Is anyone else worried about the finances?

You’re probably right…….there I’m a no win situation really, to replace what we could’ve sold would’ve cost similar in terms of quality, fail to do so fans moan, keep them they’ve to dig deep again……who’d be a football club owner

 

I can't remember our wage bill being quoted anywhere near £11m. More in the £6m to £7m last season I thought they said. With some of the players released etc, I would imagine we sit somewhere in the region of £5m to £6m now.

 

We have reduced the wage bill and if we go up wouldn’t that make more investable in rather than a league one side

 

AI response:
Barnsley FC's wage bill was
£8.33 million for the financial year ending May 31, 2023, down from £11.6 million the previous year. For the following 13-month financial period (June 2023 to June 2024), the club also reported lower losses, with wages and salaries being a factor in reduced expenditure, according to Barnsley FC and Insider Media Ltd.

 

If we do go up, Neerav would have options. And if one of those options was an exit, we could realistically be an attractive proposition for an investor who fancies a 2nd tier team with 'only' £8m losses.

Just a thought.

 

It's in the accounts.

Note 4, page 23.

£11.252m.

It's an extended period, so you should pro rata it to get a true 12 month cost. But it's still well in excess of our turnover.

 

Amazing how inaccurate AI can be.

BARNSLEY FOOTBALL CLUB LIMITED filing history - Find and update company information - GOV.UK

Note 4, page 23.

 

Also since we were last in the championship, that new money deal has kicked in, so as a L1 club we get around £2m in payments, but championship clubs last year received roughly £11m, the gap increased. Wasn't it only around £7m when we were int he champ?

 

Ah ok. Although I'm more referring to the players wages. I guess that top level wage bill includes every single person on the clubs payroll.

 

Of course. The club can't operate with just players alone.

 

100% agree.

Makes sense and fair play to the owners.

Best way to cover costs long term is get back and stay in Champ.

But if we’re off the pace in January, I don’t think we’ll have much choice.

 

EFL could phase in proposals to level up the playing field under the guise of responsible financial stewardship.

At the end of the season apply a points adjustment based on losses. For example a club operating within it's means or only making a small loss in footballing terms £1m would face no adjustment.

Lose between £1m and £2m then a 4 pts deduction applied. £2m to £3m 6 pts deduction, £3m to £4m 8 points deduction, £4m to £5m 10 points deduction. £5m+ barred from promotion to the next tier.

Obviously it couldn't be implemented immediately, but say given 3 years to start cutting their cloth accordingly before it kicks in. Just an idea but surely we can't go on with the current financial situation in the English game.

A system like this could also be beneficial to young English/British players being given more opportunity to flourish, which would also be beneficial for the national side.

 

Correct. Fans want promotion to be financially worthwhile because they want to justify owners bankrolling the club.

The fact is with promotion yes revenue will increase but so will expenses. Especially if you are trying to stay in the championship. Players will demand new contracts, incoming players will demand higher wages etc.

 

You'll also instantly have promotion clauses activated which would likely elevate wages between 15 and 25%, plus, the next seasons wage increment ratchet. If player wages are say £8m, you could see around a £2m uplift immediately without adding to the squad or players wanting bigger championship level salaries.

 

I reckon finally getting Conman's purchases off the books has given us a large reduction in costs.

 

EFL cannot phase anything in they don’t make the rules they just govern them. All the rules are voted for and have to be agreed by the member clubs.
It needs either the FA/UEFA/FIFA or government to bring it in.

 

As DWLC has pointed out these seem to be wrong but you would think so and with the likes of Benson too who must have been the last of the bigger earners.
We don’t know either way but I would also suspect some improvement with the loans out too.

 

Barring injuries Phillips and DKD will be worth the same if not more in January, typically it's a seller's market and if they continue in current form they'll have their suitors. The bigger surprise for me is Russell not leaving.

 

I still expect one or two of the crown jewels to go in January if the offers are right, and if they are obscene offers, then that could be the case regardless of how we are doing at the time. They clearly have a valuation of each of them and are not willing to undersell. The January window is notoriously hard to get quality in and offers can therefore get to stupid levels when clubs start panicking that they need said quality in.

So I am going to enjoy the fact that we have them all for a further 4 months as I expected some of them to have gone by now, so the extra time we have them is a bonus. But I am not going to kid myself that it will last much longer.

 

In the same way that Sheffield Wednesday would have been worth loads if they’d have beaten Hull at Wembley?