Aston Villa’s latest financial results do not make for happy reading, given the club’s precarious position in the Premier League. Losses at the parent company went up from £3.9m to £27.3m.
Turnover fell slightly from £116.9m to £115.7m. The wage bill was up from £69m to £83.7m. As a proportion of turnover it went up from an acceptable 59 per cent to a concerning 72 per cent.
Aston Villa’s latest financial results do not make for happy reading, given the club’s precarious position in the Premier League. Losses at the parent company went up from £3.9m to £27.3m.
Turnover fell slightly from £116.9m to £115.7m. The wage bill was up from £69m to £83.7m. As a proportion of turnover it went up from an acceptable 59 per cent to a concerning 72 per cent.
Villa has plenty of potential, but it has been the prime example of Midlands football being in the doldrums for some time. They have become a comatose rather than just a sleeping giant. It may not be easy to get out of the Championship as clubs like Leeds United have found. Randy Lerner is unlikely to find a buyer for the club at a price acceptable to him.
Earlier this year I was on a panel with someone from the marketing team at Villa. He impressed me, but what he was doing depended on Villa staying in the Premiership. There are always human casualties in these situations, particularly among the non-playing staff.