Leeds United announce £21.4m loss for 2018/19 but are confident of meeting FFP regulations

Administrative costs, which largely consist of wages were up by £22m for the period, tipping the balance between profit and loss. During the period, Leeds made a huge investment to bring head coach Marcelo Bielsa to Elland Road and provide him with a squad capable of pushing for promotion.

Total wages across the business were £46m.

Third-placed Leeds missed out in last season’s play-offs but the bulk of the squad has been retained for 2019-20, and when football went into its coronavirus lockdown they were top of the Championship with nine games remaining.

Each season in the Premier League is usually worth a nine-figure sum, due largely to the league’s extraordinary broadcast deals.

The loss the previous year was £4.3m.

Partly helping to offset the increased wage bill was a rise in average attendances at Elland Road from 31,500 to 34,000. The club also raised around £15m in transfer activity, largely through the sales of Ronaldo Vieira and Jack Clarke, who was then loaned back for the first half of this season by Tottenham Hotspur.

All revenue streams across the business were up year on year, and turnover rose by £8.3m. Gross profit went from £23m to £39m, and operating losses were £36m.

A further £2.5m was spent improving the Thorp Arch training ground to Bielsa’s exacting standards and on new hospitality lounges and the like at Elland Road.

The amortisation of player costs also grew from £8m to £12m.

Despite the losses, the Whites are confident they will not fall foul of the the “profit and sustainability” rules which govern how much money clubs can lose over a three-year period.

They have taken the view that they needed to invest more in the squad and particularly the highly-respected Bielsa to win promotion, but the financial regulations restricted their ability to add players in the January transfer market.

Leeds were on the lookout for a striker with Championship experience but most of the players they looked at were in the £20m-plus bracket, out of their price range unless they loaned them with an obligation to buy on promotion. Instead, they turned to RB Leipzig forward Jean-Kevin Augustin, who is yet to make his first start for the club having arrived short of match fitness after a loan spell at Monaco where he was under-used.

Next year’s figures will include the sales of the likes of Pontus Jansson, Kemar Roofe and Bailey Peacock-Farrell, with average attendances again having increased this season, along with sponsorship. The club has also had lucrative centenary events.

Around £20m will be paid to playing and non-playing staff in bonuses if the club wins promotion.

As with all small businesses, the unknown is the extent of the damage the coronavirus pandemic will have. Leeds players and coaches were among the first in England to agree substantial wage deferrals to protect lesser-paid staff at the club.

Leeds will be favourites to win promotion if the 2019-20 campaign resumes as the authorities hope, but what will happen if that is impossible remains unclear.

As a thank you for quickly agreeing to a deferral while Premier League clubs and others are still haggling over what their players will be paid during the coronavirus suspension, Leeds will pay their players a small but above Bank of England rate interest on their deferrals once football resumes. No date has yet been set for that.

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