Bristol City’s 2024/25 accounts cover a season when they finished 6th in the Championship, their best result since back in 2007/08, which qualified them for the play-offs, though the wheels came off in the semi-final, as they were beaten by Sheffield United 6-0 on aggregate. However, the club pointed out that this represented an improvement of five positions on the previous year.
It was City’s tenth consecutive season in the Championship since promotion from League One in 2014/15, but this was the first time that they had made the play-offs. That said, the trend is their friend, as they have improved their league position four years in a row.
Following the end of the season, Liam Manning left for Championship rivals, Norwich City, replaced by Austrian coach Gerhard Struber, whose CV includes such diverse clubs as Barnsley, New York Red Bulls, Red Bull Salzburg and Cologne.
Despite the improvement on the pitch, Bristol City’s pre-tax loss significantly increased from £3.3m to £18.6m, mainly due to a much lower profit from player sales, which dropped from £21.7m to £6.0m.
This was exacerbated by a reduction in revenue, which fell £2.5m (6%) from (restated) £42.8m to £40.3m, though operating expenses were cut £2.5m (4%) from £65.4m to £62.9m and net interest payable decreased £0.4m (16%) to £2.3m.
City chief executive Tom Rawcliffe observed, “Although the loss is evidently larger than last year, it is in line with expectations and highlights the positive financial impact a large player sale and successful player trading model can have.”
The main driver of the lower revenue was commercial, which fell £5.8m (23%) from £25.4m to £19.6m, though match day was also down £0.3m (4%) from £7.7m to £7.4m. This was partially offset by broadcasting, which rose £3.7m (37%) from £9.7m to £13.4m.
Investment in the squad led to increases in both the wage bill, which rose £1.0m (3%) from £34.9m to £35.9m, and player amortisation, which shot up £1.7m (51%) from £3.2m to £4.9m. In contrast, other expenses decreased by £5.2m (21%) from £24.0m to £18.8m.
Only five Championship clubs have to date published accounts for 2023/24 with just one of them posting a (small) profit, namely Plymouth Argyle with £0.3m. Of the others, only Norwich City had a larger loss than City with £20.7m.