Exclusive: West Ham braced to lose nearly £30m in crippling potential blow

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Published on:

02 May 2020, 11:30 am

West Ham face the devastating prospect of losing nearly £30million if they can't host home matches for the entirety of next season, Football Insider can reveal.

That is the stark prospect clubs are dealing with amid the financial chaos caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

West Ham are starting to assess the implication of matches behind closed doors until there is a vaccine available for Covid-19, which may not be until deep in 2021.

Analysis by Football Insider has shown that the London club would lose around £27m from loss of matchday income if they cannot stage games in front of fans throughout 2020-21.

West Ham must prepare to plug a huge black hole in their finances, because of their capacity to generate revenues from home games only exceeded in the Premier League by the 'big six' of Liverpool, Arsenal, Tottenham, Chelsea and the two Manchester clubs.

The club announced a whopping £28m loss in their most recent set of financial results despite turnover increasing £15m to £191m.

But the prospect of an entire campaign behind closed doors would be crippling.

West Ham's accounts show they earned £27m from match revenues last season.

Their loss from matchday sales and hospitality revenue would be a quarter of that of Man United, Arsenal and Tottenham, but hugely significant.

The east London outfit's wage bill shot up to £136m last season and the club are set to enact major cost-cutting measures if they can't stage home matches next season.

Vice-chair Karren Brady recently back-tracked after initially claiming this season should be voided, which was widely criticised as a self-serving claim to merely preserve West Ham's precarious Premier League status.

In other West Ham new, it can be REVEALED that the club are willing to let big name go for nothing after talks.

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