QPR’s latest accounts have revealed the perilous state of the club’s finances, with a leading expert warning the Championship side’s future stability remains dependent on the whim of loss-absorbing owners.
The accounts, published this week, relate to the 2021/22 season, when the club made a pre-tax loss of more than £24million.
Having last been relegated from the Premier League in 2015, the Rs have long been operating without parachute payments, leaving a major hole in the west London club’s finances, one filled for the most part by borrowings from owners.
“The results show the stresses of trying to compete in the Championship with no parachute payments and a loyal but modest fan base,” football finance expert Kieran Maguire told Standard Sport. “Owners are subsidising the club as is the case with all in the Championship but if they get bored (as happened at Derby) then there’s a big hole to fill.”
The report also shows Rangers still owe almost £90m in various loans, player transfer installments, and an outstanding settlement over Financial Fair Play breaches.
The club’s wage bill rose by around 10 per cent compared to the 2020/21 season, due largely to an increase in the size of the playing squad, while there was also a significant £8.5m investment in the club’s new training ground at Heston. Club revenue grew by £7m, thanks in the main to the return of fans to Loftus Road following the Covid pandemic.
On the field, the Rs are in turmoil having plummeted from the summit of the Championship in October to 18th now after a run of just one win in 18 League matches. Former Wycombe boss Gareth Ainsworth was last week appointed as QPR’s third permanent manager of the season but his first game in charge ended in defeat to Blackburn.
