Football club loses more than £1m a week during Championship-winning campaign

Wolverhampton Wanderers lost more than £1m a week during their Championship campaign last season, seeing pre-tax losses more than double over the previous year.

For the year to the end of May 2018, which saw the club promoted from the Sky Bet Championship to the Premier League, Wolves recorded a pre-tax loss of £57.16m, compared to a loss of £23.18m the previous year.

The club said the result was largely down to increased expenditure on players, wages, additional amounts payable on promotion as part of existing transfer fees and individual staff and player promotion bonuses.

However, it said turnover for the year was £26.4m compared to £23.8m in 2017, with the uplift mainly driven by an increase in attendances.

Season ticket holders increased from 13,757 to 21,233, while average league attendances increased to 28,298, compared to 21,572 in the previous season, resulting in an increase of £1.3m in ticketing income.

There was further growth in revenue through an increase of £600,000 in merchandising revenues, £400,000 in sponsorship and advertising and £400,000 in corporate hospitality revenues.

The club said on its website: “In summary, Wolves’ owners are committed to continuously improving the club, from both a footballing and wider operational and strategic perspective.

“Their aim, through the continued application of the footballing philosophy which has been so successful during the 2017/18 season and first half of the 2018/19 season, is for the club is to become an established competitor in the Premier League.”

This was the second season under the ownership of Fosun International and saw the appointment of Nuno Espirito Santo and his coaching staff, who helped guide the team to the Championship title.

The period saw the signing of Player of the Season Ruben Neves, the permanent signings of Ryan Bennett, John Ruddy and Barry Douglas amongst others, and the loan signings of Diogo Jota, Willy Boly and Leo Bonatini.

Santo’s side remained top of the league from October through to May, and won the Championship with 99 points, nine points clear of their nearest rival.