Newcastle United are one of just two Premier League clubs left to file their accounts for the 2017/18 season but it’s almost certain that they’ll be reporting a profit for the period that covers their return to the top flight.
With TV revenue ballooning thanks to their return and a low spend on transfers, Newcastle are highly likely to join 12 of the top flight clubs who have posted profits when they reveal their accounts, which is expected to be early next month.
But as much as Newcastle’s financial situation should be healthier than it was 12 months ago , there will still be plenty of questions about the state of play under Mike Ashley when the underlying numbers are revealed.
The latest club to announce their financials is Tottenham, who recorded a “world record” profit of £112.9million to coincide with their move to a new stadium – and reading through the details of their accounts makes for sobering reading for the way Newcastle have fallen behind clubs they were battling with a little over a decade below.
In the 2011/12 season, Newcastle were pipped to the Champions League places by Tottenham and the two clubs were not a million miles apart in terms of their financial strength.
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Spurs recorded a £181m turnover in the following year – 2012/13 – while Newcastle recorded a £130million turnover. Tottenham had the sixth biggest turnover while Newcastle had the seventh – and while gate, TV and commercial were all lagging behind Spurs there wasn’t an awful lot in it.
Six years on, the gap has become a chasm as Tottenham outstrip Newcastle in all the major markers of financial strength. Their £380million in revenue compares to Newcastle United’s 2017/18 revenue revealed – and what it means for Mike Ashley’s asking price for the club . In short, the two clubs have gone on completely different financial and sporting journeys in the last five years as Spurs become genuine challengers to the top four while Newcastle have become a Premier League yo-yo club.
Newcastle’s next step has been to establish themselves in the top flight again; Tottenham’s has been to challenge the European elite.
It is a salutary tale for the United hierarchy who face some huge decisions in the next few weeks as Rafa Benitez demands answers on the club’s future aspirations.
Spurs have undoubtedly spent more than Newcastle in transfer fees in the last five years but their wage bill of £148million is not that much larger than Newcastle’s. In the 2016/7 season, United ran a £112.2million wage bill in the Championship while Spurs finished in the top four with one that totalled £127million.
Tottenham’s last four years have seen sensible investment, world class coaching and management and the recruitment and retention of some of the best talent in European football (think Dele Alli, The strange tale of Newcastle United and Dele Alli: This is how close they came to signing him , and Christian Eriksen).
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The marketing and commercial deals they’ve negotiated have also outstripped United’s, while their move to the new Tottenham stadium gives them the chance to move to a different level in the coming years. Their leadership – chairman Daniel Levy is paid £3million a year while Lee Charnley’s wage is £150,000 – is also in a totally different financial sphere from Newcastle’s.
Newcastle’s accounts are due out in the coming weeks – last year they weren’t released until late May – and it will paint a sobering picture of where United now stand. With several of the heavyweights now in a totally different financial league to Newcastle, they find themselves scrapping with the Southamptons, Watfords and Burnleys of the division looking for supremacy below the elite.
It is also why they so desperately need to secure Rafa Benitez’s future. Good, astute management is one way of attempting to bridge the widening gap in the top flight.
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