Financial figures for 2016-17, for the 20 clubs that were in the Premier League during 2016-17. All details from the most recently published annual reports at Companies House. Crystal Palace have missed the deadline for filing their accounts; as a consequence, all rankings of clubs are out of 19, not 20. Net debt is as stated in the accounts; debts minus cash held at the bank. The separate categories of turnover are listed according to the wording in individual club’s accounts and are each rounded up or down, so added together they do not always tally with the total turnover figure.
Ownership Arsenal Holdings plc 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): 30%
Gate and match-day income £100m
TV and broadcasting £199m
Retail £26m
Commercial £91m
Property development £1m
Player trading £7m
Net debt £47m
Interest payable £15m
Highest-paid director Ivan Gazidis: £2.618m
State they’re in The beginning of the end for Arsène Wenger: the first full season Arsenal failed to qualify for the Champions League under his management, finishing fifth. The finances reflect underinvestment in players, with income – boosted by the new TV deal – the third highest in the Premier League but wages only fifth highest. That reflects a caution in owner Stan Kroenke’s approach which some frustrated supporters characterise as an emphasis on profit at the expense of football ambition.
Ownership Club states it is 75% owned by the Russian businessman Maxim Demin, via a family trust; accounts state the holding company is Fortina Enterprises Limited, registered in the British Virgin Islands tax haven. 25% owned by PEAK6 Football Holdings LLC, US company 63% owned by investor Matthew Hulsizer and his wife, Jenny Just; 37% by minority investors.
Match income £5m
Premier League TV rights and commercial £124m
Sponsorship and advertising £4m
Hospitality and events £1m
Retail £1m
Other income £3m
Net debt Not stated; £53m loans put in by owners.
Interest payable £1.8m
Highest-paid director Unnamed: £1.226m
State they’re in English football’s finances encapsulated by one historically lower-division club now the world’s 28th richest. Bournemouth made only £5m from match days at their stadium, which has a capacity of 11,464, but the Premier League TV deal delivered £124m. No further loans have been needed from the owners, the Russian petrochemicals magnate Maxim Demin, who funded Bournemouth’s promotion, or the US investors Matthew Hulsizer and his wife, Jenny Just.
Ownership Club states that chairman Mike Garlick owns 49.24% of the shares, director John Banaszkiewicz 28.2% and the other five directors a total of 16.36%: 93.8% of the club is owned by directors.
Match income £6m
TV rights £105m
Catering £2.4m
Commercial & retail £8m
Net debt Not stated; there was no outstanding bank or directors’ loans and £20m cash in the bank.
Interest payable £45,000 on leases and hire-purchase contracts.
Highest-paid director No directors of Burnley are paid.
State they’re in Testament to Sean Dyche’s management and a soundly run club, Burnley stayed up in the Premier League despite, with relegated Hull City, the joint lowest wage bill of the 20 clubs. All debts including directors’ loans were paid off in Burnley’s previous single season in the Premier League, 2014-15. The chairman, Mike Garlick, said that financially, the club is still committed to trying to develop talent rather than making expensive signings.
Ownership Wholly owned by Roman Abramovich, registered at Companies House as a Russian resident.
Broadcasting £162m
Match day £66m
Commercial £140m
Net debt Not stated; £1.17bn owed to Roman Abramovich
Interest payable No net interest payable
Highest-paid director £229,000 to unnamed director of Chelsea Football Club Ltd.
State they’re in Chelsea’s mega-funding by Roman Abramovich has always been an anomaly; now even more so, as Chelsea were the only top club to make a loss and rely on more funding from the owner. In this title-winning season for Antonio Conte, the Russian oligarch increased his loan by £33.8m, taking his funding to £1.17bn since he bought Chelsea in 2003.
The 2016-17 accounts for CPFC 2010, the Palace holding company, were due by law at Companies House by 31 March this year and have still not been filed. That is extremely unusual; it is difficult to recall any club in recent years filing accounts from a Premier League season substantially late. Palace representatives say the delay is not due to any financial problems from a year in which two managers, Alan Pardew and Sam Allardyce, departed. However, no explanation has been provided.
