Sign up NOW for our daily Villa newsletter direct to your inbox Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Aston Villa's latest set of accounts have been made available through Companies House.

The accounts cover the 12-month period up to May 31, 2015, and are for Reform Acquisitions Ltd, the parent company and owner of Aston Villa.

To save you the trouble of sifting through the 33-page document, Birmingham Mail business journalist Tamlyn Jones has digested the figures and picked out the following key facts and talking points.

Below: Villa's accounts in numbers - explained

Video Loading Video Unavailable Click to play Tap to play The video will start in 8 Cancel Play now

1) Nice work if you can get it

The highest-paid director at Aston Villa has enjoyed a rise of almost £1 million over the past year.

New annual accounts for the relegation-threatened club show the most remunerated director during the 2014/15 financial year - most likely chief executive Tom Fox - received a salary package of £1.25 million.

This was in stark contrast to the previous financial year when the highest-paid director received £265,792.

Paul Faulkner was chief executive for the 2013/14 year but left the club in summer 2014 to be replaced by Mr Fox.

The annual accounts, which relate to the year ended May 31, 2015, also confirmed the club was still up for sale but "no active discussions were taking place" at the time the report was produced.

2) No takers

Aston Villa are still very much up for sale, but there's not exactly a list of takers queuing down Witton Lane.

As much was admitted in the accounts, with the following wording: "The group remains for sale but at the time of writing no active discussions were taking place."

3) The FA Cup run helped

Gate receipts last season were slightly higher than in 2013/14 - increasing from £12.8 million to £13.8 million.

The run to the FA Cup final, with a string of home ties along the way, will have helped boost this figure.

Revenue from broadcasting at Aston Villa dipped slightly in the 2014/15 season, down to £71.4 million from £72.7 million.

Turnover from sponsorship is on the rise, up to £10.9 million in 2014/15 from £9.3 million.

Commercial revenues at Villa have taken a hit, dropping from £22 million in 2013/14 to £19.4 million.

Gregg Evans on Remi Garde's future

Video Loading Video Unavailable Click to play Tap to play The video will start in 8 Cancel Play now

4) The wage bill went up

One of the biggest contributors to the pre-tax loss at Villa was the increase in staff wages, by £14.4 million.

They rose from £69.3 million to £83.7 million in 2014/15. Although this figure covers all staff working for the club, much of it can be assigned to players' wages.

5) Paying off managers is not cheap

The wage bill figures exclude a one-off cost, known as an 'exceptional item', of £3.3 million.

No further explanation is given in the annual report about this £3.3 million, other than "net termination and onerous contract costs".

A large amount of that figure is believed to have been Paul Lambert's pay-off when the former boss was sacked in February 2015.

6) The club's workforce has grown

The number of staff employed by Villa has increased sharply during the past financial year.

On the playing and coaching side, staff numbers rose from 173 to 185 in the year 2014-2015.

Commercial operations at the club showed an even larger increase, with those working in merchandising and general operations climbing from 232 to 261.

In total, Villa had 535 full-time staff during the 2014/15 season, based on the monthly average, which was an increase of 39 on the previous 12 months.

Part-time staff employed in areas such as match day help and other events increased from 1,549 in 2013/14 to 1,619.