By Andrew Warshaw, Chief Correspondent
January 23 – The importance of qualifying for the Champions League has been underlined yet again, this time by Tottenham Hotspur announcing a loss of £4.3m for the year ending June, 2012 compared to the profit of £700,000 they recorded the year before which covered the period when they were competing in the competition.
A summary of results show revenue fell to £144m from the record £163m recorded in the club’s first and only Champions League season in 2010-11.
Spurs are regarded as a well-run business commercially, hence their still healthy revenue figures. But the Champions League provides lucrative broadcast income and prize money like no other and “profit from operations” dropped to £23m from £38m while merchandising fell by 4%.
Despite finishing fourth in the Premier League, which would normally ensure Champions League qualification, Tottenham missed out on mixing it with the elite this season by virtue of Chelsea winning the tournament in May and therefore re-entering as defending champions – even though they only managed sixth place domestically.
Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy said: “We are ever ambitious for the club, driving all areas of the business.”
Tottenham, who opened a new state of the art training centre this season, are actively persuing a new 56,000-capacity stadium on an adjacent site to their White Hart Lane ground that holds only 36,000.
“Our focus continues to be the delivery of an increased capacity stadium,” said Levy. “There is much work to be done refining the detailed design and resolving the final development issues.
“We intend to deliver this to the same high standards of the new training centre and to reward our incredibly loyal supporters with a world class stadium and one that will have made a crucial contribution to the regeneration of a priority borough in London.”
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