Financial Results

Should they be more transparent?

 

That is entirely up to the club and I gave absolutely no issue with that. However one of the first things RS promised on his appointment was full transparency.

 

Most businesses such as my own will only publish the bare minimum available info, and rightly so

 

What do you think?

 

I wouldn't even look.

 

Looking at those accounts, it shows that last years dire run and rudderless management of the club cost the owner £1m. Where I think the Directors loan is in the accounts was £1.7m, it is now £2.9m.

I'd like to see the P&L to see where the extra costs have come from but no company puts out full accounts for a non audit company if they don't have to.

 

It’s a private business with one shareholder answerable to himself? Why should the full accounts be published on that basis?

 

I used Chat GPT to assess the accounts that were added yesterday. It provided a really extensive report and also a much smaller summary which I've added below:

Happy to share the more detailed view if people want it.

Bradford City FC 2023–2024 Financial Summary (Plain English)

• Losses Worsened:
  Loss of £996k in 2024 vs £374k in 2023.
  
  
• Gross Profit Dropped:
  Fell from £1.48m → £842k, mainly due to higher costs.
  
  
• ⚽ Football Income Losses:
  Core football operations (after stadium costs) lost £1.33m in 2024.
  
  
• Transfer Income Helped:
  £984k generated from player transfers — vital for cash flow.
  
  
• ️ Commercial Income Strong:
  Commercial sales (sponsorship, partnerships, etc.) brought in £1.1m.
  
  
• Debt Position Worsened:
  Net liabilities rose from £1.49m → £2.48m (i.e., they owe more than they own).
  
  
• Long-term Borrowing Increased:
  Long-term debts rose from £1.7m to £2.95m.
  
  
• ️ Deferred Income Explained:
  Season ticket/commercial income for next year is already banked but not counted as 2024 revenue yet.
  
  
• ✅ Still Trading:
  Despite losses, directors believe the club can continue as a going concern, with ongoing support from stakeholders.

 

What part of my statement didn't suggest that? I literally said "no company puts out full accounts for a non audit company if they don't have to"

I said I would like to see the P&L, I'm an accountant I'm pretty clued up on how this all works.

 

Need to be in L1 to get some more cash from bigger away followings.

Would be interesting to see a breakdown of away followings at VP between L2 this year (and hopefully) L1 next.

Also explains in some part the match by match price increase.

 

Also bigger share of the sky monies and probably more commercial opportunities in league one

 

Thank you for looking at these and your insight - would definitely benefit from the P&L. I appreciate that they don't have to (and recognise different views on this) but personally I do think that all football league clubs should publish full accounts. The nature of the business as part of the community should mean that all clubs are transparent in their financials.

The numbers demonstrate to me that whilst as a club we endeavour to be sustainable, we remain reliant upon the Directors (specifically Stefan Rupp) to finance the club. It is clear that investment was made last season and suspect we will see even more investment detailed in this seasons accounts when they are published in 12 months time. Given the current rules on spending limits there is limited further levers to pull - especially as revenue has flatlined (decreased when we consider how high inflation has been).
I think it also demonstrates just how important it is that our on-field performances deliver promotion this season. We need our revenue streams to both increase and further diversify.

Curious for any views as to the purpose of BC Bantams Limited, which Stefan also owns? https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/07626884/filing-history

 

Clubs run at a loss, it’s the sad state of modern football. Another reason why it’s important to pay more for our season tickets, they were not sustainable before.

 

Didn’t previous accounts gives breakdown of footballing costs-so an indication of the budget? Or am I missing that?

 

I'm guessing there will be a press release on the website where they disclose further details, these are only the copies for companies house. which aren't even audited. They are supposed to declare the number of employee's the company has, which they don't appear to do.

 

Company employee number is a requirement regardless of company size. These are under FRS102 1A which states