Burnley FC Accounts 2022/23

[ClaretTony]

Published yesterday

https://www.burnleyfootballclub.com/mor ... b-accounts

https://media-cdn.incrowdsports.com/bc7 ... 9f58f8.pdf

[claretblue]

from page 2:

Interest of other stakeholders (fans, suppliers, others)
Fans are the lifeblood of our football club and, as such, are always at the foremost when any major decisions are
made. Key decision makers at the football club have regular meetings with the supporter groups and we are proud
to have a growing number of overseas supporter groups

'...regular meetings with the supporter groups...' - some might question that!

[NewClaret]

Unbelievably scary drop in revenues.

Puts the importance of the next 8 games in to context.

[claretblue]

Average Home league gate:
2022/23 - 19,953
2021/22 - 19,317

surprised at this!

[wilks_bfc]

Average Home league gate:
2022/23 - 19,953
2021/22 - 19,317

surprised at this!

Surprised in what way?

seems about right to me

More games
More local games
We’d have been a “new ground” for some teams
But on the flip side, more midweek games would see lower attendance

[ŽižkovClaret]

*Awaits ChesterPerry translation*

[Royboyclaret]

As anticipated a small Operating Loss for the financial year, but with the Profit from the previous year absolutely no problems whatsoever with PSR over the three year rolling period.
Normally Chester Perry would be all over this on the MMT thread.
Everton take note of how to run a football club.

[helmclaret]

‘Material uncertainty’ with regards to Going Concern would suggest otherwise.

[Swizzlestick]

Pretty huge error by the auditors last year!

[Royboyclaret]

‘Material uncertainty’ with regards to Going Concern would suggest otherwise.

Everton are literally on their financial knees.

[hetheclaret]

‘Material uncertainty’ with regards to Going Concern would suggest otherwise.

That part is stating that if clubs don't pay what they are owed then the club would be in trouble - a "no sh*t" statement that I imagine every football club has in its annual reports.

The press love to pick up on the "going concern" section in an annual report - neglecting to realise that every single company on the planet has the same section in its financial reports. That is because every single company is at risk of going bust, even if the likelihood varies wildly between businesses.

Football clubs operate in an extremely high risk and volatile industry. Most clubs live a season-by-season existence.

[helmclaret]

Every single company doesn’t have a material uncertainty around Going Concern.

[hetheclaret]

Every single company doesn’t have a material uncertainty around Going Concern.

Yes it does, and football clubs are far more at risk than others.

[123EasyasBFC]

Really does show the drop in revenues between champ and prem. nearly 70m drop.

Although we have prem money in the next accounts we have a lot of money on players brought in which makes the likelihood of more player sales in the summer more likely especially if we go down

[Royboyclaret]

Really does show the drop in revenues between champ and prem. nearly 70m drop.

Although we have prem money in the next accounts we have a lot of money on players brought in which makes the likelihood of more player sales in the summer more likely especially if we go down

Revenue is important, obviously, but the sensible reduction of Staff Costs from £92m to £53m indicates how realistically our Club is being run at this moment in time.

[Goliath]

Revenue is important, obviously, but the sensible reduction of Staff Costs from £92m to £53m indicates how realistically our Club is being run at this moment in time.

Not sure about that, won't it mainly include the loss of wages of Pope, Tarkowski, Cornet, Mee and Mcneil. They didn't really have much choice but to get rid of them, they were out of contract or had a release clause in Cornets case and didn't want to stay anyway

[aggi]

Obvious thing is the jump in loans from ~ £45m to £70m. I imagine that was mainly to fund the player trading (although the amounts we owe on transfers has already likely gone up).

Wages down from £92m to £53.5m. Surprised they didn't cut that more given relegation clauses and a lot of experienced players being replaced by youngsters but I guess there are promotion bonuses in there.

Interest of £10m paid to maintain the loans which is a bit more than the previous year despite hopes.

The main unexplained thing is why operating expenses have gone up by so much. Up by ~ 50%/£10m which seem strange.

£2.5m paid to ALK (up by £1m from £1.5m the previous year). Not surprising but can't imagine everyone will be happy with that.

The single year loss looks worse than it arguably is because the big sales from that transfer window (McNeil and Collins) were in the previous accounts as they happened in July 2022.

