Coventry City’s 2020/21 accounts covered a “very positive” season under manager Mark Robins, as they finished a creditable 16th to retain their Championship status after winning League One the previous season #PUSB
Coventry loss widened from £3.4m to £4.7m, which club said was “not unexpected”, due to increased investment in the squad after promotion. Revenue rose £6.7m from £5.1m to £11.8m, despite COVID impact, but expenses increased £6.5m and profit on player sales halved to £1.9m #PUSB
Coventry revenue increase was mainly due to higher broadcasting money in the Championship. This rose £7.2m from £1.7m to £8.9m, while commercial was also up £0.8m (44%) from £1.9m to £2.7m. Playing behind closed doors meant match day fell £1.2m from £1.5m to just £0.3m #PUSB
Following promotion, Coventry invested in the squad: wages doubled from £6.5m to £13.2m, as did player amortisation, up £0.9m to £1.8m. However, other expenses fell £1.1m to £1.8m, largely due to reduced costs of staging games, partly offset by requirements in Championship #PUSB
Coventry £4.7m loss is actually one of the better results in the Championship, much better than the likes of Bristol City £38m, Reading £36m and Middlesbrough £31m in 2020/21. They did well to restrict the size of the deficit, given there was a full year of the pandemic #PUSB
Furthermore Coventry’s figures did not benefit much from profit on player sales, which fell from £3.8m to £1.9m, predominantly contingent fees from previous sales, notably Callum Wilson. In contrast, #NCFC £60m and Brentford £44m generated huge gains from player trading #PUSB
Coventry have only reported a profit once in the last 10 years – and that was just £13k in 2019. That said, they have managed to keep the losses low with their conservative model, averaging less than £3m a season since 2015 #PUSB
Coventry have not made much money from player sales, as these have only generated £22m in the last decade, though nearly half of that (£10m) came in the last three years. This season will also be on the low side #PUSB
Coventry operating losses (excluding player sales and interest) reduced by £0.5m from £4.9m to £4.4m, which the club said was “a remarkable feat” given the lockdown. Second smallest in the Championship, where almost every club posts substantial operating losses #PUSB
Despite the impact of the pandemic, Coventry revenue has tripled to £11.8m from the £3.8m low in League One to 2014. This is also higher than the £10.8m generated the last time the club was in the Championship in 2012 #PUSB
Even after this growth, Coventry £11.8m revenue is lowest in the Championship, just below Barnsley, Millwall and Preston. To highlight their challenge, this is around a fifth of clubs benefiting from parachute payments, e.g. #NCFC £57m and Cardiff City £55m in 2020/21 #PUSB
Championship revenue is hugely influenced by parachute payments, which are so large that they make it difficult for clubs like Coventry to compete. Details not published for 2020/21, but in 2019/20 a relegated club received £42m year one, £34m year two and £15m year three #PUSB
Coventry broadcasting income shot up £7.2m from £1.7m to £8.9m, due to increased EFL central distributions and PL solidarity payments following promotion, plus higher iFollow streaming. Most Championship clubs earn £7-10m, but a huge gap to clubs with parachute payments #PUSB
Coventry match day income fell £1.2m (82%) from £1.5m to just £0.3m, as all home games were played behind closed doors. Down from £2.5m two years ago (and £3.6m last time in Championship). Still very low for this division #PUSB
Coventry average attendance this season is just over 19,000, which is three times as much as 6,677 two years ago, largely due to the club returning to Coventry instead of having to play games at St Andrews in Birmingham. This is 7th highest in the Championship #PUSB
Coventry’s stadium issues are well known, forcing them to play home games in Birmingham for previous two seasons and Northampton in 2013/14. Club has now signed 10-year deal with rugby club Wasps, owners of the Ricoh, which has been renamed Coventry Building Society Arena #PUSB
The new deal will give Coventry a greater proportion of non-ticketing match day revenue. The club is also exploring options to build a new stadium on land owned by University of Warwick #PUSB
Coventry commercial revenue rose £0.8m (44%) from £1.9m to £2.7m, though this is firmly in the bottom half of the Championship, just above Millwall £2.7m and Preston £2.5m. Less than a fifth of Stoke City’s £14m #PUSB
Coventry signed a “significant” shirt sponsorship deal with BoyleSports in 2020/21. Also had Jingltree as back of shirt sponsor, since succeeded by XL Motors. The kit supplier has been Hummel since 2019 #PUSB
Coventry other operating income doubled from £0.3m to £0.6m, comprising government grants. Other elements classified here by some clubs include insurance claims and player loans (the main reason for #HTAFC large £6.3m in 2019/20) #PUSB
Coventry wage bill doubled from £6.5m to £13.2m, due to contractual increases following promotion together with bonuses for winning League One. This is £3m higher than the last time the club was in the Championship in 2012 #PUSB
Even after this growth Coventry £13m wage bill was still one of the lowest in the Championship. To put this into perspective, this is over £50m less than clubs with parachute payments, e.g. #NCFC £67m. Brentford’s £41m includes promotion bonus #PUSB
Coventry wages to turnover ratio decreased (improved) from 128% to 111%. This would have been better without COVID revenue loss, but is still one of the lowest in the Championship, where most clubs have ratios well above 100% (four more than 200%) #PUSB
Coventry stated that no remuneration was paid in respect of services provided by directors, which was also the case in the previous three seasons. Except for Birmingham City, no club in the Championship paid more than £1m #PUSB
Coventry player amortisation, the annual charge to write-off transfer fees over a player’s contract, doubled from £0.9m to £1.8m, up from just £0.1m three years ago. However, this was still one of the smallest in the Championship, miles below Fulham £40m #PUSB
Coventry spent £3.5m on player purchases, which was their highest for many years, including Gustavo Hamer from PEC Zwolle. First time club has had net spend (rather than net sales) in a decade. Still relatively small for Championship, but only just below Nottingham Forest #PUSB
