Louis Posted June 1, 2008 Report Share Posted June 1, 2008 I was interested if not a little concerned to read that Everton spent 75% of their turnover in the 2006/2007 season on wages (‘wages ‘also covers agent fees). The club were left with a deficit of £8.1million that season despite finishing 6th in the league; also our total wages paid (£38,427,000) was below the average in the Premier League (£48,450,000) and 9th highest in the league. We were well and truly punching above our weight as all the ‘top four’ teams had a wage bill more than double ours whilst Spurs ‘ and Villa’s bill was £5million greater. According to football finance expert and Evertonian Prof. Chris Brady “If you can keep your expenditure on salaries below around 55 per cent of your revenue, you are going to be viable.” Going by that logic, Everton needed to increase revenue by £10,247,200 in 2006/2007 to be a viable business. That is quite simply shocking and to me confirms more than anything how David Moyes is carrying the club as without him and the prize money his team earned we would have been struggling even more so. If Everton’s wage bill was 55% of revenue then Everton would have been the fourth lowest paying club in the premier league that season. When you take into account that Everton had the 7th highest average attendance in the country that year, all signs are pointing to Everton’s need to develop a way of gaining revenue from outside of Football. Here’s a table showing Wages/turnover ratios of Premier League and Championship clubs in 2006-07: Team Name % of turnover used for wages Tottenham 42 Man United 44 Arsenal 50 Sheffield Wednesday 51 Sheffield United 57 Liverpool 58 Watford 58 Reading 59 Bolton Wanderers 60 Norwich City 60 Premier League Average 63 Manchester City 64 Plymouth Argyle 65 Southampton 65 Ipswich Town 68 Chelsea 70 Newcastle United 72 Leicester City 73 Wolves 73 West Bromwich Albion 73 Everton 75 West Ham United 76 Hull City 77 Championship Average 79 Middlesbrough 80 Aston Villa 82 Birmingham City 85 Blackburn Rovers 85 Stoke City 88 Fulham 89 Portsmouth 90 Cardiff City 90 Sunderland 90 Queens Park Rangers 94 Charlton Athletic 95 Preston North End 97 Wigan Athletic 100 Coventry City 101 Burnley 102 Derby County 125 And another showing the amount in wages spent by Premier league clubs from 2006/2007: Chelsea 132,817,000 Man United 92,310,000 Arsenal 89,703,000 Liverpool 77,589,000 Newcastle 62,475,000 Premier League Average 48,450,000 West Ham 44,160,000 Tottenham 43,804,000 Aston Villa 43,194,000 Everton 38,427,000 Middlesboro 38,270,000 Portsmouth 36,888,000 Blackburn 36,712,000 Man City 36,381,000 Fulham 35,169,000 Charlton 34,297,000 Bolton 30,715,000 Reading 29,815,000 Wigan 27,480,000 Sheffield United 22,421,000 Watford 17,636,000 Some reports also say that the club was below the league average for stadium utilisation last season. I do not find this surprising and have often wondered why the Everton reserves can not also play at Goodison Park. I believe that introducing a new pitch surface technology would allow for first team games and reserve games to be played) with little or no problems, the cost of installing the pitch would no doubt be cheaper than paying to use the Halton Stadium. This is not as far fetched as you may think and there are many examples of a multi-use-stadium in the United Kingdom. • Wigan Athletics’ JJB Sports stadium also host Wigan Warriors Rugby team games • Hull City’s KC Stadium is also home to Hull FC of the Rugby Super League • Doncaster Rovers Keepmoat Stadium is also home Doncaster Rugby League Club and the ladies football team Doncaster Belles. Doncaster boasts that their pitch uses “an innovative mix of synthetic fibres and natural grass”. I never thought I’d be suggesting Everton follow Doncaster’s example. Whilst most Evertonians are proud that Goodison Park was the first football-specific stadium, the club really should be looking to redevelop it into a multi use stadium to help increase revenue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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