Club Accounts 2024

[RoversInSpain]

Club Accounts announced on DRFC Website
Year ending June 2024 Loss of £3.05m v £1.8m previous year.
Some interesting figures.

[ncRover]

Answers questions on the playing budget.

Half of that increase is due to increased player salaries.

[Muttley]

Bad debt of £102k written off - is that a club failing to pay for a signing? Or fans failing to pay for season tickets?

[big fat yorkshire pudding]

Bad debt of £102k written off - is that a club failing to pay for a signing? Or fans failing to pay for season tickets?

I thought that was a high amount, quite surprised at that.

It's a big loss overall isn't it? Football just isn't sustainable.

[GazLaz]

Answers questions on the playing budget.

Half of that increase is due to increased player salaries.

And that is effectively for the 23/24 season. 24/25 season bound to be a bigger wage increase again.

Vale lost £3.8m & Grimsby lost £1.5m in that financial year for a perspective on the numbers.

[StocktonRover]

Bad debt of £102k written off - is that a club failing to pay for a signing? Or fans failing to pay for season tickets?

Could it be sponsorship that was not paid to us?

[RoversInSpain]

Third party income drop… Eg concerts of £601k.
Now that’s a whopping decline. Wonder why??

[GazLaz]

Third party income drop… Eg concerts of £601k.
Now that’s a whopping decline. Wonder why??

… because they didn’t hold any concerts in that year…

[RoversInSpain]

Third party income drop… Eg concerts of £601k.
Now that’s a whopping decline. Wonder why??

… because they didn’t hold any concerts in that year…

Perhaps the bands got fed up of playing their sets through our tannoy system.

[big fat yorkshire pudding]

Answers questions on the playing budget.

Half of that increase is due to increased player salaries.

And that is effectively for the 23/24 season. 24/25 season bound to be a bigger wage increase again.

Vale lost £3.8m & Grimsby lost £1.5m in that financial year for a perspective on the numbers.

Some good comparisons in our league.

Stockport lost £7m, Salford £5.8m, Wrexham 2.8m but with an £11m wage bill. Crazy money in league 2 these days.

[GazLaz]

Answers questions on the playing budget.

Half of that increase is due to increased player salaries.

And that is effectively for the 23/24 season. 24/25 season bound to be a bigger wage increase again.

Vale lost £3.8m & Grimsby lost £1.5m in that financial year for a perspective on the numbers.

Some good comparisons in our league.

Stockport lost £7m, Salford £5.8m, Wrexham 2.8m but with an £11m wage bill. Crazy money in league 2 these days.

Grimsby’s salaries were £4.2m, with a £5.7m turnover and a £1.5m loss. What do you think that makes our wages? £5.5m?

[NickDRFC]

Terry Bramall loaned £5m to us to fund the 23/24 season. Our costs (wage bill) must be massive to require that level of investment. And how much more will it be for this season with the squad the size it is now?

EDIT - I looked at Companies House before reading the analysis on the official website. Fair play to the club for that extra level of insight that isn’t apparent from the accounts, although I’m not sure about “the overall health of the club’s finances improved, with the chairman putting emphasis on reducing finance costs - lost money from the club - and reducing debt owed to trade creditors.” Obviously money owed to 3rd parties and debt financing is going to be lower if you’re getting a big, interest free loan from your parent company to pay them off, but it’s not exactly a robust position given the ramp up in operating costs and an increasing reliance on an 82 year old benefactor. I’m very grateful for TB’s continued & extended involvement and investment and dread to think where we’d be without it but let’s not kid ourselves that we’re on a secure, sustainable footing here.

[Chris Black come back]

It’s not this simple but if both your revenue and losses increase, then something is very wrong with your business model. Football of course isn’t meant to turn a profit as the ultimate goal but that’s a hefty loss on the back of rising income.

[GazLaz]

It’s not this simple but if both your revenue and losses increase, then something is very wrong with your business model. Football of course isn’t meant to turn a profit as the ultimate goal but that’s a hefty loss on the back of rising income.

We don’t have a business model on the football side.

[Ryaldinhio]

I didn't take it as all bad news. There are some key positives in it all and whilst there is a large increase in player wages that is without perspective if the overall figures for such are not comparable to other L2 teams - by that I mean the overall wage bill, not just the increase. Clearly shows that TB HAS backed GM to get us out of this league so there will be some difficult discussions if he doesn't achieve it this year. I believe we will and still fancy us for the title.

As stated above there are teams with bigger losses.

We spent a few years trying to be sustainable and we dropped down and almost out of the league.

We are not unique in this situation.

Personally I am very thankful for TB and I don't have the time to worry about whom follows him right now. He is astute enough to make sure his time and money are not wasted.

[Chris Black come back]

Answers questions on the playing budget.

Half of that increase is due to increased player salaries.

And that is effectively for the 23/24 season. 24/25 season bound to be a bigger wage increase again.

Vale lost £3.8m & Grimsby lost £1.5m in that financial year for a perspective on the numbers.

Salford City lost almost twice our losses in 23/24. They booked a loss of £5.3m. Oldham Athletic in the National League lost more than us, at £3.2m.

[richtherover]

If you want to make a small fortune, start with a big one and invest in a football club.

[Muttley]

Bad debt of £102k written off - is that a club failing to pay for a signing? Or fans failing to pay for season tickets?

