The 2013-14 accounts of all 20 top-flight clubs and what the figures say about their health

Financial figures for 2013-14, for the 20 clubs in the Premier League during 2013-14. All details from the published annual reports at Companies House. Net debt is as stated in the accounts; debts minus cash held at the bank. The separate categories of turnover are each rounded down or up, so added together they do not always tally with the total turnover figure.

ARSENAL

Accounts for the year to 31 May 2014

Ownership Arsenal Holdings PLC major shareholders are: Kroenke Sports Enterprises UK (registered in Delaware, owned by US resident Stan Kroenke) 67%. Red and White Securities Limited (owned via Jersey, by Russian resident Alisher Usmanov and Farhad Moshiri) 30%

Turnover 4th highest in league, £304m (up from £283m in 2013)

Gate and matchday income £100m

TV and broadcasting £121m

Retail £18m

Commercial £59m

Property development £3m

Player trading £0.5m

Wage bill 4th highest, £166m (up from £154m)

Wages as proportion of turnover 55%

Profit before tax £5m (down from £7m)

Net debt £33m

Interest payable £14m

Highest-paid director Ivan Gazidis £2.191m

State they’re in

Arsenal’s modern struggle has been to translate copious earnings from high-paying supporters at the Emirates Stadium into football success, and they are making progress. In 2013-4 they salvaged a summer of grumbles by splashing £42.5m for Mesut Özil, a club record-breaking signing included in these figures.

They show scope for further spending; a huge £54m was put in the bank where Arsenal had £208m on deposit. Hence they bought again last summer, with £30m Alexis Sánchez the stand-out move. Debt from building the Emirates remained £240m but Arsenal, as always planned, are managing it comfortably.

ASTON VILLA

Accounts for the year to 31 May 2014

Ownership Owned by Randy Lerner, via Reform Acquisitions LLC, a US company.

Turnover 9th highest, £117m (up from £84m in 2013)

Gate and matchday £13m

TV and broadcasting £73m

Commercial £22m

Sponsorship £9m

Wage bill Joint 9th highest, £69m (down from £72m)

Wages as proportion of turnover 59%

Loss before tax £4m (following £52m loss in 2013)

Net debt £102m

Interest payable £1m

Highest-paid director £265,792 to unnamed director (Paul Faulkner was the chief executive throughout the year; he resigned in July 2014.)

State they’re in

This was the season American MBNA credit-card scion Randy Lerner finally announced his Villa venture was over and he wanted to sell. Villa’s finances, despite a miserable season under a downbeat Paul Lambert, show the club being moulded into a state fit for sale.

The wage bill barely increased despite a £33m increase in income, and Villa stated they spent nothing, net, on transfers last summer. Lerner wrote off £90m loans, leaving £86m still owed to him. Perhaps the new TV deals, and Tim Sherwood’s Tiggerish bounce, will attract a buyer.

CARDIFF CITY

Accounts for the year to 31 May 2014

Cardiff City graphic

Ownership Club states that Vincent Tan is the 87.5% owner

Turnover 20th highest, £83m (up from £17m in 2013)

Gate receipts & matchday £8m

Premier League including TV £64m

Sponsorship & commercial £11m

Wage bill 18th highest, £53m (up from £33m in 2013)

Wages as proportion of turnover 64%

Loss before tax £12m (down from £30m loss in 2013)

Net debt not stated; £130m loans from overseas shareholders

Interest payable £1.6m

Highest-paid director Not stated

State they’re in

A single Premier League season remembered for owner Vincent Tan insistently wearing the club shirt he changed to red, Malky Mackay’s sacking in December 2013 and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s forlorn fading smile as the Bluebirds fell to relegation.

Figures illustrate the Premier League’s breakaway land of plenty – City received almost £60m more TV money than the £5m made in the Championship in 2012-13. That reduced the dramatic loss incurred to win promotion but Tan still increased his loans by £64.5m to £130m. Relegation, despite lucrative parachute payments, will have hurt.