[Royboyclaret]

Not sure about that, won't it mainly include the loss of wages of Pope, Tarkowski, Cornet, Mee and Mcneil. They didn't really have much choice but to get rid of them, they were out of contract or had a release clause in Cornets case and didn't want to stay anyway

Still remains a sensible approach as a potential Championship Club.

[GetIntoEm]

I'm not financial expert but it reads how you would expect, no major surprises, no major worries. good job Alan

[Goliath]

Still remains a sensible approach as a potential Championship Club.

But also very lucky that we had so many out of contract players on big wages in a sense. That's what can catch clubs out

[NottsClaret]

I'll need it translating, as accounting stuff may as well be in Chinese for me. But if the wage bill has been reduced as suggested above, that's the biggest deal. Everyone loves those 'they spent £100m' headlines, but we all know transfer payments are structured and staggered over years, and of course you still have the value of the player while under contract - it's the wages that ultimately sink you.

[Colburn_Claret]

But also very lucky that we had so many out of contract players on big wages in a sense. That's what can catch clubs out

No guarantee, but our top earners now are probably Jay and Jack Cork, both in the final year of contract.
If its deemed necessary we can cut our cloth again this summer.
Not wishful thinking, just an observation.

[dsr]

Presumably the wage bill will include promotion bonuses, which it would be more sensible to include with next year's accounts since it will be paid out of next year's money. But accounting policies, like the laws of football, have been stepping away from sensible in recent years, and moving towards a strictly logical method that seems right in theory but is worse in practice.

[Royboyclaret]

But also very lucky that we had so many out of contract players on big wages in a sense. That's what can catch clubs out

Look at the bigger picture, my friend.

So fortunate that Alan Pace is aligned with the very immediate future of Burnley Football Club.....

.......

[dsr]

Look at the bigger picture, my friend.

So fortunate that Alan Pace is aligned with the very immediate future of Burnley Football Club.....

.......

True enough. If he hadn't taken out another £10m by way of loan, £2.5m in fees, and who knows how much paid in interest to service his loans, we could be so much worse off.

[aggi]

I'm not financial expert but it reads how you would expect, no major surprises, no major worries. good job Alan

I'd say the confirmation of the increase in the loan is the major thing.

Previous loans had been used to fund the purchase of the club. Not ideal but not something that reflects on day-to-day business.

This loan is obviously, in part at least, being used to fund the business. It isn't necessarily a bad thing if it is used to fund the business well but it does show the direction of travel the owners are taking.

[Big Vinny K]

Need to have a longer look at the accounts but from what I have seen they are worse than I was expecting.

The wages were higher than I was expecting but I’m guessing they will have included promotion bonuses given we went up 2 or 3 months before the year end. They may also include some payments to Dyche and his team before they went into Everton.

The increase in debt is pretty significant - I hope that was in anticipation of the transfer spend in the Premier League rather than a necessity from the relegation season (or we are probably looking at further increases in debt).

I’m not massively worried at this stage but the loss has got to be one of (if not the) biggest in our history.
Last years profits mean at this stage we are ok under FFP rules. But with these underlying numbers, the level of debt and of course a lot of uncertainty around how we have funded circa £120m of spend since these accounts then i also think we are a long way from describing us as the perfect role model business / how to run a club etc.

We generate bigger or similar losses next year, get relegated and fail to go up (or even go up and be subject to the £65m losses threshold) then we will also be in trouble.

Any club (or business) that makes losses of tens of millions every year is not sustainable for ever. Especially one that does not have a sugar daddy prepared to prop up those losses.

[Vegas Claret]

Need to have a longer look at the accounts but from what I have seen they are worse than I was expecting.

The wages were higher than I was expecting but I’m guessing they will have included promotion bonuses given we went up 2 or 3 months before the year end. They may also include some payments to Dyche and his team before they went into Everton.

The increase in debt is pretty significant - I hope that was in anticipation of the transfer spend in the Premier League rather than a necessity from the relegation season (or we are probably looking at further increases in debt).

I’m not massively worried at this stage but the loss has got to be one of (if not the) biggest in our history.
Last years profits mean at this stage we are ok under FFP rules. But with these underlying numbers, the level of debt and of course a lot of uncertainty around how we have funded circa £120m of spend since these accounts then i also think we are a long way from describing us as the perfect role model business / how to run a club etc.

We generate bigger or similar losses next year, get relegated and fail to go up (or even go up and be subject to the £65m losses threshold) then we will also be in trouble.

