Top clubs becoming less sustainable
PREMIER League clubs’ financial health deteriorated last season, according to a key indicator.
The proportion of revenue clubs spent on wages rose to an average of 75.3 per cent in 2012-13, analysis by football business expert Kieron O’Connor, who writes influential blog the Swiss Ramble, shows.
That was up from 70 per cent in 2011-12, based on figures from Deloitte – a ratio considered the limit before clubs are likely to need extra funding from a benefactor.
The numbers suggest clubs are becoming less sustainable at a time when governing bodies are seeking to enforce loss-limiting measures.
Eleven clubs breached 70 per cent, the same as in 2011-12, while 14 hiked their wage bill, with QPR’s rising from £58m to £78m – the second biggest increase – in the season they were relegated.
HIGHEST WAGES
£233m: Man City (2011/12: £202m)
£181m: Man Utd (£162m)
£173m: Chelsea (£173m)
£154m: Arsenal (£143m)
£131m: Liverpool (N/A)