Express & Star

Club accounts reveal Aston Villa pre-tax loss of £36.1m

Villa made a pre-tax loss of £36.1 million as they missed out on promotion last season, figures released on Wednesday revealed.

Published

The club lost more than £1million a week during the 2017-18 campaign as former owner Tony Xia failed in his gamble to reach the Premier League.

Villa finished fourth in their second season in the Championship but went on to lose in the play-off final, ultimately being plunged into a financial crisis as Xia’s cash supplies ran dry.

They were eventually rescued last July by billionaire duo Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens, who have since invested £68million to keep the club afloat.

Accounts for the 2017-18 season released for Villa’s controlling company, the Recon Group, lay bare the extent of the gamble taken by Xia, with wages climbing nearly £12million on the previous year, to £73million, despite a reduction in revenues.

Broadcasting income was down from £48m to £40.3m, though gate receipts rose from £10.7m to £11.8m as Villa challenged for promotion.

Sponsorship was also up, from £2.7m to £4.7m, with the increase thought to be connected to the renaming of Villa’s Bodymoor Heath training ground by the Recon Group.

Commercial income, including merchandising, was down from £12.3m to £11.6m.

The club, meanwhile, received £3m in compensation from the HS2 rail project, which will cut through part of the training ground.

The number of full time people employed was down from 401 to 379, but players, managers and coaches were up from 175 to 184, explaining the rise in wages.

In total it meant Villa’s operating loss for the year, before factoring in player sales, was £54million.

They have since recorded a net spend of just over £10million on players during the summer and January transfer windows.