Ownership Major shareholders in the Everton Football Club Company Limited stated by the club: Farhad Moshiri via Blue Heaven Holdings: 49.9%; Bill Kenwright: 12.16%; Jon Woods: 8.9%; minority shareholders own the other 29.04%
Gate receipts £14m
TV and broadcasting £131m
Sponsorship, advertising and merchandise £15m
Other commercial £11m
Net debt Nil
Interest payable £4m
Highest-paid director Unnamed: £588,000
State they’re in The figures reflect the takeover by the Monaco-based Farhad Moshiri, the long-term executive associate of the Uzbek-Russian magnate Alisher Usmanov, who remains a 30% Arsenal shareholder. Moshiri sold his 15% Arsenal stake to Usmanov, freeing him to buy 49.9% of Everton, where he has loaned £104m interest-free for funding and debt repayment. The new stadium project at Bramley Moore dock is his and the club’s greatest challenge to elevate Everton’s fortunes.
Ownership Owned by Assem Allam’s family company, Allamhouse Ltd, registered in the UK
Gate and matchday £16m
Premier League and Football League TV and other income £94m
Commercial £6m
Retail & catering £1m
Net debt £81m
Interest payable £4m
Highest-paid director Not stated if directors Assem or Ehab Allam are paid.
State they’re in Relegation season in which many supporters remained disenchanted by the stubborn adherence of Assem Allam, the owner, to the idea of changing the club’s name to Hull Tigers. The finances reflect the Allams’ concern not to spend riskily in the first season back in the Premier League; the wage bill was the division’s joint lowest, with that of Burnley. The Allams’ loans were still £73m, on which interest is charged.
Ownership Owned by Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha and his family via his Thai company, King Power International Ltd.
Premier League TV rights £121m
Uefa Champions League income £70m
Sponsorship and advertising £14m
Gate receipts £16m
Commercial and other income £11m
Net debt Not stated; £12m owed to owners, minimal bank debt.
Net interest payable £2m
Highest-paid director Unnamed, £325,000 (Susan Whelan is the chief executive)
State they’re in The season after the title-winning miracle; Leicester made £70m from their run to the quarter-finals of the Champions League, where they went out to Atlético Madrid. The accounts also note the club’s £3.1m settlement of its dispute with the EFL over financial fair play rules, relating to the £21m loss made in the 2013-14 promotion season.
Ownership Fenway Sports Group, registered in the USA as NESV I, LLC, of which John W Henry is the principal shareholder.
Gate and matchday income £74m
TV and broadcasting £154m
Commercial activities £136m
Net debt Not stated; bank loan £72m; £130m owed to FSG
Interest payable £7m
Highest-paid director Unnamed, £914,000
State they’re in Rebuilt, and beginning to approach the intentions John Henry and his FSG co-investors had for Liverpool when they bought a crisis-stricken club in 2010. The owners reversed planned ticket price increases after a walkout by protesting fans, and match-day income still increased £11m because of the opening of Anfield’s new main stand. FSG loaned £110m at 1.24% interest for its construction, and Liverpool also invested in players – the accounts note £146m net spend in the summer of 2017.
Ownership Parent company City Football Group owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan, via the Abu Dhabi United Group Investment and Development, registered in Abu Dhabi
Gate and match day £52m
TV and broadcasting, Uefa £48m
TV and broadcasting, all other £156m
Commercial activities £218m
Net debt £48m
Interest payable £2m
Highest-paid director Not identified; £4.3m was paid to “key management personnel” of City Football Group
State they’re in Position as planned for by Sheikh Mansour’s executives – improbable as it seemed – after he bought City in 2008 and began to pour in £1.2bn. From a record £197m loss six years earlier because of signing superstars including David Silva and Yaya Touré the club could not afford, the success they and other multimillion-pound signings brought have garnered huge Premier League and Uefa income, so that City are now profitable. City note in the accounts a further £161m net spent on players for Pep Guardiola last summer.