CHELSEA

Accounts (of the holding company, Fordstam) for the year to 30 June 2014

Ownership Wholly owned by Roman Abramovich, registered at Companies House as a Russian resident.

Turnover 3rd highest, £324m (up from £260m in 2013)

Broadcasting £140m

Matchday £71m

Commercial £114m

Wage bill 3rd highest, £192m (up from £179m in 2013)

Wages as proportion of turnover 59%

Profit before tax £15m (following £57m loss in 2013)

Net debt £1bn

Interest payable £Nil

Highest-paid director Unnamed, £1.425m (Ron Gourlay was the chief executive throughout the year; resigned October 2014)

State they’re in

Chelsea’s former chief executive for the Roman Abramovich project, Peter Kenyon, famously promised the oligarch’s splurge would stop and the club would break even by 2010. Here, four years later, they finally did it, turning a massive loss in 2013 into a profit, buoyed by an extra £34m from the new TV deal, a £30m increase in commercial sponsorships, and restraining the rise in wages to £13m.

Abramovich nevertheless increased his loans by a further £57m, lifting his total funding of Chelsea to a historically astonishing £1.041bn. Chelsea then bought big and well.

CRYSTAL PALACE

Accounts of CPFC 2010 Ltd for the year to 30 June 2014

Ownership Owned equally by Steve Parish, Stephen Browett, Martin Long and Jeremy Hosking.

Turnover 17th highest, £90m (up from £15m in 2013)

Broadcasting £74m

Matchday £9m

Commercial and other £7m

Wage bill 19th highest, £46m (up from £19m in 2013)

Wages as proportion of turnover 51%

Profit before tax £23m (up from £2m in 2013)

Net debt £7m

Interest payable £Nil

Highest-paid director No directors were paid

State they’re in

Another clear case study of the financial chasm between the Championship and the Premier League. Palace’s promotion in 2013, just three years after administration, meant an immediate £66m increase in TV income, delivering a bounteous £23m profit as the wage increase was kept to £27m. Palace stayed up after appointing Tony Pulis and put £24m in the bank. The four fan-owners who originally loaned £3m each to resuscitate Palace - except for Martin Long whose loan is £1.7m - are now in the money, as long as Palace stay in the Premier League.

EVERTON

Accounts for the year to 31 May 2014

Ownership Shares in the Everton Football Club Company Limited are owned by: Bill Kenwright 25%, Jon Woods 19%, Robert Earl (resident of Florida) 23%

Turnover 8th highest, £121m (up from £86m in 2013)

Gate and programme sales £19m

TV and broadcasting £88m

Sponsorship, advertising and merchandise £8m

Catering & other commercial £4m

Wage bill Joint 9th highest, £69m (up from £63m in 2013)

Wages as proportion of turnover 57%

Profit before tax £28m (up from £2m in 2013)

Net debt £28m

Interest payable £5m

Highest-paid director Directors paid for the first time; Highest-paid £350,000; chief executive Robert Elstone is not a director

State they’re in

Roberto Martínez defied the dispiriting predictability that wage spending matches achievement by steering his ninth-highest-paid squad to fifth, two places above Manchester United, for whom David Moyes had left Goodison Park.

Everton have for years pushed spending on player signings and wages to the limits of their bank’s tolerance, but used the new TV cash for housekeeping which bordered on the stingy. Turnover increased £35m yet wages increased just £6m. The club would have just broken even but for £28m profit on the sale of players, principally Marouane Fellaini, to Moyes.

FULHAM

Accounts for the year to 30 June 2014

Ownership Owned by Shahid Khan, via Big Cat Holdings, a company registered in Bermuda (tax haven), and Cougar HoldCo London, registered in the UK.

