General Club Finances 2023

[captainox]

OXFORD UNITED FOOTBALL CLUB LIMITED filing history - Find and update company information - GOV.UK

OXFORD UNITED FOOTBALL CLUB LIMITED - Free company information from Companies House including registered office address, filing history, accounts, annual return, officers, charges, business activity

find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk

PDF available to view via this link.

 

[OUFCGav]

What is soft debt?

Soft debt means debt for which there is no requirement for repayment, which is deferred or forgiven, debt repayable to a “Related party” such as a loan from a Sponsor to an ownership entity in which the Sponsor has an “Ownership interest,” or debt that is to be repaid only from excess cash flow or upon certain other conditions and is not included in the calculation of “Hard debt.”

 

[Scotchegg]

So for the sake of discussion, what kind of playing budget would we be looking at if the club were run "sustainably" at the moment - and where would that most likely put us in the league?

As it stands we have no way of becoming a self financing and sustainable club as our current wage bill far exceeds our income capacity.

We did have a player trading model that could have made that possible, but poor transfer dealings have made that much harder. In theory, we could sell Goodrham for £3m and have Woltman step into that role and cover a big chunk of our losses, but those figures are highly unlikely.

It's certainly not impossible to recover this model, and we could see Goodwin score bucket loads next season and leave for big money, but we have few saleable assets and no where near enough to cover our costs.

But we've probably already put too much in the pot and need to go all in for the Stadium and/or Championship football in order to ever have any chance of real sustainability - and both would need better management on and off the pitch.

 

[Carpy]

Woltman

Had completely forgot he existed to be honest

 

[m]

I believe it is one with next to no interest and no term to repay, such as a loan from the club owners.

And no collateral - it's not secured by anything.

(I'm not sure the interest is always necessarily low)

 

[MC Yellow]

What is soft debt?

Effectively funds provided by a related party with no repayment terms and usually no interest charges.

Think of it as you being a director/shareholder of your own company and you gave it some money to fund its set up or provide working capital to meet its day to day obligations.

If you look at the financial statements, there is a going concern comment that basically says the company is in a position to continue to trade because support from those providing the soft debt has not been withdrawn.

Withdrawal of that support and it is game over unless someone else wants to take the commitment.

 

[Obstructed view]

Has anyone been able to read/summarise this?

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1778001923947249794

 

[Carpy]

Has anyone been able to read/summarise this?

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1778001923947249794

A FOOTBALL finance expert believes Oxford United will be overperforming if they manage to reach the Sky Bet League One play-offs.

The U’s are currently sixth in the third tier, and two points clear of Lincoln City, ahead of a crunch week which sees Des Buckingham’s side welcome fellow promotion hopefuls Peterborough United, Lincoln and Stevenage to Grenoble Road across a six-day period.

At the end of March, the club’s annual report and unaudited financial statements for the year ending June 30, 2023, were published on Companies House.

The documents showed that United made a loss of more than £6 million for the 2022/23 financial year, with the £6.18m loss an increase of more than £2m compared to the previous financial year, when it stood at £4.13m.

Football finance expert Kieran Maguire told this newspaper: “For every £100 the U’s generated from matchday, TV and broadcast income in 2022/23, the club spent £200 on wages and overheads.

“It’s good to see revenue nudging up over £7m but that is still modest by the standards of some of the big hitters we have seen in League One in recent years, such as Sheffield Wednesday [£19m] and Derby County [£20m].

“If the club wants to compete at the top end of the table, then player costs are going to be key, and it is almost impossible for a club such as the U’s to match the other budgets.

“The club appears therefore to give the coach a mid-tier budget and try then to overperform to get into the play-offs.”

Asked about the £6m loss for the most recent financial year, and how it compares to other sides in the third tier, Maguire responded: “We have seen some big losses recorded in League One for last season, with Shrewsbury Town at £3m, Derby £10m, and Sheffield Wednesday £6m.

“Even so, losing over £100,000 a week is concerning as the circumstances of the owner may change or the desire to cover the losses may cease, as we seen at clubs as diverse as Chelsea, Scunthorpe United, Bury, Derby and Everton.

“The U’s have done well with player sales to reduce the losses a wee bit, which is impressive by League One standards, with player sale profits of over £1.5m in each of the last four seasons.

“Even so the overall losses have crept up to over £31m and the club is reliant on owners funding those losses through loans.

“It’s good to see the loans are interest-free, and £2m of loans were effectively written off by being converted into shares at the end of last season.”

Maguire, who lectures at the University of Liverpool, co-hosts The Price of Football podcast alongside comedian Kevin Day.

