Swansea City posted a pre-tax loss of £4.6m in their latest annual accounts.
The coronavirus pandemic had a major impact on football, with fans unable to attend fixtures for more than a year after Steve Cooper's first campaign in south Wales was halted in March 2020. In turn, revenues at all clubs have dropped significantly while Swansea - who are in their fourth successive campaign in the Championship - are no longer receiving Premier League parachute payments.
As a result, their turnover plummeted to £27.5m for the year ending July 31, 2021 from £50m just 12 months earlier. Their current pre-tax loss figure comes after the Swans posted a profit of £2.7m in the previous financial year.
Broadcast revenue has dropped from £38.9m to £21.6m while matchday income decreased from £4.8m to £1.7m in the space of a year. Commercial revenue was down to £1.2m having been at £2.6m in the previous set of accounts published on Companies House in April 2021.
The latest accounts - which included the £11m sale of defender Joe Rodon to Tottenham - show that operating costs were at £47.8m compared to £64.5m in the previous year while staff costs were reduced from £40.2m to £27.7m. The Swans slashed their workforce, including playing personnel, backroom members and part-time matchday staff, from 321 to 244.
“These accounts covered an extremely uncertain period for all clubs with the entirety of 2020-21 league season played behind closed doors,” said Swansea City chief executive Julian Winter.
“It was also our final year of receiving parachute payments following relegation from the Premier League, with the club continuing to commit to a long-term model of being financially stable.
“We remain hugely appreciative of our fans who continued to show their immense support for this club during the pandemic, with supporters opting to keep their monies in the club despite not being able to go to games.
“Our loyal supporters continued to spend their hard-earned money with the club despite the uncertainty brought about by the pandemic, for which jobs and the cost of living would have been a concerning one within the community.
“The club remains in a comparatively positive financial position within the Championship as we strive to be sustainable whilst ensuring we remain competitive on the pitch in order to achieve our long-term ambition of returning to the Premier League.”
The club have confirmed no dividends were paid to shareholders in the latest financial year. Swansea also confirmed that they took out two interest free loans from the English Football League in a bid to cope with the struggles of the Covid-19 pandemic.
