Commiserations to West Ham fans where the club's relegation is largely the result of poor decision-making by the owners. My father went to the famous first FA Cup final at Wembley to support the Hamers.
The club must stand an excellent chance of returning to the Premier League next season, but it needs to be decided who is in charge and what is to be done.
Wages have risen as revenues have declined, as a result of
the lack of European football. West Ham finished in 14th position in 2024-25,
but had the tenth-largest wage bill that campaign, and their underperformance
has been even worse this season. The club’s debt was only £20.8million in
May last season, and they owed a net £178.6million on transfer fees. Since
then, the debt has increased through a loan facility to more than £110million.
It is possible that the main shareholders will put money
into the club. West Ham have to comply with the Premier League’s
Profitability and Sustainability Rules, which limits losses to £105million over
a rolling three-year period. The club announced a £104.2million loss for last
season and £57.2million profit in 2023-24, meaning that they can lose up to
£58million this season without sanctions.
Revenue is set to fall from the £228million in 2024-25. Part
of that sum was £132million from broadcasters, which could fall to about
£49million with parachute payments.
Tickets were worth £39million in that same season, though
that sum will fall significantly as a result of relegation. West Ham’s
commercial income was £56million last season.
There will soon be two main shareholders each with the same
holding of about 41 per cent. Daniel Kretinsky, the Czech billionaire, has
agreed to purchase shares owned by the late David Gold to increase his stake
from 27 per cent. David Sullivan, the West Ham chairman, will do
likewise to raise his holding from 39 per cent. Gold’s descendants agreed two
prices depending on what division West Ham are in next season.
The finer details are being worked on, including which of
Kretinsky or Sullivan will have the final say in different circumstances. Since
Kretinsky will be spending more money than Sullivan, he may want more
influence. By joining together, Sullivan and Kretinsky staved off the threat of
Gold’s 25 per cent stake being sold to either of the two American parties who
have had talks with over the club over the past year.
Kretinsky, who bought Royal Mail for £3.6billion in December
2024, spent £151million on his West Ham shares in
2021. West Ham expected him to exercise his option of a full
takeover in the summer of 2022, but he never did. Kretinsky’s net wealth was
estimated to be about £8billion in the Sunday
Times Rich List this week, making him the 24th-richest person in
Britain.
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