Turnover 16th highest, £91m (up from £73m in 2013)

Gate and matchday £12m

Premier League including TV £67m

Sponsorship and commercial £12m

Compensation £0.2m

Wage bill Joint 9th highest, £69m (up from £67m in 2013)

Wages as proportion of turnover 76%

Loss before tax £33m (up from £2m in 2013)

Net debt £24m

Interest payable £0.3m

Highest-paid director Unnamed, £604,000 (Alastair Mackintosh is the chief executive)

State they’re in

Not the prettiest financial situation to take into the Championship, a relegation suffered in US buyer Shahid Khan’s first season, following Mohamed Al Fayed’s 16 year, multi-million pound restoration. Fayed criticised manager Felix Magath and Khan, lamenting that his work was “destroyed in a season.”

Fulham’s wage bill barely increased in 2013-14, yet £21m unspecified “other external charges” mostly accounted for the £33m loss. Struggles in the Championship will not have been quite what Khan, who loaned Fulham £26m, foresaw when buying himself a Premier League club less than two years ago.

HULL CITY

Accounts for the year to 30 June 2014

Ownership Owned by Assem Allam via his company, Allamhouse, registered in the UK

Turnover 19th highest, £84m (up from £17m in 2013, including parachute payments)

Gate and matchday £12m

Premier League including TV £68m

Commercial, retail, catering £4m

Wage bill 20th highest, £43m (up from £26m in 2013)

Wages as proportion of turnover 51%

Profit before tax £9m (after £26m loss in 2013)

Net debt £65m

Interest payable £3m

Highest-paid director Assem Allam’s company was paid £165,000 for his and son Ehab’s services.

State they’re in

Another promoted club, City’s income instantly increased by £67m, turning the £26m loss incurred to win promotion into a £9m profit. Assem Allam seeks to manage money shrewdly; the club repaid £5.6m of his company loans, which remained £67m, on which he charges 4% interest.

City stayed up after Allam sanctioned spending for Steve Bruce, and they reached the FA Cup final. A shame such a landmark achievement was soured by Allam refusing to talk to the local council over a potential stadium expansion and trying to change the club’s name to Hull Tigers, which many fans vehemently oppose.

LIVERPOOL

Accounts for the year to 31 May 2014

Ownership Fenway Sports Group, registered in the USA, of which John W Henry is the principal shareholder.

Turnover 5th highest, £256m (up from £206m in 2013)

Gate and matchday income £51m

TV and broadcasting £101m

Commercial activities £104m

Wage bill 5th highest, £144m (up from £132m in 2013)

Wages as proportion of turnover 56%

Profit before tax £1m (following £50m loss in 2013)

Net debt £126m

Interest payable £5m

Highest-paid director Unnamed, £1.032m (Ian Ayre is the managing director)

State they’re in

Still in transition but last season’s agonising second-place finish, the finances and the steel frame of Anfield’s main-stand extension now taking shape, show the direction is progress. John Henry’s FSG did not increase its funding from the £69m interest-free loan already provided, there was £37m boost to TV money and wages increased only £12m. They all restored financial stability.

FSG plan for Anfield expansion to accrue cash significant enough to close the gap on higher-earning clubs – around half the 8,500 extra main-stand seats will be corporate.

MANCHESTER CITY

Accounts of Manchester City Limited for the year to 31 May 2014

Ownership Wholly owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, via the Abu Dhabi United Group, registered in the United Arab Emirates

Turnover 2nd highest, £347m (up from £271m in 2013)

Gate and matchday £47m

TV and broadcasting £133m

Commercial activities £166m

Wage bill 2nd highest, £205m (down from £233m in 2013)

Wages as proportion of turnover 59%

Loss before tax £23m (following £52m in 2013)

Net debt £46m

Interest payable £1m

Highest-paid director No directors of Manchester City Limited were paid.

State they’re in

In sixth year since Sheikh Mansour bought then financially stricken City in August 2008 his total funding reached an extraordinary £1.152bn, including the new £200m academy.

City’s income dramatically increased in a title-winning season and the loss included Uefa’s £16m deduction under financial fair play rules for the previous two years’ £151m losses. City reduced their wage bill by £28m, mostly due to 125 staff being moved into the accounts of a parent company, City Football Group, which also services Mansour’s New York City, Melbourne City and his minority stake in Yokohama Marinos.

