The works team was once a common feature of football in the UK, particularly at the non-league level, including my non-league club Lockheed then AP Leamington and still referred to as the Brakes. My father as a non-league footballer thought that works clubs were particularly difficult to play against given that their players were given cushy jobs in the factory and plenty of time off to train.
As implied by the club’s name, Philips Sport Vereniging
(Philips Sports Union), the electronics giant Philips has close ties with PSV
Eindhoven. Indeed, the club started out
in 1913 as a works team for employees of the conglomerate.
It has extended its sponsorship of the club to 2031,
covering stadium naming rights and participation in an innovative cooperation
with four other Dutch companies under the Brainport Eindhoven name, which
features on the front of the shirt.
The Swiss Ramble has undertaken his usual forensic analysis
of the club’s accounts; much more detail is available on his Substack page.
The club said that the 2024/25 season was “a great success
not only in terms of sporting performance, but also financially.” In fact, PSV posted a €10.1m pre-tax profit
(€7.5m after tax), though this was a little lower than the previous year’s
€13.9m.
This was driven by a new club record for revenue, which rose
€18.7m (12%) from €152.1m to €170.8m, though this was partly offset by profit
from player sales falling from €31.3m to €23.7m. PSV’s revenue growth was almost entirely
driven by TV money from the Champions League, leading to a steep increase in
broadcasting income, which rose €17.8m (29%) from €62.3m to €80.1m.
Although PSV’s €10.1m pre-tax profit demonstrated the club’s
good financial health, three other clubs in the Eredivisie actually did better
last season, namely Feyenoord €31.1m, Twente €19.9m and AZ €14.3m. In stark
contrast, Ajax posted a significant €51.5m loss.
PSV’s profit from player sales dropped €7.6m (24%) from
€31.3m to €23.7m, mainly from the sales of Jordan Teze to Monaco, Matteo Dams
to Al-Ahli and Jason van Duiven to Lommel SK.
Like many clubs, PSV have become increasingly reliant on gains
from player sales, with the €160m in the last four seasons being a major factor
in their reported profits. In fact, they have generated well over a quarter of
a billion Euros (€287m) in the last ten years.
The Premier League (which seems keen on Dutch managers) has been a
lucrative market for PSV, with four of their six highest transfers being made
to English clubs, including Cody Gakpo to Liverpool and Noni Madueke to Chelsea
in 2022/23, their best ever season for player sales
PSV have been run on a sustainable basis for a while now, as
they have delivered a profit in all but one of the last 15 years – and that
loss was driven by the COVID pandemic in 2020/21.
European moeny
PSV’s €80.1m broadcasting income was the highest in the
Netherlands, ahead of the other Champions League representative, Feyenoord
€73.9m. Ajax found themselves in the unaccustomed position of only being third
highest with €32.5m.
PSV earned €64.2m from Europe in 2024/25 after reaching the
Champions League last 16. They finished in a very respectable 14th place in the
new league phase, thanks to four victories against Girona, Shakhtar Donetsk,
Red Star Belgrade and Liverpool. This qualified them for the knockout round,
where they overcame Juventus, before the wheels fell off against Arsenal.
It seems likely that the Netherlands will be overtaken by
Portugal in the UEFA coefficients, which means that they will lose one of their
guaranteed places in the league phase. Given
the importance of Champions League money to PSV’s business model, that would be
bad news, as it reduces their chances of regularly playing in Europe’s leading
tournament.
This was another excellent season for PSV, both on and off
the pitch. As the board put it, “The club made progress on many fronts.” On the sporting side, they won the Eredivisie
for the second year in a row and performed well in the Champions League. At the
same time, they once again set a new revenue record, while delivering a profit
for the fourth year in succession.
Qualification for the Champions League is clearly very
important for PSV to maintain this success, so they will have to strike the
right balance when it comes to player trading, generating money, but not
weakening the squad.
Given the relatively low wages in the Netherlands compared
to some other leagues, it is almost inevitable that PSV will lose some of their
talent every season, e.g. striker Ricardo Pepi is likely to leave in the
summer, so management of squad turnover is critical.
Although European football is dominated by the Premier
League, La Liga, the Bundesliga and Serie A (with Ligue One struggling to keep
up) the Dutch used to be at or near the head of the second tier pack. They have slipped somewhat in recent years,
but it would need more investigation to suggest why this is the case – although
it may just be that they have stood still while countries like Portugal have
got better.
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