The authoritative Swiss Ramble reviews the 2021/22 accounts of Stoke City: https://swissramble.substack.com/p/stoke-city-finances-202122
Stoke swung from a £10m pre-tax loss to a £102m profit,
though this was driven by the owners of the club forgiving £120m of historic
debts that had been accumulated in support of investment into the club.
Following four consecutive years of losses, this is the
first time that Stoke have reported a profit since 2017. As a rule, they
managed to make (small) profits when in the Premier league.
Stoke’s profit from player sales increased from just £0.9m
to £10.9m, mainly from Nathan Collins to Burnley and Sam Surridge to Nottingham
Forest. This is actually the highest in
2021/22 for those clubs that have so far published accounts, as the impact of
COVID has resulted in a depressed transfer market, especially at the
Championship level.
Since relegation from the Premier League, Stoke’s
revenue has dropped by £96m (75%) from £127m in 2018 to £31m, almost entirely
due to less TV money in the Championship (£92m decrease), though gate receipts
and commercial are also down by £2m apiece.
Stoke’s revenue has now fallen five years in a row from a peak of £136m
in 2017, mainly as a result of relegation and declining parachute payments.
Even after the decrease, Stoke’s £31m revenue is one of the
highest in the Championship, only behind those clubs in receipt of parachute
payments. For example, in 2020/21 three such clubs were well above £50m, namely
Bournemouth £72m, Norwich City £57m and Watford £57m.
Stoke’s wage bill fell £13m (25%) from £50m to £37m, despite
headcount increasing from 317 to 336, as the club had to compensate for
parachute payments stopping. This means that wages are down 60% (from £94m) in
the four years since relegation. This is
the club’s lowest wage bill since £30m in 2010, but it should fall even further
after the departure of some relatively high earners last summer. Despite the decrease, Stoke’s £37m wage bill is still one of the
highest in the Championship. In fact, it is the highest reported to date in
2021/22, though they will certainly be overtaken when the three clubs most
recently relegated publish their accounts.
The Swiss Ramble reckons that the Coates family have pumped £338m
into Stoke City since regaining control of the club in 2006, comprising loans
£251m, share capital £2m and £86m payment for the sale of the stadium and
training ground. Excluding the property
sale proceeds, the Coates family have put in £195m of funding in the 10 years
up to 2021. That’s a lot of money, which is actually only surpassed in the
Championship by QPR’s £283m.
Stoke’s owners can be praised for their magnificent financial
support, but the other side of the coin is sporting success, and mistakes have
clearly been made in that department.
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