Revealed: Leeds United announce £189m record
Leeds United have announced a club-record turnover of £189million in their latest set of accounts, Football Insider analysis shows.
But the Yorkshire club made an operating loss of £34.5m for the 2021-22 season, their second back in the Premier League.
Leeds’ annual turnover jumped by £18m from £171 the previous year, which was hit by Covid, as matchday income rose from £2m to £24m due to lockdown ending.
Leeds’ accounts were due to be filed by 31 March, and they were one of six Premier League clubs to post them shortly before the deadline.
They have been audited by the Premier League and their finance department has been applying the finishing touches before they were released to the public on Saturday.
Leeds posted only their second profit of the last decade in 2020-21, and their £26m surplus was one of just a handful of positive financial results in the Premier League, where clubs lost over £1billion in total.
But wages and player amortisation costs rose significantly for Leeds in 2021-22, and that contributed to a huge deficit.
The club’s annual salary bill leaped by £13m to £121m, from £108m in the previous accounting period, and amortisation climbed £20m to a record £57m.
Daniel James, Junior Firpo, Kristoffer Klaesson, and Jack Harrison – who spent the previous three seasons on loan at Elland Road – all joined the club during a year in which they spent £86m on registering new players.
TV merit payments also declined after Leeds, who finished 9th in their first season back in the Premier League the previous year, only narrowly dodged relegation.
Total broadcasting income declined from £132m the previous year to £115m.
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