We were relegated with that ‘performance’. So were Burton! I don’t mind as long as when Timerider is played it’s the accountants who run out and salute the crowd.
Highlights how poor we are commercially really. Other figures not bad at all, but commercially we seem to be missing something - as mentioned several times over the years.
Thanks for that. I found it an interesting read. Makes you wonder where many of these clubs would be without their sugardaddies. We might all wish BFC could compete more, financially speaking, but I'd rather not have my club operating like that. The annual losses are staggering and surely can't be sustainable in the long term.
I have also spent time analysing and comparing the published accounts in respect of 2017/18 season. I intend to publish a report of my musings via Minority Report in a few weeks. In my view, Swiss Ramble should have adjusted his figures for Extraordinary Items as I have done in my report. Many clubs were having potential problems with FFP at the end of this financial year, and were keen not to incur the wrath of the EFL as QPR had done. The QPR accounts include a fine of £20m for breaking EFL FFP limits on 3 year losses (£39m). Many club sailed close to the wind with the actions that they took in order to avoid a similar fate, and in one case, the club had to extend its financial year to 14 months in order to complete the face saving transaction. This is also why Middlesborough are threatening to sue the EFL for not pursuing Derby County. The actions that I am referring to are: 1. Selling your ground to a related party in order to generate a huge profit. 2. Receiving a very large grant from a related party. 3. Related parties writing off very large loans. 4. The QPR fine referred to above. 5. Revaluing your Land & Buildings upwards i order to inflate the value of fixed assets. When Extraordinary Items (one-off, non-recurring credits in the main) are added back to reveal the underlying trading result, the picture is a hell of a lot worse than Swiss Ramble is portraying.
It’d be interesting if the EFL awarded 10 points down to 1 on a sliding scale for clubs who turned a profit or broke even the year before. It would awards clubs for operating correctly and gives them a boost. I presume you couldn’t tweak the figures to obtain this either. Smaller clubs like us and Burton etc would be awarded. It wouldn’t apply to clubs coming down though from Prem.
I am afraid that my comparison of Financial Statements concludes otherwise. One of the reasons why there is such flexibility in the way that FFP rules are applied is that clubs wanted it that way. The rich men who control many of the clubs in the Championship wanted to be able to spend their way to the Premier League, and the flexibility in the FFP rules still allows them to try to do that. There is much less flexibility in the SCMP rules that apply to League 1 and League 2, but there is some. For example, donations from the owner are allowed, and Patrick Cryne made use of that flexibility. The clubs in the lower leagues wanted more control, they wanted a fair and competitive environment. However, the majority of Championship club would reject any move to a SCMP type system, because essentially, they want to be able to cheat. The Championship is a mess. A mess of its own creation. A mess that the Barnsley owners should be very wary of joining.
Yes, its true we really fit in th his league like an uncomfortable shoe. Thanks for the insight RR, it becomes extremely diffecult to compete at this standard. It also engages me that clubs like QPR can still spend millions on players (mainly wages), when they have broken the rules but agree yo pay back over a long term. As i keep saying the EFL, need to grow a pair and introduce fit and proper rules that apply to EVERYONE.
Well put. Totally agree. Whilst every other season we will all feel frustration when our best players are sold, at least we all know the plan and why we are doing it. An important part of our plan relies on us consolidating in the Championship over a few seasons. Even if that means finishing 4th from bottom. It gives us foundations and stability to keep going forward. We’ve seen this season, we can attract home-grown and foreign talent if we are in the Championship.
This. The people who make and enforce the rules are also the culprits. Ludicrous really, but we're stuck with it until some sizable clubs start going bust, and that seems a very long way off.
The problem will continue for as long as there are multi- billionaires prepared to enter in to a vanity project through a second tier team. Once this stream of finance dries up the Finances of some of our rivals will be laid bare. The big question is how long can this perpetuate?
