Annual Deloitte report reveals fiscal health of the Prem
Yesterday, the number crunchers at Deloitte released their annual report regarding the games’ finances in the 2006/07 season. The reams of data tell us that Premier League wages have now topped the £1billion mark, with each Premiership side dishing out an average of £48.5m to their staff (with Watford’s £17.7m at the bottom of the scale, and Chelsea’s staggering £132m at the top).
[click image to enlarge]
While revenues have never been higher (The Premier League brought in €2273million in 2006/07, almost twice as much as the closest financial competitor, The Bundesliga), many clubs are spending far more than they are generating. Of all the teams in the top two flights, Derby’s situation was most troubling, as their wages/turnover ratio stood at 125 per cent. That means for every £100million that came into the club (and that’s just turnover, not profit), they were spending £125million on keeping the team in place. Of course, this figure is skewed by the performance-related bonuses given to Rams players for winning promotion, but it represents part of a trend that Deloitte partner Dan Jones believes will ‘lead to a continuing flow of insolvency cases’.
The financial housekeeping in Derbyshire leads a lot to be desired, but bank mangers in north London are considerably less aggravated. The famed wage structure at Arsenal puts them in a healthy third place in the league of wages/ turnover ratios (with 50 per cent), but based on this criteria, Spurs’ 42 per makes their structure the most economically sustainable in the top two flights.
[click image to enlarge]
As the graph above shows, the English top flight is by far the biggest money-maker in Europe, and revenues rose 11 per cent on the previous year. However, wage bills rose 13 per cent, and Mr Jones of Deloitte is concerned that ‘there is limited evidence the clubs are translating this revenue boost into improved profits’.
Overall, just eight Premier League clubs showed profit in 2006/07 - Arsenal, Manchester Utd, Tottenham, Liverpool, Newcastle, Reading, Sheffield Utd and Watford.
So, with the financial stakes so high, it seems that a board who dare to take a significant financial risk will suffer dire consequences if things don’t work out on the pitch. But who will be the first to go? And when will the Premier League’s cash rich bubble finally burst? And where are the figures on the issues that really matter - the Jermain Defoe Chinawhites visit/ shameless WAG defiling ratio? The Berbatov moaning index? The Cristiano Ronaldo wages to prostitute use coefficient…
[Images and figures: The Guardian]
43 responses so far
1 AndyBanana // May 29, 2008 at 11:09 am
What a stupid headline - Arsenal are marginally worse than Spurs in your little picture (nicked from the Guardian). But if you factor in transfer dealings as well then Arsenal are far better run financially than almost any other club.
2 DICKNOSE // May 29, 2008 at 11:27 am
SHUT UP YOU DUMBASS!!!
3 BillyBatts // May 29, 2008 at 11:29 am
LOL, an 8% difference in the wage/turnover ratio…
I’m sure that compensates for 1 kiddy cup trophy in gawdknows’owmany years vs. Arsenal’s three Premierships, three FA cups, a CL final, consistent seasons in the CL and a season unbeaten in the last 10 years.
Top 4 club,
you’re avin a laugh,
Top 4 club,
you’re avin a laugh,
4 joe // May 29, 2008 at 11:31 am
Spurs are great with money!
When Arsenal bought Adebayor for £5m they bought Bent for £16.5m. Genius!
5 PoggyC // May 29, 2008 at 11:32 am
So Arsenal spend 50% of their revenue on wages and still make a profit. Spurs spend 42% on wages and don’t make a profit….is someone missing the bigger picture? Still only one of those clubs spent £16 million on Darren Bent - now there’s financial prudence for you.
6 Howard // May 29, 2008 at 11:34 am
You are a fool. Think about Spurs, your team and leave Arsenal alone. Why are you so obsessed with Arsenal. Anything that you try to do you have Arsenal in mind. You’ll never be successful until you banish Arsenal from your minds.
Have you accounted for the money you spent this year buying players left and right and still finishing 11?
You should compare yourself with your likes, Everton, Portsmouth, West Ham, Blackburn, City etc and not with Arsenal. Arsenal is up there and see its rivals as MANU, Chelsea and Liverpool and not Spurs; a lower midtable club.