Ownership Majority-owned by the Glazer family via family trusts; United plc is registered in the Cayman Islands tax haven and listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
Gate and match-day income £112m
TV and broadcasting £194m
Commercial income £276m
Net debt £213m
Interest and finance costs £25m
Highest-paid director Unnamed, £2.6m, paid by Manchester United Football Club Limited (Ed Woodward is executive vice-chairman)
State they’re in The Glazers have outlasted vehement protests against their debt-loading 2005 takeover, and under Ed Woodward the relentless pursuit of sponsorships has delivered record turnover, almost £110m more than City, the next highest-earning club. The Glazers are still taking major money out: £23m was paid in dividends. United still owe £482m debts from their takeover, and interest paid was £25m.
Ownership Steve Gibson owns the club via the Gibson O’Neill Company Limited, a UK-registered company of which he owns 75%.
Gate and match day £9m
Cup competitions £1m
TV and broadcasting £101m
Commercial, sponsorship, merchandise £11m
Net debt Not stated; £94m loans owed to Gibson’s company; £9m bank loan.
Interest payable £0.3m
Highest-paid director Unnamed, £5,000 (Keith Lamb is a nonexecutive director; Steve Gibson was paid through another related company; highest-paid director of Gibson O’Neill, unnamed, was paid £654,000)
State they’re in Steve Gibson, the owner, was careful financially in this lone season back in the Premier League, pushing wages to £65m, one of the league’s lowest. After seven years in the Championship, parachute payments had long run out; Football League TV income in the promotion year 2015-16 was only £5m. Its immediate escalation to £101m sums up the gap between Premier League and Championship, but on the field the gap could not be bridged.
Ownership Owned by Chinese investor Jisheng Gao.
Match day £22m
Broadcasting £143m
Commercial £16m
Other income £1m
Net debt Not stated; total bank and owner loans: £38m (£20m loan converted to equity after June 30 2017)
Interest payable £4m
Highest-paid director Unnamed, £606,000 (Ralph Krueger is the chaiman)
State they’re in The last year in which Southampton were owned by Katharina Liebherr, whose father, Markus, a major Swiss industrialist, had bought the club and who engineered its Premier League transformation. Her sure handling of the inheritance confounded those who predicted chaos and these accounts show a well-run club which finished eighth. Liebherr then sold to the Chinese businessman Jisheng Gao, whose plans and credentials have yet to convince Saints supporters.
Ownership Owned by bet365 Group, the online gambling company controlled by Denise Coates, daughter of the, chairman, Peter, and family.
Gate receipts £7m
Sponsorship and advertising £11m
TV and media £109m
Conferencing and hospitality £3m
Other £6m
Net debt Not stated; £76m loans from bet365 companies.
Interest payable Nil
Highest-paid director Unnamed, £806,000 (Tony Scholes is the chief executive)
State they’re in The disappointment of relegation in May unavoidably clouds recognition of Stoke’s achievement in maintaining 10 years in the Premier League, following promotion in 2008 after an absence of 33 years. The owner, Peter Coates, worked hard to make the club sustainable, supporting financial fair play to protect the TV bonanza from draining out to players. These figures reflect that but this season a lack of goals has proven costly indeed.
Ownership Owned by the American Ellis Short via Drumaville, a company registered in Jersey
Gate receipts £9m
TV and media £96m
Sponsorship and royalties £10m
Conference, catering £7m
Retail & other commercial £5m
Net debt £126m
Interest payable £8m
Highest-paid director Unnamed, £1.2m (Martin Bain was the chief executive)
State they’re in Sunderland’s failures under Ellis Short to steady their finances and their football operations is illustrated in these figures for the relegation season. The club could not raise its fortunes in the Stadium of Light, whose 1997 building was intended to herald a brighter era. Short, who has now sold up, had £93m loans outstanding, and a £70m loan was also taken out from Security Benefit Corporation, at 7.5% above the Bank of England lending rate.
