'The Sun' today published a 'Premier League Debt Table' which is not retrievable online so I have copied it out from the paper -
1) Man Utd - £716.5m (June 09)
2) Arsenal - £297.7m 9 (May 09)
3) Liverpool - £237m (June 10)
4) Fulham - £197m (June 08)
5) West Ham - £110m (Jan 10)
6) Aston Villa - £73m (May 08)
7) Sunderland - £69.2m (July 08)
8) Wigan - £66.4m (May 08)
9) Portsmouth - £60m (Jan 10)
10) Birmingham - £57m (Aug 08)
11) Bolton - £53.8m (Jun 08)
12) Tottenham - £45.9m (Jun 09)
13) Everton - £39m (May 08)
14) Wolves - £20.68m (May 08)
15) Blackburn - £14m (Jun 09)
16) Hull - £9m (Nov 09)
17) Stoke - £2.3m (May 08)
18) Bunley - £0 (Jun 09)
19) Chelsea - £0 (Dec 09 ) NB - £701 million debt wiped
20) man City - £0 (Jan 10) - NB £305 million debt wiped
Actually, looking at those figures, I am not sure how reliable they are. If Hull are only £9 million in debt then I'm Jimmy Bullard.
In addition here are some revenue and wages figures from 'The Guardian' last June -
Premier League clubs' turnover, wages and debt 2007-08
David Conn guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 3 June 2009 00.00
Club Debt (£ms) Turnover (£ms) Wages (£ms) Wages/turnover
Arsenal 416 223 101.3 45%
Aston Villa 73 75.6 50.4 66.6%
Blackburn Rovers 17 56.4 39.7 70%
Bolton Wanderers 52 59.1 39 67%
Chelsea 701 213.6 149 68%
Everton 39 76 44.5 59%
Fulham 197 53.7 39.3 73%
Hull City (2007 figures) 1 9 6.9 77%
Liverpool 280 (est) 159 80 (est) 50%
Manchester City 147 82.3 54.2 66%
Manchester United 699 256.2 121.1 47%
Middlesbrough 93 48 34.8 73%
Newcastle United 106.2 100.8 74.6 74%
Portsmouth 57.7 70.6 54.7 78%
Stoke City 2.3 11.2 11.9 106%
Sunderland 69.2 63.6 37.1 58%
Tottenham Hotspur 65 114.8 52.9 46%
West Bromwich Albion 8.9 27.2 21.8 80%
West Ham United 36 57 44.2 76%
Wigan Athletic 66.4 43 38.4 89%
Total 3126.7 1800 1095 55%
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/table/2009/jun/03/premier-league-turnover-wages-debt (http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/table/2009/jun/03/premier-league-turnover-wages-debt)
Looks like our wage bill is pretty low compared to other clubs- particularly when you take into account London weighting.
Thanks for writing that out White Noise.
It looks as though we are fahooked if Mo decides enough is enough.
I thought Arsenal had no debts? Shows what i know...
Arsenal didn't really have much debt until they built that new Library of theirs, now with the recession they haven't been able to sell all of the new flats; so a few problems there. However it will be solved once that Russian or American wins the race to take-over them.
It's a bit different with Hull though; they don't have much debt, but their owner is only worth around £10m so any debt or trading in the red (which they currently are.) is dangerous for them.
Crystal Palace went under because the recession finally caught up with Simon Jordan (even though he's worth £40m) and when he was no longer able to personally fund them he borrowed from a Hedge fund who called in the Administrators.
Makes it so much better for us that our debt is pretty much all owed to Mo, who is worth £650m and rising.
Not to be worried about this (as long as MAF is still alive AND does not split his estate). The way to cancel our debt can easily be done by doing exactly what Chelsea did by converting it to equity, it is perfectly legal, and does not change much in real terms other than having some tax implications for MAF. The debt would be recouped with a sale regardless, so he is not worried about it and also the main reason I believe he hasn't done it already. Should however UEFA and Platini force it on the clubs in the future (and get away with it legally I might add), I am sure he will do it.
The only problem I can see is if his estate gets split or God forbid, the Chairman passes (or accounting laws get changed). Lets all hope that never happens.