The Political Economy of Football V2

Millwall say they are “considering their legal position” after the club’s badge was placed on a photo of a Ku Klux Klan figure in a children’s educational book. The image appeared in a booklet called ‘The Paul Canoville Story’, written by Peter Daniel, an education and interpretation officer at Westminster City Council. Millwall said they had since received a “full apology” from Westminster City Council. “The club has received a full apology from Westminster Council following their serious misuse of a registered club badge, which was placed on an illustration of a white supremacist hate group member in a children’s education booklet distributed in schools, creating a false and damaging image of the club,” a club statement, issued through their supporters’ trust, read. Millwall’s view is they are particularly disappointed as the club have made great effort in recent years to combat stereotypical and historical views held of the club, including on racism, and believe such incidents...

Millwall finished a highly creditable 8th last season, just two points outside the Championship play-off places, which represented a decent improvement on the previous year.  The club’s ability to punch above its weight should no longer be a major surprise, given that Millwall have finished in the top ten on no fewer than five occasions since they were promoted from League One in 2016/17. The Lions seem to be firmly established in England’s second tier, having competed in the Championship in 14 of the last 16 seasons, which is pretty good, given their financial disadvantages, compared to the rest of the division. Unfortunately, the most recent available accounts are from the 2023/24 season, so these are a full year out of date, but the conclusions should still be clear. Millwall’s pre-tax loss significantly widened from (restated) £12.0m to £19.1m, despite revenue rising by £2.0m (11%) from £19.4m to a club record £21.4m. The deterioration in the bottom line was largely bec...

Millwall have submitted their 2022/23 accounts reports Kieran Maguire.   Revenue was £19.3m up 4%. Wages £22.6m up 1%.  Losses pre player sales £13.7m up 18%. Player sales £2.7m.  Player purchases £4m. Almost all clubs make substantial losses in this highly competitive division, many much more than Millwall.

Every football club likes to consider itself unique, but in Millwall’s case, it’s unarguable.  The death in a car accident  of chairman and owner John Berylson set shock waves through the club but through football more generally.  Fans of rival clubs such as Charlton expressed their solidarity and sorrow. Squeezed into a defiantly ungentrified corner of south east London, and yet just a couple of miles from some of the UK capital’s plushest postcodes, Millwall have always been fuelled by a siege mentality. Their fanbase is small in comparison to other London clubs — the stadium holds just over 20,000 and is rarely full — but what they lack in numbers they make up for in atmosphere. “No one likes us, we don’t care,” has become the club’s unofficial anthem Despite that chequered history, Millwall have won awards for work in the community, being named EFL family club of the year in 2017, and achieved Family Excellence status for the 2021-22 season, for exempl...

The authoritative Swiss Ramble has spent part of the festive season in his Zurich fastness analysing the latest accounts of Millwall FC. The pre-tax loss widened from £0.7m to £10.9m, largely due to profit on player sales dropping £5.3m to £0.1m, though COVID and a run to FA Cup quarter-final prior year meant revenue fell £2.0m (11%) from £18.4m to £16.4m, while expenses rose £2.3m. The revenue decrease was largely driven by match day falling £1.3m (23%) to £4.4m, as five games were played behind closed doors, while broadcasting decreased £0.7m (7%) to £9.4m. Commercial income held steady at £2.7m. The loss of £10.9m is still only mid-table in the Championship. This result is likely to look better when other clubs publish their COVID-impacted 2019/20 accounts. In fact, before the pandemic, no fewer than six clubs posted losses above £20m. It is also worth noting that some clubs’ figures were boosted by once-off accounting profits from the sale of stadiums, training grounds and la...

Millwall income in 2019/20 was down 11% mainly as a result of Covid curtailments. Ticket sale income was down a fifth due to matches not taking place, Most other clubs have not reported for 2019/20 but Millwall is in the bottom third of the league by the looks of things, reports Kieran Maguire. Wigan had the lowest revenue in the Championship at £11.5m while Swansea, Stoke City and West Bromwich Albion were around the £70m mark. Millwall come in at £16.4m, just ahead of Hull City. Please remember that these figures relate to 2018/19. Millwall didn't have any major player sales in 2019/20, making a profit of just £80k to offset the trading losses. In 2018/19 the sale of George Saville was the main reason for a £5.4m profit on player trading. Clubs across Europe are becoming more reliant on profits from players. To cover the losses investors put in just under £8m in the form of 'B' (not voting) shares into Millwall in 2019/20. Loan repayments to John Berylson have bee...

Getting promoted from the Championship to the Premier League is invariably expensive, but clubs can also spend money to get out of League One. This is evident from the accounts of Millwall FC to June 2017. Losses from operations were down from £5.5m the previous year to £4m, although still means that the club is losing £100,000 per week. Revenue year for the year at £10m represented an increase of 20 per cent. Matchday income was up by 19 per cent assisted by a successful FA Cup run. This run also generated an increase of £0.8m in TV income and other central allocations from the Football League. The promotion bonus paid to players and increased administrative staff pushed up overall salary costs from £8m to £9.4m. This meant that £94 was spent on wages for every £100 of income. Over the last five years Millwall has spent 111 per cent of income on wages, more than twice the level recommended by Deloitte. Attendances averaged 9,475. Since promotion to the Championship they have...