A detailed study of the accounts of all 20 clubs

Financial figures for 2011-12, for the 20 clubs that were in the Premier League during 2010-11. All details from the published annual reports at Companies House. Net debt is as stated in the accounts; debts minus cash held at the bank. The separate categories of turnover are rounded down or up, so added together do not always tally with the total turnover figure. ARSENAL - Accounts for the year to 31 May 2012 Ownership: Arsenal Holdings PLC major shareholders are: Kroenke Sports Enterprises UK (registered in Delaware, owned by US resident Stan Kroenke) 62%, Red and White Securities Limited (registered in Jersey, owned by Russian resident Alisher Usmanov and Farhad Moshiri) 29.9% Turnover: 3rd highest in league, £245m (down from £258m in 2011) Gate and matchday income: £95m TV and broadcasting: £85m Retail: £18m Commercial: £34m Property Development: £8m Player Trading: £3m Wage bill: 4th highest, £143m (up from £124m) Wages as proportion of turnover: 58% Profit before tax: £37m (up from £15m) Net debt: £98m Interest payable: £15m Highest-paid director: Ivan Gazidis, £2.05m State they’re in: The year fans voiced discontent with what they receive for their £95m matchday outlay. Arsenal were until very recently hailed as an ideal club, their policy of US owner Stan Kroenke putting no money in lauded as a “self-sustaining model”. Many supporters now view that as meaning they fund the club, to bank profits at the expense of football success. The £3m player trading figure within Arsenal’s turnover is an accountancy device that does not reflect the £65m profit made selling stars including Cesc Fàbregas, Samir Nasri and Gaël Clichy. Arsenal’s “model” has not been hailed much since. ASTON VILLA - Accounts for the year to 31 May 2012 Ownership: Owned by Randy Lerner, via Reform Acquisitions LLC, a USA company Turnover: 9th in league, £80m (down from £92m in 2011) Gate and matchday: £20m TV and broadcasting: £47m Commercial: £14m Wage bill: 7th, £70m (down from £83m) Wages as proportion of turnover: 87.5% Loss before tax: £18m (following £54m loss last year) Net debt: £122m Interest payable: £7m Highest-paid director: £256,000 to unnamed director (Paul Faulkner is the chief executive) State they’re in: Exceptional among the US buyers, Randy Lerner has spent hugely on Villa ‘in equity and loans, now at £107m’ yet his promising tenure has declined. Lerner has been financially hit by the banking crisis, having sold his MBNA company in return for Bank of America shares, and he is trying to cut back on overspending and losses. Ashley Young, Gareth Barry, James Milner and Stewart Downing, four England internationals, are now memories; Villa’s accounts state Paul Lambert’s “youthful, highly motivated first-team squad … will prove eminently sustainable in the long term.” BLACKBURN ROVERS - Accounts for the year to 30 June 2012 Ownership: Owned by Venkateshwara Hatcheries (Venky’s) of Pune, in India Turnover: 19th in league, £54m (down from £58m in 2011) Gate and matchday: £5m TV and broadcasting: £41m Commercial: £8m Wage bill: 15th, £50m (same as 2011) Wages as proportion of turnover: 93% Profit before tax: £4m (following loss of £19m in 2011) Net debt: £25m Interest payable: £0.2m Highest-paid director: Unnamed, £135,000 State they’re in: One figure encapsulates the puzzle about why Venky’s, a large chicken concern in India, have so scrambled Blackburn Rovers’ fortunes. The accounts show the owners have loaned the club £21m, interest free. That is the policy of a benefactor owner, and considerably exceeds the small amounts the trustees of Jack Walker’s estate parted with over the previous decade. So Venky’s have spent millions on Blackburn, only to undermine the club with inexplicable managerial decisions and the needless loss of excellent directors they inherited. Rovers recorded a profit in 2011-12 owing to player trading, principally selling Christopher Samba, but relegation will have been financially hideous. BOLTON WANDERERS - Accounts for the year to 30 June 2012 Ownership: 95% owned by Eddie Davies, resident in the Isle of Man, a tax haven, via his private trust, Fildraw, registered in Bermuda Turnover: 15th in league, £65m (down from £68m in 2011) Gate and matchday: £8m Hotel: £6m TV and broadcasting: £43m Corporate hospitality: £2m Merchandising: £2m Sponsorship advertising: £4m Wage bill: 13th, £55m (down from £56m in 2011) Wages as proportion of turnover: 85% Loss before Tax: £22m (reduced from £26m in 2011) Net debt: £137m Interest payable: £6m Highest-paid director: £858,000, presumed to be Allan Duckworth, includes £397,000 pay-off State they’re in: Bolton ended 11 years of Premier League earnings heavily in debt, seriously loss-making and