Majority control at Norwich City passed to Attanasio’s Norfolk Holdings group from Delia Smith and Michael Wynn Jones after 28 years.
Attanasio, the owner of American baseball team Milwaukee
Brewers, first purchased a minority 22% stake from former director Michael
Foulger in September 2022, before increasing his shareholder to 40.4% in April
2024. In March 2025 Attanasio converted
his loans into equity, giving him 85% of the football club. Smith and her
husband have retained 10%, while the remaining 5% is owned by independent
shareholders, including the supporters’ group,
Under the former owners, the club had been promoted to the
top flight on no fewer than five occasions, but they had become the classic
“yo-yo” club, most notably in the four seasons between 2018/19 and 2021/22,
when they were twice finished top of the Championship, only to twice come last
in the Premier League.
Norwich City’s pre-tax loss in 2024/25 widened from £14.4m
to £20.7m, mainly due to a steep reduction in revenue, which dropped £33.8m
(46%) from £73.1m to £39.3m, reports the Swiss Ramble.
The main driver of Norwich’s revenue decrease was, of
course, broadcasting, which fell £32.7m (73%) from £44.7m to £12.0m, after
parachute payments ceased. However, the other revenue streams were also lower,
as gate receipts declined £0.7m (7%) from £11.3m to £10.6m, while commercial
was down £0.4m (3%) from £17.1m to £16.7m.
Norwich limited the operational damage with player sales, where profit significantly
increased from £13.4m to £23.2m.
It is clear that Norwich’s £21m loss is one of the worst in
the Championship, as only four clubs lost more in 2023/24, namely Leeds United
£61m, Ipswich Town £39m, WBA £34m and Stoke City £26m.
Norwich have long been regarded as a club that tries to
operate sustainably, posting a profit in seven of the ten seasons up to
2020/21. However, they have lost money in all four years since then, adding up
to £86m in that period. This is mainly
because they loosened the purse strings, investing a relatively large amount in
the squad, both in terms of transfers and wages, though ironically this has
only resulted in worse performances on the pitch.
The £39m revenue in 2024/25 is the club’s lowest for six
years, i.e. since the last time they did not have parachute payments.
Norwich’s average attendance increased slightly from 26,104
to 26,316, which was only 3% lower than the 27,005 peak in the Premier League.
The club said that it had well over 21,000 season ticket holders (including
hospitality).
Despite the significant reduction in revenue, Norwich’s wage
bill was only cut £4m (7%) from £52m to £48m, as the club tried to remain
competitive in the Championship. However,
since relegation from the Premier League, wages have been cut by around 60%
(£70m) from the £118m peak.
In the three years since Attanasio arrived, there has been a
clear change in the funding model, as the £119m available cash was very largely
provided by the shareholders. This was
mainly used to repay £56m external loans, cover £38m operating losses, invest
£13m in infrastructure and pay £8m interest.
The latest accounts reveal the devastating impact of losing
parachute payments on revenue, which underlines the importance of player
trading and funding from the owner.
To date, Attanasio has shown a willingness to put his hand
in his pocket, facilitating much investment into the squad and covering losses,
but a £115m bill in just three years would probably not have been in the
owner’s plans when he started building his stake in the club.
There is no doubt that Norwich should be doing better, given
the amount of money they have spent, which is only really behind the (recently)
relegated clubs.
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