Leeds United are the only club in the United Kingdom’s third biggest and arguably most vibrant metropolitan area, enjoying a strong fan base, so it should be in the top flight. I hope they stay up. Below is a summary of the salient points from the Swiss Ramble’s analysis of their latest accounts. Much more depth and analysis can be found on his Substack page (free trial often available). Despite the success on the pitch, Leeds United still posted a large loss of £49m in 2024/25, though this was an improvement on the previous season’s £61m deficit. Revenue rose £9m (7%) from £128m to £137m, while operating expenses were only up £1m from £204m to £205m and net interest payable dropped by two-thirds from £18m to £6m. However, profit on player sales was £9m lower, falling from £34m to £25m. Revenue growth The main driver of the revenue growth was commercial, which shot up £15m (34%) from £43m to £58m, an incredible figure for the Championship, while gate receipts ...
Birmingham City are very positive about their financial results for 2024/25 despite making an operating loss of £39 million which they somehow fail to mention: https://www.bcfc.com/pages/en/media-article/birmingham-city-football-club-posts-strong-financial-statement-for-24-25 The club is undoubtedly making real long-term progress under its new ownership, although performance on the pitch has been a little underwhelming. The operating loss represents a significant increase of approximately 115%, as compared to the loss of approximately £16.1m for the corresponding period last year. This compares to Wrexham’s operating loss of £14.84m over the same period but is far less than Leeds United’s £49.1m when they were a Championship club last season. Cardiff City, who were also in the second tier in 2024/25, lost £35.1m over the same period. Much of Blues’ situation can be explained by wages of £38.9m, which are up 9 per cent on the previous year from £35.8m. What cannot be ignored,...