stating they were seeking still further borrowing “to meet liabilities as they fall due”. While other smaller clubs have accepted the possibility of yo-yoing down then back up from the Championship, Bolton put those years behind them and paid out the Premier League’s 13th highest wage bill. The accounts reveal the extent of backing from Isle of Man resident Eddie Davies, one of the lowest profile football owners. His loans are now up to £137m ‘and he charges interest, £5.5m in the year, a decent earner for him, in current economic conditions. CHELSEA - Accounts (of the holding company, Fordstam) for the year to 30 June 2012 Ownership: Wholly owned by Roman Abramovich, registered at Companies House as a Russian resident Turnover: 2nd in league, £261m (up from £229m in 2011) Broadcasting: £113m Matchday: £78m Commercial: £70m Wage bill: 2nd, £173m (down from £190m in 2011) Wages as proportion of turnover: 66% Loss before tax: £4m (following £78m in 2011) Net debt: £878m Interest payable: £Nil Highest-paid director: Unnamed, £911,000 (Ron Gourlay is the chief executive) State they’re in: Roman Abramovich has taken the burden of his loans away from Chelsea Football Club itself, but these accounts for the holding company show the Russian oligarch’s loans increased substantially in the year. Abramovich lent a further £79m to the Chelsea operation, increasing the total to a staggering £896m, poured into Chelsea since he bought the club in 2003. Some restraint is evident even in the year Chelsea’s players were able to win the Champions League trophy for their paymaster. The wage bill came down and £29m was made selling fringe players. The loss of £4m would have been higher without an exceptional £18m noted from two share dealings. EVERTON - Accounts for the year to 31 May 2012 Ownership: Shares in the Everton Football Club Company Limited are owned by: Bill Kenwright 25%, Jon Woods 19%, Robert Earl (resident of Florida) 23% Turnover: 8th in league, £81m (down from £82m in 2011) Gate and programme sales: £17m TV and broadcasting: £53m Other commercial activities: £11m Wage bill: 10th, £63m (up from £58m) Wages as proportion of turnover: 78% Loss before tax: £9m (increased from £5m) Net debt: £46m Interest payable: £4m Highest-paid director: No director was paid; chief executive Robert Elstone is not a director State they’re in: The money situation reflects the impression David Moyes and his team give on the field, that Everton are pushing to the limit of their current potential. A spirited seventh place was won with only the 10th highest wage bill but with no funding from owners, no buyer or stadium expansion, Everton are stretched inexorably into losses. Lending arrangements from Barclays Bank expire on 31 July, so chairman Bill Kenwright is seeking renewal at the same level, while also borrowing against future TV revenues. FULHAM - Accounts for the year to 30 June 2012 Ownership: Owned by Mafco Holdings Limited, a Bermuda (tax haven) company, which is owned by Mohamed Al Fayed and his family Turnover: 10th in league, £79m (up from £76m in 2011) Gate and matchday: £11m Europa League: £3m TV and broadcasting: £51m Sponsorship and commercial: £12m Compensation: £1m Wage bill: 11th, £62m (up from £58m in 2011) Wages as proportion of turnover: 78% Loss before tax: £18m (down from £5m profit in 2011) Net debt: £4m Interest payable: £0.3m Highest-paid director: Unnamed, £704,000 (Alistair Mackintosh is the chief executive) State they’re in: One of football’s most surprising love affairs, Mohamed Al Fayed’s 16-year commitment to Fulham was formalised with his cancellation of £212m loans. The money loaned from Fayed’s tax haven base to fund Fulham’s rise was converted to equity on 15 June 2012. The 2011 net debt of £193m was wiped away to stand at only £4m. Fulham are becoming regarded as an example of how, after initial investment, a smaller club can build their crowd and playing success in the Premier League and become gradually sustainable. However, largely due to making less from selling players, a £5m profit in 2011 turned to an £18m loss. LIVERPOOL - Accounts for the 10 months to 31 July 2012 Ownership: Fenway Sports Group, registered in the USA, of which John W Henry is the principal shareholder Turnover: 5th in league, £169m (down from £184m in 2011) Gate and matchday income: £42m TV and broadcasting: £63m Commercial activities: £64m Wage bill: 5th, £119m Wages as proportion of turnover: 70% Loss before tax: £41m (following £49m in 2011) Net debt: £87m Interest payable: £4m Highest-paid director: Unnamed, £657,000 (Ian Ayre is the managing director) State they’re in: Not where John Henry envisaged Liverpool would be when he and his Fenway Sports Group co-investors bought the club in 2010. Agencies