Skip to main content

Relegation hits Norwich revenues

The cost of relegation from the Premier League is emphasised by the financial results for Norwich to 30th June which show a £25m reduction in income from £100.6m to £75.9m, largely because of the loss of broadcasting revenues which fell by £18.6m. Ticket sales were down from £11.5m to £9.2m. Parachute payments were also reduced.

'The reality is that the financial gap between the Premier League and Championship has widened,' said chairman Ed Balls. 'The accounts show how hard it is to be relegated. Even though we tried to have a plan to ensure player wages came down too it wasn’t enough to fill the gap.'

However, losses were relatively modest at £2.7m, although they compare with a profit of £9.4m in the previous year. The club is also relatively free of external debt at £1.8m in the form of a bank working capital facility. Wages were reduced by prudent clauses in player contracts. The total bill was down from £62m to £55m. Even so it is the second largest wage bill in Championship history (after QPR).

The financial position was worsened by severance payouts totalling more than £4m, split between outgoing chief executive Jez Moxey, former manager Alex Neil, and some of his coaching staff.

Dealings in the transfer market have reaped some benefit, with a £2.1m profit from player trading, compared to an £11m loss the previous year. Player purchases totalled £27.6m and players sold brought in £29.7m.

In light of the tighter financial situation at the club, long-mooted expansion hopes for Carrow Road have been put on hold, as has work at the training ground.

The plan is to secure a return to the Premier League, but not at any cost. Asked what the plan would be if the club fails to achieve promotion to the Premier League this season, managing director Steve Stone said: 'The Plan B is creating a succession plan for players brought in from the academy to look at the squad for the next three years and to look at who can replace players to achieve getting to the Premier League in the intervening transfer window.'

'The academy really has to work in the long term bringing players through under our existing funding model. I would expect staff costs to come down next year, primarily due to redundancies.'

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Fulham requires big funding from owner

After lengthy delays, Fulham’s shiny, new Riverside Stand has finally opened, creating “a unique Thameside destination with first class facilities for supporters and partners on match days, as well as for the wider community year-round”. This ambitious project has increased Craven Cottage’s capacity by around 4,000 to 29,600, while it has also taken advantage of the club’s fantastic location and wealthy catchment area by including two Michelin star restaurants, a rooftop swimming pool, corporate hospitality and event space, all benefiting from views of the Thames. Chief executive Alistair Mackintosh observed, “Fulham is the sort of club that can have a business class or first class and have fans that turn left on a plane.” Indeed, there is also an exclusive members club – with a football season ticket as an optional extra. It’s fair to say that “the times they are a-changing”, as this is a long way from the traditional pie and a pint. However, in a world where clubs face the tw...
Post a Comment
Read more

Threat of financial calamity removed from Baggies

West Bromwich Albion had effectively been in decline ever since the club was sold to a Chinese consortium in August 2016, paying a figure north of £200m to buy former owner Jeremy Peace’s stake. Controlling shareholder Guochuan Lai’s ownership was fairly disastrous for the club, but his unloved tenure finally came to an end after Bilkul Football WBA, a company ultimately owned by Florida-based entrepreneur Shilen Patel and his father Dr Kiran Patel, acquired an 87.8% shareholding in West Bromwich Albion Group Limited, the parent company of West Bromwich Albion Football Club. This change in ownership was urgently required, due to the numerous financial problems facing West Brom, including growing high-interest debt and serious cash flow concerns, following years of no investment from the former owner. Indeed, West Brom’s auditors had already rung the alarm bell in the 2021/22 accounts when they cast doubt on the club’s ability to continue as a going concern without making player s...
1 comment
Read more

A poor financial record, but new hope at Everton

I recently saw an amusing video online in which a group of Everton fans were rebuked in jest for being hopeful.  Football fans in general tend to swing between excessive optimism and excessive pessimism, but for many it seems that moaning is in their bloodstream (Spurs fans probably take the trophy).  However, Everton fans have had plenty to moan about on and off the pitch.   Let’s hope that a new era is about to begin for this grand old club. Everton’s 2023/24 financial results covered a fairly momentous season, when they ended up 15th in the Premier League, though they would finished three places higher if they had not received an 8-point deduction for breaching the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability Regulations (PSR). It was a worrying time for Everton fans, as the club faced a “perfect storm” of issues, including large financial losses, an ever increasing debt burden, a challenging stadium build and the tortuous sale of the club. There were eve...
Post a Comment
Read more