Any club (or business) that makes losses of tens of millions every year is not sustainable for ever. Especially one that does not have a sugar daddy prepared to prop up those losses.

and that is why we shouldn't be sniggering at others imho

[Big Vinny K]

and that is why we shouldn't be sniggering at others imho

I think it’s all relative Vegas.
Just because we may not be at basket case level of financial mismanagement like Everton (and plenty of other clubs) does not mean that every thing is fine and dandy.

Some clubs are a lot more vulnerable and far less capacity to cope with the underlying risks associated with debt, relegation etc. And some clubs seem to have a lot less potential to increase non TV money revenue in commercial activities and match day income. We are definitely one of these clubs.

Noticed in our accounts our commercial revenue was down - but a lot of that will be the main shirt sponsorship deal. But even going up to the PL I don’t expect this years shirt deal was as much as our previous deal when we were in the PL before the new owners came in. I don’t really see much evidence of material increases in our commercial revenues. I hope I’m wrong.

[aggi]

Need to have a longer look at the accounts but from what I have seen they are worse than I was expecting.

The wages were higher than I was expecting but I’m guessing they will have included promotion bonuses given we went up 2 or 3 months before the year end. They may also include some payments to Dyche and his team before they went into Everton.

The increase in debt is pretty significant - I hope that was in anticipation of the transfer spend in the Premier League rather than a necessity from the relegation season (or we are probably looking at further increases in debt).

I’m not massively worried at this stage but the loss has got to be one of (if not the) biggest in our history.
Last years profits mean at this stage we are ok under FFP rules. But with these underlying numbers, the level of debt and of course a lot of uncertainty around how we have funded circa £120m of spend since these accounts then i also think we are a long way from describing us as the perfect role model business / how to run a club etc.

We generate bigger or similar losses next year, get relegated and fail to go up (or even go up and be subject to the £65m losses threshold) then we will also be in trouble.

Any club (or business) that makes losses of tens of millions every year is not sustainable for ever. Especially one that does not have a sugar daddy prepared to prop up those losses.

A fair chunk of Summer 23 transfer dealings did come into these accounts. Beyer, Amdouni and Trafford were all In July 23 so will fall in these accounts (although obviously a fair chunk of payments for these will be in the future).

[summitclaret]

My main concern even if we go down is the money that we may be committed to pay yet on Tresor and that we will be for Ramsey, Trafford and Amdouni. I hope that there a big proportion of their fees yet to be paid are performance based.

[Goody1975]

A fair chunk of Summer 23 transfer dealings did come into these accounts. Beyer, Amdouni and Trafford were all In July 23 so will fall in these accounts (although obviously a fair chunk of payments for these will be in the future).

I also think the headline figures of transfer fees are somewhat inflated over what we have paid, certainly before any adds ons come into affect. Whatever the fees are, they will obviously be spread over the term of the contracts.

[Big Vinny K]

A fair chunk of Summer 23 transfer dealings did come into these accounts. Beyer, Amdouni and Trafford were all In July 23 so will fall in these accounts (although obviously a fair chunk of payments for these will be in the future).

Good point - you lose track of the timings when you sign as many players as we have !!
I’d be surprised though if we have not increased the level of our debt again post these accounts.

[123EasyasBFC]

A fair chunk of Summer 23 transfer dealings did come into these accounts. Beyer, Amdouni and Trafford were all In July 23 so will fall in these accounts (although obviously a fair chunk of payments for these will be in the future).

Obafemi, O’Shea and koleosho also July

[brexit]

Surprised in what way?

seems about right to me

More games
More local games
We’d have been a “new ground” for some teams
But on the flip side, more midweek games would see lower attendance

Stupid question, but does this figure include away fans and hospitality?

[Goliath]

Look at the bigger picture, my friend.

So fortunate that Alan Pace is aligned with the very immediate future of Burnley Football Club.....

.......

The bigger picture is we are up **** creek if we don't go back up within 2 or 3 years.

[aggi]

My main concern even if we go down is the money that we may be committed to pay yet on Tresor and that we will be for Ramsey, Trafford and Amdouni. I hope that there a big proportion of their fees yet to be paid are performance based.

As an illustration on how much can be performance based:

In these accounts we paid fees (not necessarily in cash, but we definitely owe it if not) of £84m.