 

[Banbury2018]

A FOOTBALL finance expert believes Oxford United will be overperforming if they manage to reach the Sky Bet League One play-offs.

The U’s are currently sixth in the third tier, and two points clear of Lincoln City, ahead of a crunch week which sees Des Buckingham’s side welcome fellow promotion hopefuls Peterborough United, Lincoln and Stevenage to Grenoble Road across a six-day period.

At the end of March, the club’s annual report and unaudited financial statements for the year ending June 30, 2023, were published on Companies House.

The documents showed that United made a loss of more than £6 million for the 2022/23 financial year, with the £6.18m loss an increase of more than £2m compared to the previous financial year, when it stood at £4.13m.

Football finance expert Kieran Maguire told this newspaper: “For every £100 the U’s generated from matchday, TV and broadcast income in 2022/23, the club spent £200 on wages and overheads.

“It’s good to see revenue nudging up over £7m but that is still modest by the standards of some of the big hitters we have seen in League One in recent years, such as Sheffield Wednesday [£19m] and Derby County [£20m].

“If the club wants to compete at the top end of the table, then player costs are going to be key, and it is almost impossible for a club such as the U’s to match the other budgets.

“The club appears therefore to give the coach a mid-tier budget and try then to overperform to get into the play-offs.”

Asked about the £6m loss for the most recent financial year, and how it compares to other sides in the third tier, Maguire responded: “We have seen some big losses recorded in League One for last season, with Shrewsbury Town at £3m, Derby £10m, and Sheffield Wednesday £6m.

“Even so, losing over £100,000 a week is concerning as the circumstances of the owner may change or the desire to cover the losses may cease, as we seen at clubs as diverse as Chelsea, Scunthorpe United, Bury, Derby and Everton.

“The U’s have done well with player sales to reduce the losses a wee bit, which is impressive by League One standards, with player sale profits of over £1.5m in each of the last four seasons.

“Even so the overall losses have crept up to over £31m and the club is reliant on owners funding those losses through loans.

“It’s good to see the loans are interest-free, and £2m of loans were effectively written off by being converted into shares at the end of last season.”

Maguire, who lectures at the University of Liverpool, co-hosts The Price of Football podcast alongside comedian Kevin Day.

That same football expert thought Firoz Kassam still owed the club a few months ago.He is probably more clued up financially though as all clubs financial losses eventually become an issue if things don’t change. I thought under or overachieving goes on budget available for transfers and wages which is why the teams towards and at the top of most leagues are where they are.

 

[Carlislehotdog]

A FOOTBALL finance expert believes Oxford United will be overperforming if they manage to reach the Sky Bet League One play-offs.

Interesting Maguire credits us with a mid-table playing budget.

 

[Colin B]

I used to listen to Maguire and think he was clued up on football finance.

Over time I've realised that, although he may be able to read a P&L and Balance Sheet, his actual knowledge of the clubs he's talking about is often very poor. He makes sweeping statements, without considering the many nuances that prevail at each club.

His comments regarding OUFC, previously and now, are pretty amateurish for someone who lectures on football finance, and demonstrate a lack of understanding of the club's very specific circumstances. When I do my financial analysis of our opponents I take some considerable time researching them, and talking to people within that club that I know (if possible). I would suggest Maguire either does the same, or doesn't comment at all.

 

[billyturleyscurlywurly]

Interesting Maguire credits us with a mid-table playing budget.

Yeah I think I’d trust @Colin B & @RyanioBirdio more than the turd Maguire comes out with.

 

[holdsteady]

If he thought we were still owned by Kassam then he is not much of an expert, he is 18 years out of touch.

 

[MarkG]

I used to listen to Maguire and think he was clued up on football finance.

Over time I've realised that, although he may be able to read a P&L and Balance Sheet, his actual knowledge of the clubs he's talking about is often very poor. He makes sweeping statements, without considering the many nuances that prevail at each club.

His comments regarding OUFC, previously and now, are pretty amateurish for someone who lectures on football finance, and demonstrate a lack of understanding of the club's very specific circumstances. When I do my financial analysis of our opponents I take some considerable time researching them, and talking to people within that club that I know (if possible). I would suggest Maguire either does the same, or doesn't comment at all.

Indeed, a broad brush approach of looking at tv revenues, other revenues and players costs may work at Premier League level, but down in the lower divisions there is a lot more to take into account.
eg
Does the club own the ground and the revenues?
Is the ground debt free?
Is /are the owner (s) a willing backer to fund losses if needed?
Are the costs out of control?