Skip to main content

Swiss blast at Villa finances

From his Zurich base, the Swiss Ramble has delivered a critical blast at Aston Villa at odds with his usual dispassionate tone.   Some Villa fans have taken offence, and I can see why they might.   Nevertheless, if I was a Villa fan, I would be questioning whether all this money had been well spent.

One Villa fan said that they did not need to be reminded of the dark ages.  Another commented: 'Ignoring that in that time we have been promoted pushed top 10 and pushing lots of big teams as well as a dramatic team change and gaining 100m from joe, not to mention the massive academy upgrade and training facilities now know to be some of the best in the country.'

In the last 10 years Aston Villa have reported a staggering £455m of pre-tax losses, which is actually highest of the 20 clubs in the Premier League in the 2019/20 season.

The last time that the club posted an operating profit was back in 2014 – and that was only £1m. Excluding player sales and exceptional items, operating losses have been steadily worsening year after year, culminating in £103m in 2020, one of the largest in the top flight.

The wages to turnover ratio has been consistently on the high side, rising to 175% in the Championship in 2019 (including promotion bonuses). This improved in the Premier League in 2020, but was still at a worrying 97%, which was one of the worst in the top tier.

It is true that the club are almost debt-free, but this is only thanks to the generosity of their owners, who have effectively written-off a cool £223m in the last 7 years, including £90m waived repayments, £85m conversion of debt into equity and £48m former owners’ loans repaid.

In fact, the owners have provided £337m of funding in the last 5 years, mainly in the form of new share capital, to cover large operational losses, hefty player purchases and infrastructure investment. This is the second highest in the Premier League, only behind Everton £348m.

The club sailed very close to the wind with Financial Fair Play in the 2019 Championship, though they would have been around £50m above the allowed losses without the benefit of £36m profit from the inter-company stadium sale and £17m compensation for high-speed rail network.


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Wolves get raw deal from FFP

  I used to see a lifelong Wolves fan for lunch once a month.   He was approaching ninety, but still went to games.   Sadly he passed away the other week. As football finance guru Kieran Maguire has noted, Wolves continue to be constrained by financial fair play rules.  Radio 4 this morning described them as this year's 'crisis club' and the pessimists have certainly been piling in. Martin Samuel wrote sympathetically in the Sunday Times yesterday, saying that the Premier League drives talent away with regulatory red tape: 'Why could Al-Hilal sign Neves? Because Wolves needed the money. And why did Wolves need the money? Because the club had to comply with an artificial construct known as financial fair play. So Wolves are going skint, yes? No. There is no suggestion that Wolves are in financial trouble, only that they are failing to meet the rigours of FFP. Wolves’ owners appear to have the money to run the club, and invest in the club, and in fact came up with a pow
Post a Comment
Read more

Gold standard ground boosts Tottenham's income

The gold standard in European football grounds is the Tottenham Hotspur stadium in north London, a £1bn construction project completed in 2019. Its impact on the club’s finances has become increasingly clear as the effects of the pandemic have faded. Previously, the average fan would spend less than £2 inside the ground on a typical match day, but now that figure is about £16, thanks to new facilities including the longest bar in Europe and an on-site microbrewery. Capacity has gone up from 36,000 at the club’s previous home of White Hart Lane to 62,000.  The new stadium — built on land adjacent to White Hart Lane — has opened the door to a broad range of other events that have helped to push commercial income up from €117mn in 2018 to €215mn in 2022. Last year, Tottenham hosted US singer Beyoncé for five nights on her global Renaissance tour, two NFL matches, as well as rugby games and heavyweight boxing bouts.  Money brought in from football has gone up too. Match day income is
Post a Comment
Read more

Charlton takeover approved

The long awaited takeover of Charlton Athletic by SE7 Partners from Thomas Sandgaard has been approved:  https://londonnewsonline.co.uk/se7-partners-obtain-efl-approval-for-charlton-athletic-takeover/ Charlton have had unhappy experiences with owners for over a decade, so how this works out will remain to be seen.  There is certainly potential there, but will it be realised? This interview with Charlie Methven gives detail not available elsewhere:  https://thecharltondossier.com/charlie-methven-on-the-record/
Post a Comment
Read more