MANCHESTER UNITED

Accounts for Manchester United Plc, for the year to 30 June 2014

Ownership Owned by the Glazer family via Red Football LLC, a company registered in the low-tax state of Nevada, US, United is now registered in the Cayman Islands tax haven and listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

Turnover 1st highest, £433m (up from £363m in 2012)

Gate and matchday income £108m

TV and broadcasting £136m

Commercial activities £189m

Wage bill 1st highest, £215m (up from £181m in 2013)

Wages as proportion of turnover 50%

Profit before tax £41m (following £9m loss in 2012)

Net debt £275m

Interest and finance costs £28m

Highest-paid director Not stated

State they’re in

United still need to manage progress following Sir Alex Ferguson’s monumental 27 years but the figures, delivered in a huge document to the New York stock exchange, show the Glazers have effectively won. Nine years after their debt-loading buyout, which has cost United around £700m in interest and fees, the club still bears £342m of the Glazers’ borrowings but the income is spectacular.

The obsessive sale of sponsorships, TV and huge stadium income made United £433m, £86m more than the Premier League’s next highest-earning club, City, which has support from Abu Dhabi sponsors.

NEWCASTLE UNITED

Accounts for the year to 30 June 2014

Ownership Mike Ashley owns Newcastle United via his company, MASH Holdings Limited, registered in the UK.

Turnover 7th highest, £130m (up from £96m in 2013)

Gate and matchday £26m

TV and broadcasting £78m

Commercial activities £26m

Wage bill 7th highest, £78m (up from £62m in 2013)

Wages as proportion of turnover 60%

Profit before tax £19m (up from £10m in 2012)

Net debt £95m

Interest payable £0.19m

Highest-paid director Unnamed, £106,793 (Lee Charnley was the managing director)

State they’re in

There are two ways of looking at Newcastle’s financial picture. Mike Ashley would say it is incomparably healthier than the over-borrowed operation he took over in 2007; money was spent on wages, he has £129m loans interest-free which he did not reduce. Protesting fans see the £19m profit, £39m banked, and ubiquitous free Sports Direct advertising as evidence that Ashley sees the club as a cash cow.

Newcastle maintain this is unfair and have promised to invest this summer – as well as appoint a manager. The figures show the money is there.

NORWICH CITY

Accounts for year months to 30 June 2014 (Comparative figures for 2012-13 were for a 13-month period)

Ownership Majority owned, 53.1%, by Delia Smith and her husband Michael Wynn Jones

Turnover 15th highest, £94m (up from £75m in 2013)

Gate receipts £11m

Premier League including TV £68m

Catering £4m

Commercial and other income £10m

Wage bill 17th highest, £54m (up from £51m in 2013)

Wages as proportion of turnover 57%

Profit before tax £9m (up from £1m profit in 2013)

Net debt Nil; £3m net cash in the bank

Interest payable £0.35m

Highest-paid director £1.19m paid to unnamed director (David McNally is the chief executive)

State they’re in

If finances were the measure of success, here is the very picture of a flourishing club - wages at 57% of £100m income, £9m profit made. But they are not, and Norwich went down. This season will have been financially more difficult but Norwich are well run these days; they have no debt and players’ wages are significantly linked to performance.

Of the three relegated clubs, Norwich have adjusted best to the Championship and, Alex Neil having replaced Neil Adams as manager in January, are challenging for a bounce-back promotion.

SOUTHAMPTON

Accounts of St Mary’s Football Group Limited for the year to 30 June 2014

Ownership Owned by Katharina Liebherr, resident in Switzerland.

