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Wolves top Championship losses

Wolves had trading losses of £1,211,000 a week in 2017/18 when being promoted from EFL Championship to Premier League. Their losses were higher than any other club in the division reported to date, which total £446 million. One Wolves fan tweeted, 'Worth every penny.'

Turnover for the year was up from £23.7m to £26.4m, driven by improvements in match attendances. Season ticket numbers went up from 13,757 to 21,233 and average league attendances increased from 21,572 to 28,298.

At £7.8m gate receipts accounted for 28 per cent of turnover. 26 per cent came from league distributions and 24 per cent from commercial revenue. Sponsorship and advertising accounted for 10 per cent and broadcasting rights 4 per cent.

Merchandising revenues were up by £0.6m and there was a £0.4m increase in corporate hospitality revenues. Such revenue increases more than offset the shortfall in prize money from the FA Cup run in 2016/17 which was not repeated in 2017/18.

Wolves paid out £192 in wages in 2017/18 for every £100 of income. The wage bill has almost tripled since 2015 and expect to rise again substantially in 2018/19. This was the worst wages to turnover ratio in the Championship apart from Birmingham City at £202 (the 'Redknapp effect', the king of the player spend jungle.). Wolves wages for 2018 lower than that of Villa the previous season (Villa results not yet published) but still work out at over £24,000 a week.

Wolves income increased by 11% as higher crowds and increased commercial income drove up revenue. Wolves were mid-table in terms of Championship income in 2017/18 but 4th if parachute payments are excluded: they have a major distorting effect on Championship revenues.

Wolves confirmed player purchases of just under £110m since promotion. Player trading in 2017/18 generated a profit of £8.1m.

Wolves borrowed nearly £50million from their parent company to underwrite losses.

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