Kieran Maguire: This is the reason for £16m hole in West Brom accounts
West Brom paid out £16million in promotion-related bonuses last season - and that has made a significant dent in their 2019-20 accounts.
That is according to finance guru and Football Insider columnist Kieran Maguire, speaking exclusively with the Baggies set to post a £23.7m loss in their annual financial report.
While the club are yet to file an official submission with Companies House, reports released to the Express and Star show that turnover fell from £70.8m to £53.7m.
The figures were taken for a 13-month period to account for the elongated 2019-20 campaign after the pandemic brought football to a juddering halt.
Maguire explains that while this year's report is better than average in the second tier, promotion clauses have made a significant hole in the accounts.
He told Football Insider correspondent Adam Williams: "These accounts are for a season in the Championship and by Championship standards, they are relatively modest.
"The average loss for Championship clubs is £26m so they haven't actually done too badly.
"But they were in receipt of parachute payments. And at the same time, the loss would have been far lower had they not been promoted because they've said that they estimate promotion bonuses to be around £16m.
"In that case, it's a price worth paying for a season in the Premier League."
West Brom have clauses in place that will see their wage outlay fall if they are relegated this season, as is looking increasingly likely.
That is in contrast to Newcastle, who would take their mammoth wage bill with them if they are unable to survive in the top-flight in 2020-21.