Fall in turnover announced by Aston Villa

ASTON Villa’s alarming decline in form over the last few seasons has coincided with a decline in turnover.

Annual accounts filed by the Birmingham club today for the year ended May 2012 show a drop in turnover of £11.6m, from £92m to £80.4m.

But the club reduced its overall loss year-on-year by £36.2m, from £53.9m in 2010-11 to £17.7m last season.

Villa blamed the lower turnover figure on a bottom half of the table finish in the Barclays Premier League, fewer selections for live TV broadcasts, early exits from both domestic cup competitions and lower attendances.

Fans’ complaints that Villa have become a “selling club” are borne out by the fact the club made a profit on the disposal of players of £26.9m, up from 2011’s figure of £18.8m.

Villa finished 16th in the league last season, the culmination of an unhappy campaign overseen by former Birmingham City boss Alex McLeish. The previous season Villa had finished 9th.

This season Villa currently occupy one of the relegation berths in 18th place. With just ten games to go – including clashes against Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool – Villa are in real danger of losing their place in the top league of English football for the first time since the mid-1980s.

It has also been revealed that Villa Chairman Randy Lerner waived interest on loans totalling £107.1m made by him to the club last season, creating a one-time benefit to the club of £20.3m.

Reflecting on the results, chief financial officer Robin Russell said: “By managing costs effectively, the club managed to cut losses by more than half during a period which continued to be challenging economically both globally and especially in the West Midlands.

“In this respect, despite a disappointingly low performance level on the pitch in the 2011-12 season, these financial results represent a further step towards the club’s objective of long-term sustainability.”

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