Ex-Terrier unhappy at decisions

Relegation from the Premier League in 2019 meant a drop in revenues from £119.1m in 2018/19 to less than half of that in 2019/20 (£52.7m) – and Town again faced a drop in revenues last season, largely thanks to parachute payments being cut and games being played behind closed doors over the entire season. That meant an 8% drop in income from £52.7m to £44.5m. This was made up as follows:

■ Matchday revenues fell from £4m to £1.7m. We suspect this comprises the income from season ticket sales that fans chose to redeem via iFollow once it become clear that attending games would not be possible

■ TV and league revenues (including parachute payments) fell from £44.7m to £40.4m

■ Commercial revenues fell from

Town had bank loan debts of £27m in June 2020, and these were down to £12.6m by June 2021 – a drop of £14.4m. Town also therefore paid £1m on bank loan interest and £1.6m on other loan interest in 2020/21, for a total of £2.6m in loan interest. That’s down from the £3.6m in interest payments they paid in 2019/20.

The majority of their debt remains the £34m owed to Dean Hoyle in the form of loans he made to the club during his 10-year spell as chairman before Hodgkinson purchased a 75% share of the club in 2019.

Hoyle did not receive any repayments on his £34m loans from the

Town’s wage bill fell £5.7m (or 19%), from £30.3m in 2019/20 to £24.6m last season. That was helped by the departures of a number of highlypaid

There was a significant decrease in the amount of money the club received in exchange for loaning out players, dropping from £5.7m in 2019/20 to £600,000 last season. Players loaned out in 2019/20 included Aaron Mooy, Ramadan Sobhi, Ben Hamer, Isaac Mbenza, Florent Hadergjonaj, Adama Diakhaby and Terence Kongolo.

No formal details have been offered on which of these players attracted loan fees, but we know that Mooy’s move to Brighton included a significant initial loan fee before it became permanent, and former chief executive Mark Devlin indicated in August 2020 that Sobhi’s loan deal to Egyptian side AlAhly included a substantial loan fee.

Last season, however, Reece Brown was the only first-team player to be loaned out, joining then-League One side Peterbor

The John Smith’s Stadium

HUDDERSFIELD Town’s 1-0 win over Hull on Friday night was tough work for the Terriers who moved back into third position in the table with the win. It could and maybe should have been a quieter night if two clear penalty decisions had gone their way as Alfie Jones’ handball went unpunished in the first half, and Richie Smallwood’s challenge on Josh Koroma was deemed to have happened outside the penalty area on the hour. It was a busy night for the officials as Hull striker Tom Eaves earned two yellows to be sent off just before half-time, and there were other penalty incidents that looked very much in the realms of ‘seen them given’ despite there being no whistle. Ultimately the Terriers got the result they needed but it could have been a costly night without Harry Toffolo’s late winner. Covering the game for Sky Sports in the studio, Michael Hefele, pictured above, was in no doubt about either of the penalties and questioned the officials’ response to each. “This is very clear, this is a handball,” said the ex-Town defender. “We’re speaking about top six and the play-offs, so much money involved, high stakes, and these decisions they have to be right.” On the second, the challenge on Koroma, Hef was even more convinced: “We have to look here very objectively, this is a clear foul from Smallwood on the inside of the box – you can see where he touches Koroma’s leg on the calf, the right foot clearly inside the box. “If the referee’s not seeing it then the linesman has to see it, there were some big decisions that they didn’t get right.”