Coventry gross debt rose £2m from £39m to £41m, mainly £39m from the owners (SISU Capital and Arvo) plus £2m from the EFL. The club also includes £11m interest on the loans in accruals, which would give a total of £51m outstanding #PUSB
Coventry £41m gross debt is not that large for the Championship, far below the likes of Stoke City £187m, Blackburn Rovers £156m, Middlesbrough £129m and Birmingham City £116m #PUSB
Coventry paid just £47k interest in 2021. The club had £2.2m interest payable, mainly on owner loans, though this has only been accrued and not paid. The EFL loan is also interest-free. Most debt in the Championship is provided by owners who charge little or no interest #PUSB
Coventry transfer debt increased from £0.4m to £2.2m, though this is still on the low side for the Championship. Much less than clubs like #FFC £86m, #NCFC £23m and Brentford £19m #PUSB
Coventry £4.4m operating loss became £0.7m negative cash flow after adding back non-cash and working capital movements. Then spent £0.1m on players (purchases £1.7m, sales £1.6m) and £0.1m on capex/interest. Funded by £2.4m loan from the EFL #PUSB
As a result, Coventry cash balance increased by £1.4m from £1.1m to £2.5m, which is pretty much the norm in the Championship, where 13 clubs had less than £3m cash in the bank #PUSB
In the last 10 years Coventry’s available cash has come from the owners £19m, player sales £16m and sale of a subsidiary £5m. This has very largely been used to cover £32m operating losses with very little spent on infrastructure or interest payments #PUSB
The owners have provided £25m funding in the last 11 years, though almost all of that came between 2011 and 2014 with only £3m since then. SISU saved the club from administration in 2007, but have come under fire from supporters for their frugal approach #PUSB
Indeed if Coventry are compared to clubs in the Championship in 2020, their £25m owner funding would be very much on the low side (e.g. Fulham £315m, QPR £285m and Stoke City £185m), though it is true that the Sky Blues spent most of that period in League One #PUSB
As a technical aside, this analysis has been based on the accounts for Sky Blue Sports & Leisure Ltd, Coventry City’s parent company, which owns the football club, Otium Entertainment Group Ltd, but the figures are identical for revenue, wages and profit #PUSB
The good news is that Coventry have secured two promotions in recent years and are competing strongly in the Championship. However, given their financial disadvantages compared to most other clubs, they would have to punch well above their weight to reach the play-offs #PUSB
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
As Sunderland prepare for the new season, I took a look at the club's focus on sustainability. How close are they to achieving this and what are the implications for the performance on the pitch? #SAFC
The last available accounts from the 2022/23 season are now a full year out of date, but they still offer some indications of how well the strategy is working #SAFC
The bad news is that Sunderland have reported losses 17 years in a row, adding up to a hefty £272m. However, more positively, the club has drastically reduced the size of its losses, averaging less than £7m in the last four years, compared to £20m in the preceding decade #SAFC
A review of Ipswich Town's finances, as they return to the Premier League after 22 long years away. Focus is on the latest available accounts from 2022/23, but also has comparisons with Championship clubs and some estimates for the top flight #ITFC
Losses have been growing under the new owners, as they invested in the squad and infrastructure in an attempt to return Ipswich to former glories - which has clearly worked #ITFC
Even though they were in League One, 2022/23 was the first time that the club broke through the £20m revenue barrier since the last time that they were in the Premier League back in 2001/02 #ITFC
An explanation of how the new format for UEFA competitions will work from next season, including an explanation of the revenue distribution.
The number of clubs in the Champions League will increase from 32 to 36 with the group stage of 8 groups of 4 teams being replaced by a single league of 36 teams, then a new knockout round, before reverting to the traditional last 16.
Total revenue distribution will increase by 21% from €2.7 bln to €3.5 bln. Lion's share will go to the Champions League €2.5 bln, followed by Europa League €565m and Europa Conference €285m.
Quick review of the money earned by England's Champions League representatives to date after this week's matches.
#MCFC lead the way with £93m, followed by the other quarter-finalists #AFC £80m. The two clubs eliminated in the group stage earned less: #MUFC £51m and #NUFC £29m.
Champions League TV money is split into 4 elements:
- Participation Fee
- Prize Money
- UEFA coefficient
- TV pool
Each club that reaches the group stage receives a €15.6m participation fee.
So Everton have been deducted 10 points by the Premier League for a breach of the Profitability & Sustainability Rules #EFC
I have frequently looked at their case, the last time during an overall review of FFP. The article can be found on my blog here swissramble.substack.com/p/financial-fa…
However, given the importance of this decision, I've attached a series of screen shots from that article that help explain the background #EFC
First, Everton's initial FFP situation over the monitoring period up to 2021/22, where they are a fair way over the maximum allowed loss #EFC
Analysis of Rangers' 2022/23 financial results, when pre-tax loss slightly increased to £3m, as revenue fell 4% to £84m and operating expenses rose £11m, partly offset by profit on player sales more than doubling to club record £24m #RangersFC
In terms of profitability, #RangersFC and #CelticFC were at the opposite end of the spectrum with Rangers posting a small £3m pre-tax loss, while Celtic generated a record £41m profit.
Given that both clubs qualified for the Champions League, the size of the gap might come as a surprise. Cost bases are very similar, but #CelticFC revenue is substantially higher plus once-off other income, partly offset by #RangersFC better player sales.