Everton blame Covid for £140m loss

EVERTON have posted a club record loss of £139.9million as their annual accounts reflect the devastating impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The figure takes in the lack of match revenue at Goodison Park and the consequences of lost broadcast and commercial deals due to football’s shutdown. It means the club’s losses for the last two financial years amount to £250m — as last year’s accounts showed a loss of £111.8m. To offset the figures, Everton’s board are proposing to create and issue new shares to Blue Heaven Holdings Limited, which is owned by Farhad Moshiri, the club’s major shareholder. Moshiri owns 77.2 per cent and this additional investment would take his stake to 93.3 per cent. Moshiri, who became their major shareholder in February 2016, had already invested £400m in the club but has pumped in a further £50m over the past 12 months to address the challenges of Covid-19. That sum is now set to soar as the proposed share issue would amount to £250m. It would see Moshiri write off some old shareholder loans. Everton maintain their financial situation is sustainable, pointing to the fact that their net debt has reduced from £9.2m to £2.3m during the last financial year. Everton spent £113m on new players during the 2019-20 season and the commitment to increase the quality in Carlo Ancelotti’s squad — who host Chelsea tonight — was reflected by a further expenditure of £70m ahead of this campaign. The Moshiri era, however, has been defined by managerial changes and the sacking of Marco Silva and his coaching staff last December cost the club £6.5m. In total, Everton have spent more than £30m in managerial compensation in the last four years. Everton chief executive Denise Barrett-Baxendale said: ‘Clearly this has been a very challenging year, not least from a financial perspective with the impact of Covid-19 having a profound, wide-reaching and material impact on our figures. Prior to the pandemic, we were forecasting record revenues in excess of £200m. Our final accounts show that a significant proportion of our losses have been directly attributable to the pandemic.’

• CHELSEA have been accused by their own fans of ‘exploitation’ in a bitter row over ticket prices. The Chelsea Supporters Trust wrote to club officials objecting to them selling tickets via a ballot at £75 each since crowds of 2,000 were allowed back. And they issued a critical statement yesterday after learning there would be no change to the policy. ‘ We are appalled by the lack of consideration,’ it read.