Chelsea’s £90m loss raises doubt over ability to meet financial fair play rules
Chelsea’s ability to comply with profit and sustainability rules is in fresh doubt after it emerged that the club made a pre-tax loss of £90.1m in the year to 30 June 2023.
The figures follow a loss of £121.4m in the previous year’s accounts and were revealed in the accounts of BlueCo 22, the company through which Clearlake Capital and Todd Boehly bought Chelsea from Roman Abramovich in 2022.
The accounts show that BlueCo, which owns a majority stake in the Ligue 1 club Strasbourg, made a loss of £653m after tax for the period 2 March 2022 to 30 June 2023. Chelsea FC Holdings Limited’s accounts will be published at a later date and will reveal more detail about the club’s financial position.
However the revelation of a £90.1m loss will raise concerns that the Stamford Bridge club will fall foul of the Premier League’s PSR and Uefa’s financial fair play regulations. The Premier League’s rules permit clubs to make a loss of £105m over a three-year period.
Chelsea, whose new owners have spent more than £1bn on transfers, are adamant that they are operating within the league’s and Uefa’s rules. The club said: “Despite the loss in the year and the continued fallout from the sanctions placed on the club in the prior year, the club continues to comply with Uefa and Premier League financial regulations.”
Chelsea made heavy losses under Abramovich. The Boehly-Clearlake ownership has sought to drive down the wage bill and has a strategy of signing young players on long and heavily incentivised contracts.
Chelsea pointed to their turnover increasing to £512.5m, a rise attributed to increased match-day and commercial revenue after the government lifted restrictions placed on the club after sanctions were placed on Abramovich in the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine two years ago.
The growth was helped by the women’s side winning the Women’s Super League and the FA Cup, while also reaching the League Cup final. However broadcasting revenue was hit by the men’s first team finishing 12th in the Premier League last season and exiting both cup competitions in the third round.
The men’s side are in danger of missing out on European qualification for the second consecutive season, which would cause further disruption to the club’s income. Chelsea are 11th in the league but will qualify for the Europa League if they win the FA Cup. They host Leicester City in the sixth round this month.
The latest loss raises the chances of Chelsea having to raise funds through player sales this summer. They are expected to want to move on homegrown players such as Armando Broja, Trevoh Chalobah, Conor Gallagher and Ian Maatsen. Money received for academy products goes down as pure profit in FFP terms.