Cherries do well on and off the pitch

Club accounts are now arriving at a fast and furious pace.  AFC  Bournemouth are on their second year of parachute payments, but are hopeful of a return to the Premier League.

The club’s first season back in England’s second tier saw revenue streams limited due to COVID, but despite having no matchday revenue, the club recorded an operating profit of £23.6 million. 

This is rather unusual for a Championship club who often make big losses as they pursue promotion.   The Cherries have cut their cloth to meet their situation, but are still enjoying a good if sometimes variable level of success on the pitch.

Revenue at £77m was down 25 per cent.  Wages at £57m were down 47%.   Operating loss was £33m down 56%. Player sale profits at £56m up 143%.   (Reports Kieran Maguire of the PriceofFootball).

Before tax, the club recorded profits of £17m, and after posting losses of £60.1m in 2020, the directors now “consider the financial position of the club to be satisfactory at 30 June 2021".

That figure was largely facilitated by the club selling players, with Cherries recording £55.8m from player sales. That number is over double the amount raised from player sales the previous year, with the club receiving £22.9m in transfer fees.

Another contributing factor was the fact Cherries almost halved the budget for players and staff, with the 2020 total of £107.9m reduced down to £57.4m after players were sold, released, or had relegation clauses in their contracts activated.

Turnover decreased by £23.7m, with the club hampered by behind-closed-doors fixtures, seeing 2020's turnover figure of £95.4m falling to £71.7m.