City's impressive financial feat

The Swiss Ramble reports on Manchester City’s 2020/21 accounts when they swung from £125m pre-tax loss to £5m profit, as revenue rose £92m to £570m, due to deferred TV income and CL, while profit from player sales up £29m to £69m.

It is a pretty impressive feat for City to post a profit in 2020/21, when all clubs had to contend with a full year of the pandemic. The other Premier League clubs that have published accounts to date have all made big losses.

They managed to make money, despite revenue being significantly impacted by COVID. The Swiss Ramble estimates the revenue loss as £58m in 2020/21 (mainly match day), which would make £89m lost over the last 2 years.

Main reason for revenue growth was £107m (56%) increase in broadcasting from £190m to £297m, including deferred revenue from 2019/20 and higher CL money, plus £25m (10%) growth in commercial to £272m, which offset COVID driven reduction in match day, down £41m (98%) to £1m.

Few clubs have made big money in a transfer market somewhat deflated by COVID, but the profit from player sales rose £29m from £40m to £69m. Player sales have not been as high at City as many others (e.g. Chelsea £462m since 2016), but have become increasingly important. This season will feature sales of Torres to Barcelona, Harrison to Leeds, Nmecha to Wolfsburg and Ilic to Verona plus Jadon Sancho sell-on clause.

The Swiss Ramble estimates that City earned €120m for reaching the Champions League final, just below winners Chelsea €121m, but much more than previous season €95m. The Champions League has been a nice little earner for the club with an impressive €422m received in the last five years, the highest of any English club.

The £272m commercial income is now the highest in England, having overtaken Manchester United £232m. In the past two years City have grown £45m, while United have dropped £43m, as their fortunes have contrasted on the pitch.

The average attendance of 54,219 (for those games played with fans), was the fifth highest in the Premier League, around 18,000 below their Manchester neighbours 72,726, and just above Liverpool 53,143.

The wage bill rose £3m (1%) to £355m, a new club record, due to a combination of new signings and contract extensions. Wages have increased by £157m (80%) in the last 5 years, the highest growth of the Big Six. £355m wages are the highest in the Premier League, having overtaken Manchester United in 2020. In fact, this is the highest ever wage bill reported in England. The wages to turnover ratio improved from 73% to 62%, one of the lowest (best) in the Premier League.

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

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

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/

The Political Economy of Football V2

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