Express & Star

£50million blow for Wolves and Villa

Wolves and Aston Villa lost a total of more than £50 million in a year, new figures revealed today.

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But West Bromwich Albion made a profit of £6.2m, the only club in the West Midlands to be in the black for the year.

Wolves' loss in 2012-13 was a direct consequence of their relegation from the Premier League which saw their revenue drop 47 per cent to £32.1m.

Villa's loss of £24m was the second highest in the Premier League in 2012-13, although their revenue of £81.7m increased by two per cent.

Their hit was the second highest in the division because they did not benefit from player transfers. In the previous financial year the claret and blues sold Ashley Young to Manchester United for around £17m and Stewart Downing to Liverpool for £20m.

Football finance experts Deloitte's Annual Review of Football Finance revealed that Albion was one of only 13 clubs in the top flight to show an operating profit.

Their income – up to £69.7m – showed the biggest increase in the area, up to five per cent. Meanwhile, Walsall's turnover was £4.8m.

The income of Premier League clubs ranged from Manchester United with £363m to Wigan with £58m, while the average salary for a player in the top flight was £1.6m.

And in the recent 2013-14 season, Premier League clubs' revenues broke the £3bn mark, with the new broadcast deal meaning each club earns around an extra £25m per season.

Dan Jones, head of Deloitte's sports team, said: "The entry of BT Sport into the market to compete with BSkyB has applied huge upward pressure to broadcast revenue – from the 2013-14 season onwards each domestic live game on average generates broadcast revenue of £6.5m."

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