I thought you said you’ll finish above Arsenal. So it means that if Arsenal is 16 you’ll place 15?
Oh Spurs! what’s all this obsession about the Arsenal?
7 Brian Fantana // May 29, 2008 at 11:36 am
Spurs were one of the eight clubs who made a profit too, PoggyC.
8 Gooner Ali // May 29, 2008 at 11:37 am
Arsenal are always better then Spurs, wot you talking bout man, we are better and the best club in the country, yeah Flamini has gone for noffin but we are better then Man Utd anyday and bigger. And we never buy anybody like Bent, oh except Walcott and that French bloke who went, can’t remeber his name, Le something
9 ossie // May 29, 2008 at 11:38 am
What the report doesn’t tell you is that Arsenal have just over £200m debts, they don’t seem that well run too me, especially when you see Spurs have vitually no Debts!
10 Howard // May 29, 2008 at 11:40 am
sorry forgot to mention that I am the a typical gooner mug, just thought I would add that. Got my Man Utd scarf out already I have
11 Howard // May 29, 2008 at 11:42 am
I’M A MUG
12 davspurs // May 29, 2008 at 11:46 am
ARSENAL BUY CHEAP PLAYERS NO ONE HAS HEARD OF THEN THEY SUDDENLY PLAY GREAT AFTER BEING CRAPP AS IF BUY MAGIC THEN WHEN THE Y LEAVE THEY ARE RUBBISH AGAIN ITS STRANGE WHY ADEBYOR WANTS TO LEAVE THE ARSOLES WHEN THERE ARE NEW TESTERS COMMING NEXT SEASON AND HLEP AS WELL LOOK AT HENRY AND FREDDIE SHITE I BET MR CHAMBERS HAS THE ANSWERS IF I WERE THEM I WOULD GO TO ITALY WITH MUTO AND THE REST OF THE CHEATS AS FOR SPURS WE BUY PROPER COSTLEY TALENT
13 JimB // May 29, 2008 at 11:46 am
Andy - transfer dealings are factored into the profit and loss columns of all Premiership clubs. There is standard accounting procedure among all top flight clubs, all audited by Deloitte & Touche.
Money spent on transfers is amortized over the duration of any new signing’s initial contract. In other words, if a player is bought for £10 million on a four year contract, 25% of his value (£2.5 million) is written off after one year at his club. A further £2.5 million is written off after the following year…and so on until the four years are up. If a £10 million signing joins on an initial five year contract, then his value is amortized by 20% (£2 million) per annum.
And if the player signs a new contract that keeps him at the club beyond the initial four years, then his value remains on the balance sheet at zero and any proceeds, should he eventually be sold, will appear on the balance sheet as profit.
As to which club is financially the best managed in the country, it really doesn’t matter. This isn’t a willy waving contest. All that matters to respective fans of either Spurs or Arsenal is that both clubs are in fine financial fettle.
14 JimB // May 29, 2008 at 11:49 am
Err, PoggyC….where do you get the bizarre notion that Spurs didn’t make a profit? Spurs made an operating profit of nearly £30 million in 2006-07!
15 CAS // May 29, 2008 at 11:57 am
When it comes to wasting money lets look at how much the goons paid fot the new trophy cabinet at the Al-Qa’ida Staduim?
Remind me thats 3 years there now with no new trophies lol
16 Leroy // May 29, 2008 at 11:58 am
Gooner Ali,
What are you talking about, arsenal being the best club in the country… I was always under the impression you need to finish first to prove that?!
17 Kevin // May 29, 2008 at 11:59 am
No need to be appologising to Arsenal fans as im sure your report will not have them worrying too much. This just shows how tight Levi and the Enic are. So much is written about Arsenal’s tight wage structure yet here Spurs are the real skinflints in the Premier League. Spurs need to accept they are simply a mid table club and that this table is the only league the Spuds will ever win. 47 years and still waiting boys :)
18 PrinceOfMali // May 29, 2008 at 12:00 pm
arsenal don’t see spurs as a main rival. the games aren’t competitive (except when we play a youth team)
19 Fab4 // May 29, 2008 at 12:02 pm
ossie - you’re right, it doesn’t mention that Arsenal are £200m in debt, but then neither does it mention that Arsenal have a brand spanking new stadium, or that Arsenal have the highest attendance percentage (99.5%) or the highest revenue over wage surplus in the league.
