Spurs blame £4.3m loss on Euro failings
FAILURE to qualify for last season’s Champions League sent Tottenham into the red for the year ending June 2012, the football club announced yesterday.
Spurs recorded a loss of £4.3m, down from a £0.7m profit the previous year, as revenues fell 12 per cent from £163m to £144m.
The north Londoners said the financial blow “was primarily due to the absence of Champions League football” – estimated to be worth at least £30m in prize money, broadcast and matchday income.
It should not greatly impact Tottenham’s ability to meet European financial fair play (FFP) rules, which stipulate clubs must not lose more than £37m during last season and this term combined.
Spurs said that they continued to “comply with Uefa FFP criteria” and added that they “support its further integration into the Premier League” – a contentious matter among English top-flight sides.
Chairman Daniel Levy said the club’s focus remained “the delivery of an increased capacity stadium”. Spurs have received planning consent to build a new 56,250-seater venue next to White Hart Lane, their current home, but Levy said: “There is much work to be done refining the detailed design and resolving the final development issues.”