Record loss at United

Manchester United recorded a record £115.5m net loss, saw their net debt rise £95.4m to a total of £514.9m, paid £33.6m to the Glazer family and now boast the Premier League’s biggest wage bill while finishing last season as the sixth-best team. This was all revealed when United released their financial results for the year ending June 2022.

Although United’s overall revenue increased by 18 per cent to £583.2million (£494.1m 2021), largely down to fans returning to Old Trafford for the entire 2021-22 season, they still lost over £2m a week. United said the £115.5million net loss — the biggest in the club’s history — is, in part, down to the British pound tanking against the US dollar. Another consequence of the British pound’s weakness against the US dollar was seen in the interest payments on their debt, costing £62.2million.

United’s accounts revealed the Glazer family received £33.6million in dividends throughout the financial year, which is notably more than the normal £22m. The reason for the increased dividend, United say, is that the club’s owners deferred a payment during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Their wage bill rose to £384.2million, up £61.1m from the previous year, which is more than any other Premier League side.   Another eye-catching aspect of the club’s accounts is that they spent £24.7million in the past financial year compensating former managers Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick.

United’s ability to spend big on wages despite a lack of on-field success and not qualifying for the Champions League highlights that their financial strength remains impressive.

However, football finance guru Kieran Maguire commented: ‘If a normal business made record losses, failed to deliver on KPI’s expected by stakeholders, lost control of cost base, have a share price lower than a decade ago AND paid record dividend, a cynic might conclude the executives were either arrogant, stupid, naive or out of touch with reality.’