ARSENAL
Accounts for the year to 31 May 2014
Ownership Arsenal Holdings PLC’s major shareholders are Kroenke Sports Enterprises UK (registered in Delaware, owned by US resident Stan Kroenke) 67%. Red and White Securities Limited (owned via Jersey, by Russian resident Alisher Usmanov and Farhad Moshiri) 30%
Turnover 4th highest in the league, £304m (up from £283m in 2013)
Gate and matchday income £100m
TV and broadcasting £121m
Retail £18m
Commercial £59m
Player trading £0.5m
Wage bill 4th highest, £166m (up from £154m)
Wages as proportion of turnover 55%
Profit before tax £5m (down from £7m)
Net debt £33m
Interest payable £14m
Highest-paid director Ivan Gazidis £2.191m
State they’re in
Arsenal’s modern struggle has translated copious earnings from high-paying supporters at the Emirates Stadium into football success, and they are making progress. In 2013-4, they salvaged a summer of grumbles by splashing £42.5m for Mesut Özil, a club record-breaking signing included in these figures. They show scope for further spending; a huge £54m was put in the bank where Arsenal had £208m on deposit. Hence, they bought again last summer, with £30m Alexis Sánchez the stand-out move. Debt from building the Emirates remained £240m, but Arsenal, as always planned, is managing it comfortably.
ASTON VILLA
Accounts for the year to 31 May 2014
Ownership Owned by Randy Lerner, via Reform Acquisitions LLC, a US company.
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Turnover 9th highest, £117m (up from £84m in 2013)
Gate and matchday £13m
TV and broadcasting £73m
Commercial £22m
Sponsorship £9m
Wage bill Joint 9th highest, £69m (down from £72m)
Wages as proportion of turnover 59%
Loss before tax £4m (following £52m loss in 2013)
Net debt £102m
Interest payable £1m
Highest-paid director £265,792 to the unnamed director (Paul Faulkner was the chief executive throughout the year; he resigned in July 2014.)
State they’re in
This was the season American MBNA credit-card scion Randy Lerner finally announced his Villa venture was over and he wanted to sell. Despite a miserable season under a downbeat Paul Lambert, Villa’s finances show the club being molded into a state fit for sale.
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The wage bill barely increased despite a £33m increase in income, and Villa stated they spent nothing, net, on transfers last summer. Lerner wrote off £90m loans, leaving £86m still owed to him. Perhaps the new TV deals, and Tim Sherwood’s Tiggerish bounce, will attract a buyer.
CARDIFF CITY
Accounts for the year to 31 May 2014
Cardiff City graphic
Ownership Club states that Vincent Tan is the 87.5% owner
Turnover 20th highest, £83m (up from £17m in 2013)
Gate receipts & matchday £8m
Premier League including TV £64m
Sponsorship & commercial £11m
Wage bill 18th highest, £53m (up from £33m in 2013)
Wages as proportion of turnover 64%
Loss before tax £12m (down from £30m loss in 2013)
Net debt not stated; £130m loans from overseas shareholders
Interest payable £1.6m
Highest-paid director Not stated
State they’re in
A single Premier League season remembered for owner Vincent Tan insistently wearing the club shirt he changed to red, Malky Mackay’s sacking in December 2013, and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s forlorn fading smile as the Bluebirds fell to relegation. Figures illustrate the Premier League’s breakaway land of plenty – City received almost £60m more TV money than the £5m made in the Championship in 2012-13. That reduced the dramatic loss incurred to win promotion, but Tan still increased his loans by £64.5m to £130m. Relegation, despite lucrative parachute payments, will have hurt.
CHELSEA
Accounts (of the holding company, Fordstam) for the year to 30 June 2014
Ownership Wholly, owned by Roman Abramovich, registered at Companies House as a Russian resident.
Turnover 3rd highest, £324m (up from £260m in 2013)
Broadcasting £140m
Matchday £71m
Commercial £114m
Wage bill 3rd highest, £192m (up from £179m in 2013)
Wages as proportion of turnover 59%
Profit before tax £15m (following £57m loss in 2013)
Net debt £1bn
Interest payable £Nil
Highest-paid director Unnamed, £1.425m (Ron Gourlay was the chief executive throughout the year; resigned October 2014)
State they’re in
Chelsea’s former chief executive for the Roman Abramovich project, Peter Kenyon, famously promised the oligarch’s splurge would stop, and the club would break even by 2010. Here, four years later, they finally did it, turning a massive loss in 2013 into a profit, buoyed by an extra £34m from the new TV deal, a £30m increase in commercial sponsorships, and restraining the rise in wages to £13m. Abramovich nevertheless increased his loans by a further £57m, lifting his total funding of Chelsea to a historically astonishing £1.041bn. Chelsea then bought big and well.
CRYSTAL PALACE
Accounts of CPFC 2010 Ltd for the year to 30 June 2014
Ownership Owned equally by Steve Parish, Stephen Browett, Martin Long, and Jeremy Hosking.
Turnover 17th highest, £90m (up from £15m in 2013)
Broadcasting £74m
Matchday £9m
Commercial and other £7m
Wage bill 19th highest, £46m (up from £19m in 2013)
Wages as proportion of turnover 51%
Profit before tax £23m (up from £2m in 2013)
Net debt £7m
Interest payable £Nil
Highest-paid director No directors were paid
State they’re in
Another clear case study of the financial chasm between the Championship and the Premier League. Palace’s promotion in 2013, just three years after administration, meant an immediate £66m increase in TV income, delivering a bounteous £23m profit as the wage increase was kept to £27m. Palace stayed up after appointing Tony Pulis and put £24m in the bank. The four fan-owners who originally loaned £3m each to resuscitate Palace – except for Martin Long, whose loan is £1.7m – are now in the money, as long as Palace stays in the Premier League.
