FINANCES IN DIRE SHAPE AND IT WILL GET WORSE

PREMIER LEAGUE clubs lost almost £1billion in the 2019-20 season, as the effects of Covid first took hold.

The startling figures show the health of the national game is in shocking condition, as the figures cover a period of just two months of losses from the coronavirus pandemic which gripped the globe.

Newcastle were the final club to post annual accounts for the period from July 2019 to June 2020, and the combined totals make grim reading for the sport.

Together, the 20 clubs made a staggering £979.3m pre-tax loss during the campaign, with just three clubs making any sort of profit at all. And the figures from the Reach plc data unit show the losses are largely derived from excessive spending on player wages, which have reached an all-time high in terms of percentage of income.

The 20 clubs earned a combined income of £4.5bn before tax, and that was swallowed up by wage bills which totalled almost 80 percent of turnover.

That is a staggering increase in wage spending in four years. The Premier League clubs spent 67 percent of turnover on wages in 2015-16.

With Jadon Sancho and Ibrahima Konate, below, having arrived for mega money, it does not look like stopping.

For football the world over, the figures are only going to get worse. The next Premier League accounts are due for the 2020-21 season, which was played almost completely without crowds, massively affecting income.

Losses are set to hit an all-time high with percentage of wage spending also predicted to be at record levels – explaining the threat of bankruptcy which has hit even the likes of Barcelona.

It has not stopped spending from the likes of Manchester City, United and Chelsea, despite only the London club making a modest profit during the 2019-20 season, along with Sheffield United and Norwich.

REVENUE

Manchester United: Liverpool: Manchester City: Chelsea: Tottenham Hotspur: Arsenal: Everton: Newcastle United: Leicester City: Sheffield United: Crystal Palace:

West Ham United: Burnley: Brighton & Hove Albion: Wolverhampton Wanderers: Southampton: Watford:

Norwich City: Aston Villa: Bournemouth: TOTAL : £509.0m £489.9m £478.4m £407.4m £391.9m £344.5m £185.9m £152.6m £150m £143.8m £142.4m £139.5m £133.8m £132.9m £132.6m £126.6m £120m £119.3m £112.6m £95.4m

£4.5billion PREMIER LEAGUE Ave wage-to-income %

Season:

2015/16: 2016/17: 2017/18: 2018/19: 2019/20: 2019-20 Club:

Bournemouth: Leicester City:

Aston Villa:

West Ham United: Crystal Palace: Southampton: Everton:

Watford: Newcastle United: Brighton & Hove Albion: Burnley:

Norwich City: Manchester City: Wolverhampton Wanderers: Chelsea:

Arsenal: Liverpool: Manchester United: Sheffield United: Tottenham Hotspur: 67% 57% 63% 63% 79%

Wage to income %

113% 105% 97% 94% 93% 90% 89% 80% 79% 78% 75% 75% 73% 71% 70% 68% 66% 56% 55% 46%