Ownership Club states that shareholders owning more than 10% of the club are Jason Levien and Stephen Kaplan, held via Swansea Football LLC, registered in the US, with 68%; Swansea City Supporters Society Limited (supporters’ trust), 21.1%.
Match income £7m
Media £109m
Commercial & other £11m
Net debt Not stated; a loan of £9m was taken out.
Interest payable £1m
Highest-paid director Huw Jenkins, £633,666
State they’re in Figures for the Swans on their way down after the highs following promotion in 2011, hailed by Richard Scudamore, the Premier League’s chief executive, as a model club for the partnership of supporter-shareholders with the supporters’ trust. The atmosphere at the Liberty Stadium turned toxic after Huw Jenkins and his fellow shareholders cashed in by selling to the US investors, while keeping the trust out of the initial discussions. There is major restoration work to do in the Championship.
Ownership Enic International Limited, registered in the Bahamas (tax haven), owns 85.55% of Spurs. Joe Lewis, resident in the Bahamas, has the controlling 70.6% ownership of Enic; trusts of which chairman Daniel Levy and family are the beneficiaries own the other 29.41%.
Match receipts £45m
TV and media £150m
All commercial activities £73m
Uefa prize money £38m
Net debt Stated as a positive, £15m more cash in the bank than the bank loans of £185m
Interest payable £13m
Highest-paid director £6m paid to Daniel Levy
State they’re in Significant overachievement by Mauricio Pochettino and his young team, finishing second in 2016-17 with a turnover and wage bill held down to 42% of turnover, the sixth highest in the league. Owners Joe Lewis and Daniel Levy – who was paid a £6m salary – have based their plan for progress on the new White Hart Lane stadium, but as David Hytner reported in April, that is a very costly project. These accounts note a £400m bank loan facility taken out in May 2017 to fund it, of which £152m had been borrowed.
Ownership Owned by Gino Pozzo via Hornets Management SA, registered in Luxembourg.
Match day £8m
Media and broadcasting £110m
Commercial £5m
Other income £2m
Net debt Not stated; £57m loans
Interest payable £3m
Highest-paid director Not stated
State they’re in Dreamland for Watford compared with where the club was before the multi-club-owning Pozzo family took over in 2012. The scouting and management system incorporated with other Pozzo clubs, particularly Udinese, has established Watford in the Premier League while the finances are stewarded steadily. Loans are relatively high, though, including £55m at 6% above base rates from the London finance house XXIII Capital and £20m from a source identified only as “a third party”.
Ownership Owned by Guochuan Lai, via Yunyi Guokai (Shanghai) Sports Development Limited, registered in China.
Gate receipts £7m
Merchandising £3m
TV and media £119m
Commercial income £10m
Net debt Not stated; £24m owed to parent companies
Interest payable Nil
Highest-paid director Unnamed, £262,000
State they’re in Accounts for the season West Brom finished 10th reflect a club established in the Premier League, its yo-yoing seasons receding. But as the top-six clubs are on a higher financial echelon and realistically never at risk of going down, relegation is an ever-present threat for three of the other 14 clubs – and West Brom have one of the lowest turnovers. This season under the new Chinese owner, Guochuan Lai, the bell tolled.
Ownership Owned, 51.1%, by David Sullivan, 35.1% David Gold, 10% J Albert Smith, 3.8% other investors
Match receipts and football related £29m
Commercial £26m
Premier League and broadcasting £119m
Retail & merchandising £10m
Net debt £46m
Interest payable £5m
Highest-paid director Unnamed, £868,000 (Karren Brady is the executive vice-chairman)
State they’re in These accounts for the first unhappy season of the botched move to the London Stadium, reveal that it was not even commercially very profitable. Ticket sales at the stadium, whose capacity has been restricted to 57,000, raised only £1.7m more than the previous season at 35,000-capacity Upton Park. Karren Brady, the vice-chairman, noted that the majority of the club’s profit was generated by the increase in the Premier League TV deal, not the move to Stratford.