The average wage of a Cardiff City player revealed and the other things you may have missed from the club's accounts -
The Bluebirds' debt had increased by almost 15% to £115m from the year ending May 2016.
Cardiff City players in 2015-16 earned an average of £462,163 a year.
The figures fell to £396,173 a year average wage, during the 2016-17 season.
The club reduced its wage bill to £20.6m, 18% lower than the previous year.
By Ian Mitchelmore (Media Wales)
Thursday 8th March 2018
Cardiff City could be forced into further cost-cutting measures if they fail to gain promotion into the Premier League this season, according to a football finance expert.
It comes after the release of the club's accounts for 2016-17 which revealed the Bluebirds' debt had increased by almost 15% to £115m from the year ending May 2016.
And with Cardiff currently being in the final season of receiving parachute payments, football finance expert and Director of Mazars International Keith Morgan, who is also chair of the Cardiff City Supporters' Trust, notes that missing out on top-flight football would inevitably have a huge impact on the way the club may have to work in the 2018-19 campaign.
His key findings from the release of the accounts are as follows:
There was a net loss for the year of £21.1m, which is up substantially from the loss of £8.7m in the previous year.
As a result of the above losses , despite a new share capital injection of £8m created by a conversion of debt into shares by the owner, the net deficit on the balance sheet increased by £13.1m to £80.9m.
The club remains critically dependent upon its owner Tan Sri Vincent Tan, who is by far its largest creditor, for its ongoing financial viability.
The club are confident that, because of the work to date that has been done to date on the club`s finances, it will be compliant with the Profitability and Sustainability (previously Financial Fair Play) requirements for the period covered by the accounts under review.
What measures did the Bluebirds previously take to cut costs?
The club reduced its wage bill to £20.6m, 18% lower than the previous year.
They also made a profit of £5.5m from the sale of players, an increase of £3m on the previous season while the Bluebirds also lowered administration expenses by £3.9m.
Despite these, as well as the other measures taken, the club's net loss for the year was £21.1m, more than double the £8.7m loss from the year earlier.
A large portion of this figure was due to a significant decrease (£8.3m) in exceptional income while their revenue fell by £4.4m, largely as a result of lower income from centralised broadcasting and commercial distributions (which include parachute payments) which fell by £4.3m.
So what would need to happen in the future without parachute payments?
The Bluebirds won't receive parachute payments from next season onwards, meaning failure in their bid to gain promotion into the Premier League will have a significant impact on the club next term.
Missing out on top-flight football - most notably the huge broadcasting revenues that come with it - would mean the Bluebirds needing to replace the income lost from parachute payments during the 2018-19 campaign.
This would most likely be achieved by further cost reductions, alternative income streams, or a combination of the two.
So what else did we learn from the club's accounts?
The average wage of Cardiff City players
Cardiff had 55 players on their payroll in the year ending May 2016, compared to just 52 for the year ending May 2017.
And their overall wage bill was significantly slashed from £25.4m to £20.6m.
It means Cardiff City players in 2015-16 earned an average of £462,163 a year, or £8,888 per week.
But after the club's total wage bill for players dropped by almost £66,000, those average figures fell to £396,173 a year, or £7,619 per week for players during the 2016-17 season.
How Cardiff City's accounts compare with other Championship sides
The Bluebirds made a significant increase in player sale profits, but their tally was dwarfed by promotion rivals Aston Villa who made £26.6m having significantly bolstered their squad a year earlier following their relegation from the Premier League.
Severnside rivals Bristol City made £13.6m in player sale profits, although at the other end of the table, relegation threatened Birmingham City made only £0.2m for the year ending May 2017.
With regards to turnover, more than two thirds of the Bluebirds' overall total of £28.8m came from broadcasting.
They earned £20.6m compared to Birmingham City and Bristol City's significantly lower figures of £6.8m and £7.7m while £48.1m of Aston Villa's overall turnover figure of £73.8m came from broadcasting.
Of the four clubs mentioned above, the Bluebirds earned the lowest total from gate receipts, with their total of £3.5m being lower than what Bristol City (£5m), Birmingham City (£4.4m) and Aston Villa (£10.7m) brought in.
Cardiff were also behind the aforementioned sides when it came to sponsorship and other commercial turnover.
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