On top of that we have additional performance based fees of £22m (some of that may relate to signings from previous years but the vast majority will be related to that £84m) that may need to be paid depending on targets being hit (and if that target was promotion to the Premier League that will already be included in the £84m).

[aggi]

The bigger picture is we are up **** creek if we don't go back up within 2 or 3 years.

That is true of any Championship club without owners who will subsidise them by tens of millions.

[Quickenthetempo]

Is there any signs in there where we have improved on the previous owners?

[wilks_bfc]

Stupid question, but does this figure include away fans and hospitality?

Looking at the attendances for last season, I’m assuming it’s from the totals that were announced, so would include away fans.
Not sure if all the hospitality sales are include in it or not

[bobinho]

No guarantee, but our top earners now are probably Jay and Jack Cork, both in the final year of contract.
If its deemed necessary we can cut our cloth again this summer.
Not wishful thinking, just an observation.

And no chance of picking a fee up for either, especially not on the wages they will both be getting. No one on their right mind would take either at anywhere near their current salaries. They will both leave for nowt at the end of their current contracts. Cork could probably still do a decent job for a championship side. I honestly think Jay will struggle at championship level, and may even have to go to League 1 for any joy.

[Colburn_Claret]

And no chance of picking a fee up for either, especially not on the wages they will both be getting. No one on their right mind would take either at anywhere near their current salaries. They will both leave for nowt at the end of their current contracts. Cork could probably still do a decent job for a championship side. I honestly think Jay will struggle at championship level, and may even have to go to League 1 for any joy.

I wouldn't expect a fee, just a reduction in the wages column.
We will be in need of new blood in the summer therefore someone has to leave. Bit part players on big money has to be an obvious choice, as much as I respect the pair of them.

[TPClaret]

Is there any signs in there where we have improved on the previous owners?

Ground improvements which were massively needed. Brought in a top young manager and exciting young players. Hopefully the future is bright.

[Big Vinny K]

Is there any signs in there where we have improved on the previous owners?

Completely different ownership and financial model.
But if you are looking at purely numbers in isolation as a comparison between owners then the biggest “improvement” is our wage bill.

But firstly that’s now a historical and largely irrelevant figure now. And secondly you cannot look at the wage bill in isolation. Eg any reduction in wage bill could be countered by even bigger increases in transfer spend (which we know is usually phased but is still going to be probably the biggest annual number in our history for the next 2 or 3 years at least)

Did notice in our accounts an alarming increase in the number of employees at the club. I thought one of the things the new owners looked to be doing was rationalise this area (we saw big increases under Dyche). We know that they got rid of a lot of the staff who had been there for years but looks like they replaced these and then some. With no real evidence of commercial revenues increasing (yet) it’s difficult to see the impact of these increases in staff

[Goliath]

That is true of any Championship club without owners who will subsidise them by tens of millions.

We have foreign owners that have taken out huge loans and theoretically we would have a huge reduction in revenue which could be used to pay those loans back.

[Big Vinny K]

We have foreign owners that have taken out huge loans and theoretically we would have a huge reduction in revenue which could be used to pay those loans back.

What has where the owners come from got to do with it ?

I think the point was that many clubs in the PL and championship are in the same boat with significant debt and either already in the championship after being relegated or at the risk of being relegated.

[Quickenthetempo]

Ground improvements which were massively needed. Brought in a top young manager and exciting young players. Hopefully the future is bright.

I was just asking if the new owners had improved a certain section of the club financially?

Your list of items is for another thread.

[FCBurnley]

Who do we think we can sell in summer window for a fee assuming we are relegated ? I think that is a very relevant question

[The Shire Claret]

Who do we think we can sell in summer window for a fee assuming we are relegated ? I think that is a very relevant question

it's a massive potential list isn't it ...

I think a lot of our championship winning players will be profitable if they don't get a chance next season aka

Zaroury
Benson
Churnilov
Roberts
-----
I assume Amdouni may be sold ?

Just to name a few, not that I want to see them go

UTC

[Funkydrummer]

My main concern even if we go down is the money that we may be committed to pay yet on Tresor and that we will be for Ramsey, Trafford and Amdouni. I hope that there a big proportion of their fees yet to be paid are performance based.

From what I've seen of three of those four players, we'd be better off
defaulting on the payments and the various vendors repossessing.

No more payments by way of transfer fees or salaries.

SORTED !!!

(Awaits being shot down in flames by those who know what they're talking about)