UNITED’S NET DEBT HITS NEARLY £500M
. . . but Glazers still take £20m out of the club
MANCHESTER UNITED paid out £20million in dividends to their owners, the Glazer family, despite the club’s net debt skyrocketing from £203.6m 12 months ago to £474.1m.
The Old Trafford club yesterday announced their annual figures which, owing largely to the impact of the pandemic, make for grim reading.
Annual revenue has fallen off a cliff, from £627.1m to £509m, while net debt has more than doubled.
The principal debt, related to the Glazers’ hugely controversial, leveraged takeover in 2005, remains the same. But the owners have drained more than £1billion out of the club in finance costs, dividends and interest — and that figure continues to rise.
The pandemic has seen matches played behind closed doors, hurting United more than most.
They rake in vast sums in matchday revenue, thanks to the size of Old Trafford and the huge corporate hospitality operation that surrounds each fixture.
On a conference call to discuss the figures, which included an annual loss of £23.2m, executive vice chairman Ed Woodward unsurprisingly hit out at the Government’s ongoing reluctance to allow spectators to attend matches. The club even declined to post an estimate for this year’s revenue — a telling lling move amid an uncertain ain background.
Woodward also said he e was ‘ committed to exploring options’ following United’s key role in the controversial Project Big Picture plans.
The club, along with Liverpool, came up with proposals for a major or power shift in the Premier League towards its Big Six clubs, in exchange for what was billed as a rescue package for the EFL.
The hugely contentious proposals were blown out of the water at a top-flight meeting last week, but Woodward vowed to press ahead. ‘We are pleased that the Premier League have committed to work together on a plan for the future structures and financing of English football,’ he said. ‘Now it must deliver on that promise and we are committed to playing a leading role in pushing that process towards a successful outcome.’ On the subject of allowing fans back into grounds, Woodward added: ‘if people are allowed to sit in a plane for hours, or in the cinema, or even watch football in a cinema, why not outside in a stadium environment which is professionally managed and controlled? if indoor concerts are allowed, why should outdoor, socially distanced football fans be treated differently?
‘Fans are the bedrock of this game and some of the inconsistencies out there are frustrating for them and for the clubs.’
United have extended their expiring shirt sponsorship with Chevrolet by six months, which is expected to net them an extra £11m, but they say Covid-19 cost them £70m for the quarter alone.