Michael Reeves
The Swans released their latest set of accounts yesterday with the headline being a £13m lost as wages continued during the year to be out of control.
It has to be questioned how the wage bill can be allowed to be as much as £26m when immediate turnover was down to under £20m due to the loss of the parachute payment, something which was clearly known, and accepted, well ahead of the moment that it happened.
Far from “financially secure” as the Trust has stated it to be in their (approved) wording this is an alarming trend and rumours of significantly reduced wage bills in the current season are welcomed although it is difficult to understand how much it can be reduced by when significant departures from the club this summer will not be huge impacts on that bill.
What it does highlight is the financial difficulty of clubs in the Championship when operating costs equal £40m but with a total employment of 510 people it feels that it is a figure designed to justify that expense. However, part of that is driven by a decision taken by the club to bring catering in house which will always be interesting to see if that has had any material benefit to the club.
Alarmingly the accounts do include the sale of Flynn Downes to West Ham (our “marquee” sale of last summer) although will not show the benefit of his wage reduction. The club statement also calls out “no dividends” which is a pointed statement given that the loss position means dividends could not be paid.
The words that accompanied the announcement were relatively laughable when you take them in the context of the accounts themselves with Julian Winter saying “These latest accounts cover a season where the club’s Premier League parachute payments came to an end, which is the principal reason why such a financial loss has been reported.
“However, the return of supporters to stadiums following the pandemic has been crucial for us to build up our matchday income following nearly 18 months without anyone being able to come to matches.
“The reporting period also covers a time where we appointed Russell Martin as our head coach, with a clear return to a playing style and identity that is synonymous with this club, as well as a commitment to giving young players an opportunity to thrive.”
Of course the loss of income will be a reason for the loss but at the same time the inability of the club to plan properly for this is the prime reason of the loss. The appointment of a new manager is kind of irrelevant in all of this particular figure.
It does highlight exactly why the club is being propped up by investment which is taking us further away from our supporter ownership and of course the reports of new investment have been rife this week and no real surprise given the presence of certain of those new investors at the club in recent weeks.
The plus point is any investment and conversion of loan notes to reduce overall debt of course could well be a positive but at the same time there is much more to be alarmed about within these accounts then there is positive no matter how it likes to be dressed up.
