Fulham cost the owner £1.4m a week

Things have changed a lot at Craven Cottage since Tommy Cooper was chairman.  Fulham are arguably London’s poshest club.  As their chief executive has said, Fulham supporters turn left on the plane.   I remember going there some years ago and was placed next to home supporters who were wearing suits.   The club also experimented for a while with having a section for ‘neutral’ fans.

The following analysis draws on the latest report from the Swiss Ramble.  The accounts are now a year old, but as the forensic analyst observes from his Zurich lair, the business model remains much the same. i.e, the amount the owner has to shell put would consume all my non-property assets in five days.

Under Silva, Fulham have established themselves as a solid Premier League club, losing their tag as a “yo-yo” club. Before the arrival of the Portuguese coach, on the previous two occasions that they were promoted to the top flight they had failed to avoid an immediate relegation.

However, next season will be their fifth in a row in the Premier League. Indeed, since Silva led the club to the Championship title in his first campaign, Fulham have finished no lower than 13th, which is a pretty decent record.

This included 11th place last season, which was particularly impressive, given that Fulham had the lowest gross transfer spend in the Premier League with just £66m.

Fulham’s pre-tax lossi n 2024/25 widened from £32.4m to £44.0m, despite revenue rising £13.2m (7%) from £181.6m to a club record £194.8m, as operating expenses increased by £29.4m (12%) from £251.0m to £280.4m. 

Fulham’s £44m pre-tax loss was not too bad for the Premier League, as some other clubs did even worse. Chelsea led the way with an incredible £262m deficit, followed by Tottenham £121m, West Ham £104m, Nottingham Forest £79m and Leicester City £71m.

Fulham made £41m from player sales, which is a new club record, mainly thanks to Joao Palhinha’s big money transfer to Bayern Munich. In addition, they made £10m from the sale of Academy product Jay Stansfield to Birmingham City, which was a staggering fee, given that the Blues were in League One at the time.   Even after the growth, Fulham were still in the bottom half of the Premier League, far below Wolves £117m, Manchester City £95m, Bournemouth £91m, Arsenal £81m and Crystal Palace £66m.

Of course, losses are nothing new for Fulham, as the last time they made a profit was way back in 2010/11. Since Shahid Khan bought the club in July 2013, they have lost an enormous £461m, averaging £38m a year.   That includes more than £300m in the last six years alone, when the owner twice absorbed large losses in a bid to return to the Premier League as soon as possible, then continued to lose money in a bid to keep the club in the top flight.  Although the Premier League is often portrayed as some kind of nirvana, Fulham’s losses have grown two years in a row since the first season after promotion.

Fulham set a new revenue record of £195m, which means this has grown by £57m (41%) in the last six years with sizeable increases in all three revenue streams.  The largest growth was in commercial, which has almost doubled, followed by gate receipts, with a 69% rise. However, broadcasting remains the most important revenue stream (by far), accounting for 73% of total income, with commercial and match day only contributing 18% and 9% respectively.

Despite the steep increase in 2024/25, Fulham’s 26,826 attendance was still one of the smallest in the top flight, only above three clubs, namely Crystal Palace 24,389, Brentford 17,185 and Bournemouth 11,200.

Turning left on a plane

This ambitious Riverside Stand project has increased capacity by around 4,000 to 29,600, while it has also taken advantage of the club’s fantastic location and wealthy catchment area by including two Michelin star restaurants, a rooftop swimming pool, corporate hospitality and event space, all benefiting from views of the Thames.  Chief executive Alistair Mackintosh observed, “Fulham is the sort of club that can have a business class or first class and have fans that turn left on a plane.”

Ticket prices have attracted a lot of attention at Fulham in the past couple of years. These were frozen in 2021/22, but there have been increases every season since then, including a couple of very significant rises, i.e. 10% after promotion in 2022/23, followed by an even bigger 18% in 2023/24.

Increases have been more restrained since then, but the supporters have still had to shell out more each year for their tickets. They were up 4% in 2024/25, followed by 2.8% last season, while the club has just announced a 3.5% rise for next season.

The Supporters’ Trust noted, “Match day receipts account for less than 10% of total revenue and that share is falling. A price hike will have no material impact on the club’s bottom line, which makes raising ticket prices a choice, not a necessity.”

Fulham’s wage bill rose £12m (8%) from £155m to £167m, which was another club record. In fact, their wages have increased by £77m (84%) since promotion from the Championship three years ago.   In football, clubs tend to get what they pay for, which was certainly the case with Fulham in 2024/25, as their wages ranking was identical to their position in the league at 11th.

Fulham have been fairly consistent in their player purchases in the last three seasons, averaging £90m. This means that they have spent £270m in this period, which is more than twice as much as the £128m outlay in the preceding 3-year period, so they have really ramped up their activity in the transfer market.

Fulham now have the fifth highest external debt in the Premier League. Their £125m loan is repayable within five years with interest charged at SONIA plus 3.625%, so currently around 7.355%.

Fulham have had to find a lot of cash to pay for the Riverside Stand development, adding up to £329m in the last five years, including a chunky £118m last season.

Looking at Fulham’s holding company, Cougar Holdco London Limited, I reckon that Khan has provided Fulham with an incredible £962m of funding, either in the form of debt subsequently converted to equity or a straight capital injection, including £77m since the 2024/25 year-end. The accounts noted £63m, but a further £14m has been provided since the date of publication.  This works out to £74m a year since he bought the club, so he has essentially signed a cheque for around £1.4m a week ever since he arrived, which is a great deal of money by anyone’s standards.

They now face the challenge of replacing Marco Silva, who has managed to keep Fulham in the top flight with relative ease, but Khan is optimistic about the future.