Turnover 11th highest, £106m (up from £72m in 2013)

Matchday £17m

Premier League and broadcasting £79m

Commercial activities £8m

Other income £1m

Wage bill Joint 14th highest, £63m (up from £47m in 2013)

Wages as proportion of turnover 59%

Profit before tax £29m (after £7m loss in 2013)

Net debt £25m

Interest payable £2.8m

Highest-paid director £1,63m paid to unnamed director - Nicola Cortese was the executive chairman until he resigned on 15 January 2014

State they’re in

A story of notable over-performance, Saints finished eighth on the Premier League’s joint 14th-highest wage bill. Chairman Nicola Cortese’s resignation, apparently contesting a more structured board wanted by owner Katharina Liebherr, did not disrupt the club as some vehemently warned.

Saints’ sail through the departure of Mauricio Pochettino and players including Adam Lallana, Luke Shaw and Calum Chambers last summer has been more impressive. The club recruited smartly and Liebherr made £20m loans, taking her total loaned to £34.7m, and she wrote off £38m loans, converting them into shares.

STOKE CITY

Accounts of Stoke City Football Club Ltd for the year to 31 May 2014

Ownership Owned by bet365 Group, the online gambling company controlled by Denise Coates, daughter of chairman, Peter, and family.

Turnover 14th highest, £98m (up from £67m in 2013)

Gate receipts £7m

Sponsorship and advertising £6m

TV and media £76m

Conferencing and hospitality £3m

Other £1m

Retail and merchandising £2m

Wage bill 16th highest, £61m (up from £60m in 2013)

Wages as proportion of turnover 62%

Profit before tax £4m (following £31m loss in 2013)

Net debt £38m

Interest payable Nil

Highest-paid director Unnamed, £773,000 (Tony Scholes is the chief executive)

State they’re in

Stoke banked the new TV deal fortunes and used the money to stabilise the club after years of losses incurred maintaining Premier League status. Chairman Peter Coates is a strong supporter of financial fair play, determined the increased TV money would not leak straight through to players, and at Stoke it did not. Despite the £30m increase in income the wage bill barely moved.

The Coates family, owners of the bet365 online betting behemoth, did increase their loans to the club by £15m to £57m, but otherwise the books balanced.

SUNDERLAND

Accounts for the year to 31 July 2014

Ownership Owned by the American Ellis Short via Drumaville, a company registered in Jersey

Turnover 12th highest, £104m (up from £76m in 2013)

Gate receipts £16m

TV and media £71m

Sponsorship and royalties £8m

Conference, catering £7m

Retail & other commercial £1m

Wage bill 8th highest, £70m (up from £58m in 2013)

Wages as proportion of turnover 67%

Loss before tax £17m (up from £13m in 2013)

Net debt £93m

Interest payable £2m

Highest-paid director Unnamed, £663,196 (Margaret Byrne is the chief executive)

State they’re in

Financial stability is proving as stubbornly evasive for Sunderland as managerial consistency. Dick Advocaat, hired to replace Gus Poyet as the club strains to avoid relegation, is the 13th manager, including caretakers, in the 13 years since Peter Reid’s tenure ended in 2002.

US owner Ellis Short had £28m loans repaid in 2012-13; last year he put £15.5m back in. Even with the boost to TV income, Sunderland also had a £28m bank loan and a £39m overdraft. Relegation, if Advocaat does not save them, looks like it could be painful.

SWANSEA CITY

Accounts for the year to 31 May 2014

Ownership Martin Morgan, 23.7%; Brian Katzen, 21.1%; Swansea City Supporters Society Limited (supporters trust) 21.1%; chairman Huw Jenkins 13.2%; Robert Davies 10.5%

Turnover 13th highest, £99m (up from £67m in 2013)

Match income £9m

Media £81m

Commercial and other £9m

Wage bill Joint 14th highest, £63m (up from £49m in 2013)

Wages as proportion of turnover 64%

Profit before tax £1m (down from £21m in 2013)

Net debt Nil; £2m cash in the bank

Interest payable £0.015m

Highest-paid director Huw Jenkins, £550,000

State they’re in

The Swans’ epic paddle from bottom division and insolvency to Premier League and new stadium owned by a consortium of fan-businessmen, including 20% held by the supporters trust, was committed to documentary with A Jack to a King. Huw Jenkins boldly replaced Michael Laudrup with rookie former player Garry Monk and traded players typically well.

