By David Owen
March 28 – Huddersfield Town, the once mighty Yorkshire club who surprised many last year by extending their Premier League stay to a second season, have unveiled a near £50 million improvement in profitability for the year to end-June 2018.
The club – a dominant force in the English game in the 1920s – reported a pre-tax profit for 2017-18 of £29.7 million. This compares with a loss in their promotion year of £19.6 million.
Turnover leapt by more than £100 million, from £15.8 million to £125.2 million, reflecting the financial gulf between the Premier League and the second-tier Championship. While this was largely explained by a £102 million jump to just under £110 million in “TV and League” payments, retail sales more than doubled and the contribution from commercial activities increased three-fold to £7.4 million.
The club – now in dire peril at the foot of the table and having parted company with David Wagner, its inspirational manager – shelled out £62.6 million in employee costs in 2017-18, nearly three times the previous season’s bill.
Directors shared in the good times, with their remuneration rising from £286,527 to just over £657,000. Of these, the highest-paid director received emoluments of £341,139, up from £118,764.
Nicknamed the Terriers, the club is controlled by director Dean Hoyle. At year-end, the amount owing to the club’s owner had slipped just below the £50-million mark to £49.4 million.
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