Newcastle United are the latest club to report increased profits, the after tax margin up from £18.7m to £32.4m in the year ending June 2015.
However, their position is more perilous than it appears. £80m has been spent on new players in the two transfer windows this season, not to any apparent great effect. Moreover, the wage bill has gone up and there are no relegation clauses in players’ contracts should the club go down.
Newcastle United are the latest club to report increased profits, the after tax margin up from £18.7m to £32.4m in the year ending June 2015.
However, their position is more perilous than it appears. £80m has been spent on new players in the two transfer windows this season, not to any apparent great effect. Moreover, the wage bill has gone up and there are no relegation clauses in players’ contracts should the club go down.
The debt pile remains at £129m, owed to Mark Ashley and companies controlled by him.
Ashley bought the club for around £134m back in 2007, but then he paid a further £110m to clear Newcastle’s debt, as well as another £30m to keep United afloat during their Championship-winning seasoning – and a new owner would therefore need to fork out north of £260m to oust him.