20 ha ha ha // May 29, 2008 at 12:03 pm
dave spurs you are a genius, NOT!!!
Are you saying you would rather buy Ben for 16m than VanP for 2m or Adebayor for 5m?
You would rather spend money on Jenas than scout and get Fabregas? Kaboul for however much instead of Toure for chips? Yeah Dave you are a genius!!!
As for AFC debts, you have to speculate to accumilate, sorry we are ambitious and built a new stadium. The debts are nothing we cover them if less than half our stadium is full, which incase your intersetd wont happen being as we now have the 2nd highest average attendance in EPL.
Spurs fans really need to start worrying about teams like West Ham rather than the big boys.
As for how well the clubs are financially run I think our profits answer that question!
JOG ON!
21 Le // May 29, 2008 at 12:05 pm
Of course you are mate, try finishing above us with the crap you buy first, then this might be worth the discussion, gooning out.
22 Stuartn Nickolson // May 29, 2008 at 12:06 pm
New headline!!!!!
Sorry Spurs. Arsenal are better!
23 JimB // May 29, 2008 at 12:15 pm
PrinceOfMali - “the games between Arsenal and Spurs aren’t competitive”? Really? I guess that you are one of those typical armchair, gloryhunting, new fans? Because you certainly don’t appear to have seen the games between Spurs and Arsenal over the past ten years or so.
Sure, Arsenal have been much better team overall than Spurs and have been far more successful over the past decade. But many of the games between the two clubs have been very close fought affairs. Spurs might not have beaten Arsenal for nine years before January’s 5-1 thrashing but there were plenty of draws or narrow defeats during that time - a number of which Spurs could and should have won. Especially at White Hart Lane.
24 PrinceOfMali // May 29, 2008 at 12:24 pm
jim b - compared to the other clubs in the top half (which you are not in), arsenal have a very favourable record against their “rivals”. sure, in some the games i’ve seen or been to, spurs have looked equally as strong but no wins in almost 10 years is almost unheard of in a rivalry, even if one team is clearly superior. i guess robert pires is a main factor for such a long streak
25 JimB // May 29, 2008 at 12:35 pm
Perhaps you would like to rephrase, then? Instead of saying that the games between the two clubs are uncompetitive, you should say that Arsenal have enjoyed the upper hand in most games over the past decade, even though most of those games have been closely fought.
And regardless of the relative success of the two clubs, all proper Arsenal fans that I know (ie those fans who have been supporting the club for more than a few years and who have been through the thin times), still look first for the games against Spurs when the fixture list is published.
26 Sue the whore // May 29, 2008 at 12:37 pm
Always better? Been supporting the club for 11 years have we?
Idiot!
Still, 5-1!!!
27 Arsene Wenger in the bushes // May 29, 2008 at 1:01 pm
I’ve been fiddling with the back for this summer, none of there mothers complaigned. Oh apart from when we lost we was, how you says Unbeatenz again zis year.
28 Admin // May 29, 2008 at 1:03 pm
One point of interest Girls. next season now matter where they finnish, Spurs fans will still be Spurs fans, Arsenal on the other had will be Man Utd/Chelsea fans, fact.
29 PrinceOfMali // May 29, 2008 at 1:09 pm
you honestly believe that the most important fixture of the season for arsenal is spurs? not the big four or a CHAMPIONS LEAGUE game? spurs are desperately trying to be at the same level as arsenal and as a result, are spending twice the money. the last time spurs came ahead of arsenal in the league was 13 years ago. spurs have gone through 11 managers since arsene wenger has been in charge
30 CAS // May 29, 2008 at 1:31 pm
What I love is that after all these years of so called goon success when it come to Europe they are still like a 3 pinned plug …..
i.e. Useless in Europe
European trophy count Spurs 3, goons 1
Yes 1 not 2 as the fairs cup is not reconised by UEFA so doesn’t count or if it did you could put up your I.O.W. invite cup as well lol
31 JimB // May 29, 2008 at 1:39 pm
PrinceOfMali - try to read properly, son. I didn’t say that games against Spurs are currently Arsenal’s “most important” games. I said that most proper Arsenal fans still look first for the games against Tottenham when the fixture list is published. Big difference.
