Leeds United fans react as losses jump to £21m

Marcelo Bielsa
Marcelo Bielsa

Leeds United’s 2018-19 financial account was published online on Wednesday morning. The losses have jumped from £4 million to £21 million, and the wage bill has increased to £46 million.

On the other hand, their annual turnover in the Championship is set to rise to around £60 million in the 2019-20 results. It leaves Leeds United in a precarious situation where owner Andrea Radrizzani or another potential investor will have to soak the money.

Radrizzani simply cannot finance Leeds in the Championship in the present model. There are no parachute payments to feed on and it’s all down to the flawed system of the English football pyramid.

As Gary Neville pointed out recently, Leeds, who are top of the Championship table, will get around £3 million at the end of the season for the rights to broadcast their games, while Norwich (bottom placed-team) will receive £100 million for being in the Premier League. The financial gap is huge.

Leeds moved quickly to negotiate a wage deferral with the players and staff during the Coronavirus outbreak, and it was a smart move for the club. As a result of the wage deferral, it brought down the maximum weekly wage of players to £6,000 a week until football resumes.

Here are some of the best reactions from the Leeds fans on Twitter:

The results give an indication that Leeds must get back to the Premier League, or else they will be forced to balance the books by selling their key players like Kalvin Phillips and others.

Arrow to top