Brentford punch above their weight

Last season’s £30m pre-tax profit is the highest in the Brentford’s history, though Cliff Crown cautioned “in a deteriorating economic environment in which higher salary and overhead costs remain essential to our retaining Premier League status, this financial performance will be difficult to repeat.”

Combining fine sporting results with good financial performance is nothing new to Brentford, as seen by the very small loss achieved in the promotion season. Most clubs promoted from the Championship suffer massive losses, as they really “go for it” in pursuit of the “promised land”, but this was not the case for the Bees, who only lost £9m.

This is only the second time that Brentford have posted a profit in the last 10 years, though they have managed to keep the size of their losses relatively small, which is no mean feat in the highly competitive Championship, especially given the club’s low turnover.

The £24m profit reported in 2018/19 was boosted by £14m from the sale of land to developers following the move from Griffin Park (sales proceeds £50m less value in the accounts £36m).

Following promotion, Brentford did not need to sell players to balance the books, though this has been “fundamental” to their strategy in recent years, leading to £139m profit from player trading in the six seasons up to 2020/21 (including £96m in the last three years of that period).  In fact, Brentford delivered three of the top 20 profits from player sales ever in the Championship with their £44m in 2020/21 being the 5th highest.

The scale of Brentford’s improved financial position in the Premier League is illustrated by the fact that their £141m revenue is more than the last 25 years combined. It is nearly ten times as much in the top flight as they generated in the Championship.  This incredible growth has been driven by broadcasting income, which now accounts for 82% of Brentford’s total revenue.

Even after this steep increase, Brentford’s £141m revenue is still one of the lowest in the Premier League, likely to be only above the three relegated clubs when all accounts are published for 2021/22.  Brentford’s ability to punch above their weight had already been amply demonstrated in the Championship. Their £15m revenue in 2020/21 was the lowest for any club promoted to the Premier League in the last six years.

Matthew Benham’s commitment to Brentford now stands at £104m, comprising £66m loans and £38m share capital. That included £23m specifically in relation to the new stadium.  One sign of Brentford’s progress is that Benham’s funding has been largely unchanged since 2017, i.e. the club has stood on its own two feet.

Brentford’s first season in the Premier League was hugely impressive, both on and off the pitch. They finished in a very respectable mid-table position, despite operating with one of the lowest budgets in the division.