It’s also noticeable just how many songs Arsenal sing about Tottenham (when they do sing - which isn’t often….or loudly). They don’t sing songs about Liverpool, Chelsea or Man Utd.
32 PrinceOfMali // May 29, 2008 at 1:49 pm
typical spurs fan. brags about the loudness of the fans. i honestly couldn’t care less. what matters is the football. if spurs were a big team, they wouldn’t have to brag about their fans. useless in europe? we beat the defending champions of europe, real madrid at the bernabeu and juventus in the last few years. much better than a team that can only scrape past slavia prague (who we beat 7-0)
33 Entire Forum // May 29, 2008 at 1:59 pm
PrinceOfMali , r you some kind of fool? We beat blah blah. Well in that case , Spurs beat the Champions League finalist (loser only on penaulties), first team not reserves at Wembley to win a nothing cup which Chelsea had put their first team out for. Does that make us on a par with Manure, no, so don’t be sch an arse. An as for Europe, there are only two big English clubs, Manure and Red Scouse, there are the only champions League winners, whereas u, like Chavski are losers. Geez what an ejit. (schools back next week!!)
34 john // May 29, 2008 at 2:03 pm
To help Gooner Ali conquer his amnesia. Jeffers, Richard Wright…. Oh sorry they’re English so their large fees didn’t count. Alzeimers is preferable to blindness. Why have so many Gooners this affliction. Don’t confuse them with FACTS, they’ve made their tiny minds up!!!
35 jake // May 29, 2008 at 2:12 pm
Ahhh… all those overweight spurs fans bursting out of their new xxxl shirts with MODRIC on the back. Bless’em. Fingers crossed guys - maybe top half this season, eh? Probably another 6-7 years before you win that trophy that most teams never field their first XI (except you). But still… Come On You Spurs! Let’s think big! Top 8!!!! YEAH!
36 JimB // May 29, 2008 at 2:20 pm
PrinceOfMali - Calm down. The quip about Arsenal fans’ lack of singing was only that - a quip; a throwaway line. Not a boast. Still, it’s nice to know that it can still always get a rise out of gooners. Must be a sore point for you!
Besides, it’s rather ironic that you should complain about a Spurs fan introducing a new element to the discussion. After all, this thread originally started as a discussion about Tottenham’s and Arsenal’s wage to turnover ratio. Yet, rather predictably, the typically unimaginative gooners immediately resorted to the usual, tired boasts about what a good team Arsenal are blah, blah…(perennial lack of silverware notwithstanding).
So when your pot has finished calling the kettle black, perhaps you’ll come back to us with some intelligent insight.
There’s a good lad.
37 Play-Off Pete // May 29, 2008 at 2:31 pm
“Overall, just eight Premier League clubs showed profit in 2006/07 - Arsenal, Manchester Utd, Tottenham, Liverpool, Newcastle, Reading, Sheffield Utd and Watford”.
And look what happened to Watford …
38 JimB // May 29, 2008 at 2:33 pm
And Sheffield United!
39 Jake // May 29, 2008 at 3:39 pm
what I meant to say was I’m a fat mong married to a bloke called Stacy, she has a beard and looks like my Mum.
40 The Entire Forum // May 29, 2008 at 3:41 pm
Coz there are no fat gooners are there Jake, just goo eaters
41 jj // May 29, 2008 at 4:52 pm
Sounds like some very bitter and delousional arsenal fans on here!
42 Arsenal 4 Ever // May 29, 2008 at 6:50 pm
Sorry, but: http://www.arsenal.com ARSENAL 4 EVER!
43 Mano // Jul 30, 2008 at 5:03 am
Why is everyone having a go at Spurs just because they are run so well?
Considering Spurs have never had Champions League football it’s great they can balance the books plus attract big names.
With so many teams in debt these days, it’s very worrying only a few make it.
Even though I’m a spurs fan, at least both sets of fans can boast North London is good with it’s moolah ;)