Fulham FC Cut Losses

Fulham made losses of £7.5m in the year to 30 June 2008, but this represented a halving of losses of £15.2m in the previous year. This was achieved largely as a result of a £10m increase in television money from Sky. This went up 35 per cent to £52m. Gate receipts were dwarfed by the television revenues, but went up from £8.7m to £9.5m. Player costs saw the amount paid out by the club rise by 17 per cent to £68.6m. When Mohamed al Fayed bought the club in 1997 he paid £30m for it, but has since spent tens of millions getting the club into the Premiership and keeping it there.

Fulham made losses of £7.5m in the year to 30 June 2008, but this represented a halving of losses of £15.2m in the previous year. This was achieved largely as a result of a £10m increase in television money from Sky. This went up 35 per cent to £52m. Gate receipts were dwarfed by the television revenues, but went up from £8.7m to £9.5m. Player costs saw the amount paid out by the club rise by 17 per cent to £68.6m. When Mohamed al Fayed bought the club in 1997 he paid £30m for it, but has since spent tens of millions getting the club into the Premiership and keeping it there. Fayed would probably be willing to sell the club. The question is not so much whether the club is for sale, but at what price and who buy it given the current state of the market.

Vinay Bedi, a director at Brewin Dolphin Investment Banking, commented that Fulham had missed an opportunity to balance its books. He said, ‘The club had a huge increase in revenue, although entirely from television, but a big chunk of that money has been handed back to the players. We were hoping that clubs like Fulham would use commercial common sense and some of those extra earnings to improve their financial position but it hasn’t happened.’ However, that is easier said than done given the imperative to stay in the Premiership and what has happened to Charlton and, potentially, Southampton. Bedi argued that what Fulham needed was a new ground, presumably to boost gate revenues. However, this suggestion did not go down too well with Fulham fans who are understandably attached to their atmospheric riverside ground.