Could it be sponsorship that was not paid to us?

That's a good call - EcoPower possibly?

[DonnyBazR0ver]

Bad debt of £102k written off - is that a club failing to pay for a signing? Or fans failing to pay for season tickets?

Could it be sponsorship that was not paid to us?

That's a good call - EcoPower possibly?

I doubt that. GB said at the Meet the Owners, Eco intend to fulfil their sponsorship commitment and they are still on good terms although they would be happy to step aside should a new sponsor come on board.

[Plumbster]

In terms of business model I can remember Gavin saying that it was easier to aim for sustainability in L1 due to higher income levels, which I guess is why they have backed Grant so strongly this year.

[GazLaz]

In terms of business model I can remember Gavin saying that it was easier to aim for sustainability in L1 due to higher income levels, which I guess is why they have backed Grant so strongly this year.

“Sustainability” needs to start with sustainable decision making. Until there is consistency in how we approach football matters, with a focus on the medium to long term, it will be difficult to optimise any strategy.

[pib]

Not to be too doom and gloom, but it is worth thinking about - if we don’t go up this season and GM leaves or is sacked, what’s the plan? I wonder if this has been thought about? Especially as he’s given out several new contracts to players for next season.

[Chris Black come back]

I think the absence of that is the challenge.

[DonnyBazR0ver]

In terms of business model I can remember Gavin saying that it was easier to aim for sustainability in L1 due to higher income levels, which I guess is why they have backed Grant so strongly this year.

“Sustainability” needs to start with sustainable decision making. Until there is consistency in how we approach football matters, with a focus on the medium to long term, it will be difficult to optimise any strategy.

Football is notoriously difficult to plan with so many variables, starting with players, managers where there's so much short termism with the churn of personnel and that's before we consider income from it's various sources.

Risk taking is more critical to the clubs who have to manage on modest means, without the insurance of someone or some entity prepared to underwrite the risks with huge backing.

Obviously the most recent example being Wrexham, who's accounts show the contrast of income from relatively normal levels (their matchday income not too dissimilar to ours) to the extreme with 52% of their income now coming from outside the UK Inc the huge sponsorship from United Airlines etc, thanks to the exposure of their TV documentary series.

Given that they have repaid a loan of £15m to the Hollywood duo, gives you an idea how much their risk taking with higher wages etc was underwritten.

It's not a model many clubs can possibly emulate but it emphasises how much more difficult it is for clubs to plan and strategise.

You can see in our accounts how much less we received in distribution from the EFL being in League Two, plus the TV exposure. That of course will be mitigated with promotion but of course TB has considered his commitment given the contracts already in place after this season going forward. He wouldn't say he wants to see us get to the Champuonship if he hadn't thought about how we can achieve it. It needs our backing too with increased matchday income plus shirt sales etc, etc.

[Grimsby boy]

Answers questions on the playing budget.

Half of that increase is due to increased player salaries.

And that is effectively for the 23/24 season. 24/25 season bound to be a bigger wage increase again.

Vale lost £3.8m & Grimsby lost £1.5m in that financial year for a perspective on the numbers.

Yeah we do about 1.5 to 1.7 million a season on average since the new ownership change but 1/3 goes into the upkeep of the old ground .

What interested me more is that Towns (5.72) turnover is higher than Doncasters  with it being a relatively new ground you would think that would be a lot higher ; seems you lost quite a bit on non-matchday revenue and offer pretty cheap season tickets in comparison to a good few clubs down here including us who will top out at about £400 for an adult next season i suspect .

Compared to some it's a mild loss really , just shows you how crazy the game is now even in division 4 .

It's interesting isn't it we are definitely over achieving on budget and going off all the numbers from other clubs Donny probably even are there must be at least 4 or 5 throwing away much more this season : Carlisle , MK and Gillingham definitely to do really badly and then you would probably say Bradford , Vale and possibly Notts aswell . Crazy.

[GazLaz]

Answers questions on the playing budget.

Half of that increase is due to increased player salaries.

And that is effectively for the 23/24 season. 24/25 season bound to be a bigger wage increase again.

Vale lost £3.8m & Grimsby lost £1.5m in that financial year for a perspective on the numbers.

Yeah we do about 1.5 to 1.7 million a season on average since the new ownership change but 1/3 goes into the upkeep of the old ground .

What interested me more is that Towns (5.72) turnover is higher than Doncasters  with it being a relatively new ground you would think that would be a lot higher ; seems you lost quite a bit on non-matchday revenue and offer pretty cheap season tickets in comparison to a good few clubs down here including us who will top out at about £400 for an adult next season i suspect .

Compared to some it's a mild loss really , just shows you how crazy the game is now even in division 4 .

It's interesting isn't it we are definitely over achieving on budget and going off all the numbers from other clubs Donny probably even are there must be at least 4 or 5 throwing away much more this season : Carlisle , MK and Gillingham definitely to do really badly and then you would probably say Bradford , Vale and possibly Notts aswell . Crazy.

The longer you work with Jamestown analytics the more you will get better value for every £ spent.

[BradwellRover]

The football club accounts don’t include the trading activity of Club Doncaster, so provide only part of the picture.

[Plumbster]

That’s a good point although I am not sure Club Doncaster has much income, maybe some rent from the Dons and management fees from all the subsidiaries? Suspect it will have some central costs and some donations to the Foundation.