiled by Martyn Ziegler
