Debt Rises

The year-end accounts for Bolton have shown that the debt of the club has risen, to above £160m. This has risen to £163.8m to be precise.

Clearly the relegation from the Premier League has had a significant impact on the clubs finances, with a loss of £50.7m shown for the year up to June 2013. Turnover has also fallen some £20m from £58.5m to £28.5m.

Almost £18m might have been shaved, well massively carved as a £17.9m saving isn’t a shaving is it! Then again in the world of football for some that is a mere shave! Anyway, £17.9m has been cut off the wage bill but losses come as a result of decreases in attendances and advertising revenue, not to mention relegation clauses and the costs of selling players.

The attendances have dropped by almost a quarter at 24% with the advertising revenues almost three quarters down on previous amounts, dropping by a massive 68%.

Phil Gartside blames the Premier League relegation for the financial worries, with this official statement put out: ‘This year’s results show the difficulties faced in the football business when a club has enjoyed a sustained and successful period in the Premier League, in our case 11 years, then suffers relegation back to the Football League Championship.

‘The ever widening gap between the two leagues makes the transition extremely difficult, even with the benefits of parachute payments from the Premier League.’

Financial Fair Play rules make overspending something that you can’t do in the Football League, without financial penalty, and also mean that alternative means of sourcing funds are required and this is an area that’ll be sought in the New Year to help turn the financial fortunes around.

It goes without saying that the situation would get even worse if Bolton suffered another relegation from the Championship…. The bigger picture is that Gartside does believe the club can move towards becoming a self-sufficient one in the future.

Mr Ecky sends his best to the Vital Bolton community, he’s currently not well, he’ll be back as soon as possible and in the meantime, he’s got a staff writer to fill in for him.

If anyone has something to share in the meantime (this gives a genuine Bolton point of view from a Bolton fan!) feel free to fire an email through.

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