The directors, including Jenkins, rewarded themselves and other shareholders with another £1m dividend, following £2m in 2012-13. Jenkins also had a £300,000 pay rise which included a £275,000 bonus for maintaining Premier League status.

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR

Accounts for the year to 30 June 2014

Ownership Enic International Limited, registered in the Bahamas (tax haven), owns 85% of Spurs. Joe Lewis, resident in the Bahamas, has the controlling 70.6% ownership of Enic; trusts of which chairman Daniel Levy and family are the beneficiaries own the other 29.4%.

Turnover 6th highest, £181m (up from £147m in 2013)

Match receipts £35m

TV and media £90m

All commercial activities £56m

Wage bill 6th highest, £100m (up from £96m in 2012)

Wages as proportion of turnover 55%

Profit before tax £80m (up from £4m in 2013)

Net debt Nil; £3m in bank

Interest payable £7m

Highest-paid director £2.17m paid to Daniel Levy

State they’re in

Spurs’ finances speak of a club making ready to build the long-planned new stadium and two figures leap out. The first is the £80m profit, the largest ever made by an English football club; Spurs say this was effectively the proceeds of selling Gareth Bale to Real Madrid which was then reinvested in new players. Spurs’ TV income was up £32m, they held the wage increase to only £4m, and put £35m in the bank. Such riches rather undermine Spurs’ plea they could not afford £16m agreed for public infrastructure works, which Haringey council waived.

The second remarkable figure is chairman Daniel Levy’s salary £2.17m – presumably for all of the above.

WEST BROMWICH ALBION

Accounts of West Bromwich Albion Football Club Ltd for the year to 30 June 2014

Ownership Majority owned by the chairman, Jeremy Peace.

Turnover 18th highest, £87m (up from £70m in 2013)

Gate receipts £7m

Merchandising £3m

TV and media £69m

Other commercial income £8m

Wage bill 12th highest, £65m (up from £54m in 2013)

Wages as proportion of turnover 75%

Profit before tax £13m (up from £6m in 2013)

Net debt £2m

Interest payable Nil

Highest-paid director Unnamed, £1.02m (Jeremy Peace is the executive chairman)

State they’re in

Sacked Steve Clarke and in January 2014 appointed Pepe Mel, who secured the fifth consecutive Premier League season for the one-time yo-yo club. The finances reflect Jeremy Peace’s long-term determination not to blow a Premier League bounty nor overstretch to be promoted. West Brom made a profit while paying 75% of income in wages and have no debt.

Hence the talk now of Peace looking to sell for a fabulous profit which, given the billions in TV deals, could happen at several clubs over the next year or two.

WEST HAM UNITED

Accounts of WH Holding Ltd for the year to 31 May 2014

Ownership Owned 51.1% by David Sullivan, 35.1% David Gold, 10% CB Holding ehf

Turnover 10th highest, £115m (up from £90m in 2013)

Match receipts and football-related £19m

Commercial £14m

Premier League and Broadcasting £75m

Retail & merchandising £6m

Wage bill 13th highest, £64m (up from £57m in 2013)

Wages as proportion of turnover 56%

Profit before tax £10m (following £4m loss in 2013)

Net debt Not stated; total borrowings are £92m

Interest payable £5m

Highest-paid director Unnamed, £636,000 (Karren Brady is the executive vice-chairman)

State they’re in

Karren Brady, now the Conservative peer Baroness Brady of Knightsbridge, notes the 2016 Olympic stadium move means West Ham will occupy “one of the greatest arenas in world football”. Remarkable for a club in financial crisis when Brady’s long-term employer, David Sullivan, and David Gold took over in 2010.

Brady’s focus and £49m loans from Sullivan and Gold, on which they charge 6-7% interest, have hammered the club into shape to occupy the stadium, built with around £600m public money – surely the greatest stroke of fortune in football history.