Southampton: Poor 2017/18 season saw £29.9m revenue drop for Saints

A poor 2017/18 season for Southampton saw the club’s revenues drop by around £29.9m, according to Deloitte’s Football Money League report.

It was certainly not an ideal campaign for Saints as they finished 17th in the Premier League and only above the relegation zone by three points.

The sizeable drop in revenue came largely from their league finish. After ending the 2016/17 in 8th position, the club received £25.2m in merit payment from the Premier League.

However, that figure was down to just £7.7m after narrowly staving off relegation in 17th in 2017/18.

There was also the lack of performance-based payments and television fees from both the UEFA Europa League and the EFL Cup to contend with; the club had competed in the group-stages of the former reached the final of the latter in 2016/17.

SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 10: Ralph Krueger, Chairman of Southampton and Gao Jisheng, Southampton club owner prior to the Premier League match between Southampton and Arsenal at St Mary’s Stadium on December 10, 2017 in Southampton, England. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images) /

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Although the broadcasting rights in the Premier League have seen huge riches flood into the league, the change in revenue will have been fairly concerning for those in control at St Mary’s.

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This is because of the significant amount that the club put towards improved contracts for the playing squad after qualification for the Europa League.

Official club accounts on Companies House show that player remunerations (payments and wages for players) grew by 29% from the 2015/16 season to the 2016/17 campaign as Saints tied some of their key men down.

Each of Virgil Van-Dijk, Fraser Forster, James Ward-Prowse, Steven Davis, Ryan Bertrand, Shane Long, Dusan Tadic and Cedric Soares signed new deals in the summer of 2016, whilst Sam McQueen, Harrison Reed, Jake Hesketh and Oriol Romeu all followed suit during the following season.

It may have been that the recent selling of some of these names has helped the club back into a more healthier financial position.

Van-Dijk in particular will have provided a cash injection with his £70m transfer to Liverpool, whilst Davis, Tadic and Manolo Gabbiadini have been shifted off the wage bill too.

Cedric is expected to follow them out of the club with his imminent transfer to Inter Milan, whilst Forster has proved difficult for the club to move after his severe drop in form.

Perhaps the true message for the club is that they shouldn’t have made so much of a financial commitment towards their players and they should return to their values of producing and bringing through players for an affordable cost.

The huge wealth that the Premier League TV rights bring still has Saints making the 23rd biggest profit in European football, but the drop of £29.9m from the previous year meant other measures had to be taken.