Former Albion owner enjoyed £2m pay day

WEST Bromwich Albion’s former owner Jeremy Peace enjoyed one final bumper pay day before he sold the club last year.

Newly published annual accounts for 2015/16 show that Mr Peace received a £1.95 million pay package for his last full year in charge – a hike of £833,000 compared to the previous 12 months.

This was before he also welcomed another £20,000 company contribution to his pension pot.

Last summer, Mr Peace sold his 88 per cent share in West Bromwich Albion Holdings to Guochuan Lai for a reported £175 million, bringing to an end his 16-year relationship with the club.

The new financial report covers the 12 months to June 30, 2016 and shows that West Bromwich Albion continue to perform well off the pitch, maintaining a stable profit and keeping fiscal matters well in the black.

The club posted a £2 million rise in turnover for 2015/16 to £98.3 million while pre-tax profit dipped from £7.6 million to £4.9 million.

The annual report also showed average attendances were down slightly, from 25,100 in 2014/15 to 24,600 and the number of season tickets sold dropped by 375 to 17,925.

The club spent £28.2 million on players during the financial year – a leap from £19.6 million the previous year.

Since June 30, manager Tony Pulis had, the report said, spent a further £24.5 million.

Five players were brought in last summer and Nacer Chadli, Albion’s £13 million record signing, is understood to be one of the club’s highestpaid players.

Club director Pi Yue Li wrote in the report : “The board is aware of the risks which affect the company.

“It has analysed previous seasons spent in the Premier League and has tried to implement lessons learnt from this experience.

“The long-term policy of the club is to improve the playing squad and its infrastructure year on year.”