Ranked : Premier League Clubs With The Most Debts
13. Brentford [€86m]
Brentford FC’s gross debt rose £17m from £57m to £74m, with the majority owed to owner Matthew Benham (£60m). Matthew said he was able to bid his money on the team because he has been watching Brentford play since he was 11. He said he trusted the team completely and would still believe in them even if they cost him his money.
12. Southampton [€93m]
Southampton has a significant debt of £80m, although the club had cash of £87m in 2020, it is likely this figure is significantly less now. The club was recently purchased by Dragan Solak alongside Henrik Kraft and Rasmus Ankersen.
11. Wolverhampton Wanderers [€96m]
The ownership group Fosun, capitalised and transformed into equity £126.5 million of shareholder loans. This is undoubtedly good news for supporters of the club, it underlines the owner’s commitment and provides a level of financial security in turbulent times. Wolves also reported external bank loans secured against future Premier League broadcast revenue of circa £60m. It was also recently reported that the club had taken a further loan of £23m.
10. Crystal Palace [€98m]
Parish has worked through some dark times at Selhurst Park but his guidance has welcomed investment, and security, from the likes of Harris and Blitzer and ensured the club has never lived beyond its means. Blitzer and Harris were able to step in and write cheques that Parish could not during the pandemic, loaning the club tens of millions to keep them going during football’s shutdown.
9. West Ham [€127m]
West Ham’s newly announced financial accounts for the 2020/2021 season were released on 30th December which show a record turnover of £192.7m with a £31.7m profit however, the club posted a loss of £26.9m when player trading was factored in. The gross debt of the club has been reduced by 9% (£10.5m) from £119.5m to £109m.
8. Arsenal [€232m]
Arsenal, once the standard-bearers for conservatism and prudence in football, are now in huge debt themselves. The covid-19 pandemic and the club’s continuous absence from UCL football have made the matter worse. The group’s net debt at the end of the year jumped from £108.2 million to £199.1 million.
7. Fulham [€270m]
The latest accounts show that Shahid Khan has sunk more than half a billion pounds of his personal wealth into Fulham. Khan’s investments did earn another promotion but it feels like his money has not quite gone as far as it should do. It is difficult to know Fulham’s FFP numbers precisely, but they have been flirting dangerously with the line.
Why are you allocating a debt taken on by CFG to Man City. CFG is the Umbrella group overseeing all 11/12 (I’ve lost count) clubs owned or partially own throughout the world. So why is the cost of a replacement New York City stadium allocated as a debt to Man City.
All Business at some point take a large loan to expand CFG is no different when it works well done but if it goes awry watch out.
Crudely put, as the parent company CFG used some of the loan for the stadium in NY and some for other projects like Man city squad (how do you think pep spent 1 billion euros since he arrived on players) some club money sure but also hand outs from CFG.
The loan CFG took out had to be secured just the same as it does if we want a large loan we secure against our house.
They could have secured with a single part of a business under the umbrella or proportionately against many parts, but they are not going to divulge that to us.
The top 6 all owe large amounts of money, whether to the owner like in Chelsea’s case or, Man city to a parent club.
I have seen reports in financial papers in my position as a financial adviser that 35 million a year is paid by Man City jointly to CFG & Silver Lake (which Includes costs) in interest alone, and due to Covid that figure is set to grow.
If CFG get into financial difficulties that loan money will be redeemed from whatever parts or partial parts of the business was in the loan agreement & CFG.
I am glad my own club Aston Villa and many others in the PL clubs prefer to be there or there about whilst maintaining 0% Debt for the clubs security.
The downside is sometimes we can’t always compete as well as clubs who are happy to go into debt for whatever reason including all the top 6 all owe significant money for their positions that’s a no brainer.
My hat is off to Norwich City & always has been as they are the only totally self funded club in the PL No handouts from Delia if they don’t make it on TV Rights, merchandise, hospitality and ticket sales they don’t spend it.
They are only now in debt due to Covid by a mere 14 Million.
This is why football is wrong, Teams should be capped to only spend on a squad what they can afford without going into debt or should I say debt above the club’s value @ sale so loans can be paid off if things go awry.
It is like this, I get a loan well out of my means for any reason or just to look good then I lose my job, can’t pay the loan as my assets are not sufficient I am Bankrupt, unless I can come up with a payment plan the loan company is happy with.
Trust me we don’t do that often as we want money back plus the interest, sobering thought for clubs in debt.
The Premier league would be more interesting and potentially a more level playing if cap’s were set.