Photo Credit: Craig Anthony Photography
At an informal briefing to shareholders held in the Executive Club at Edgar Street this evening (Friday 29th September), Hereford FC Chairman, Chris Ammonds, confirmed that the club made a loss during the 2022/23 financial year.
While the figures announced are yet to be audited, and therefore may be subject to minor changes, Ammonds shared the news that a loss of around £45,000 is set to be recorded when the Bulls’ accounts are filed. This takes into account the unexpected windfall from the memorable FA Cup run which earned the club around £81,000 (net).
Ammonds explained that there were a variety of reasons for the loss. These include additional money being added to the playing budget after the FA Cup run, increased administration staff costs, a significant rise in general costs (including utility bills) and lower than expected crowds in the second half of the season.
However, the Bulls’ Chairman reassured the shareholders present that a huge amount of work had been done in recent months to review the club’s outgoings – and reduce costs where possible – to ensure the results for the current financial year do not follow the recent trend – including a loss of £305,000 for the previous two years.
Current forecasts for the ongoing financial year predict a profit of between £45,000 and £50,000, although it should be noted that we are roughly only a third of the way through it at this point.
Speaking about the financial results, Ammonds said:
“Clearly it is disappointing to have to announce a loss for the last financial year, but I would like to reassure shareholders and supporters that action has been taken to address this issue.
“Firstly, the budget for the players and coaching staff for this season was reduced by 20% for this campaign, with a limit placed on how much of the budget could be spent on non-playing staff.
“While this was clearly not ideal, thanks to the generosity of supporters donating to SquadBuilder, and the money raised through the Aston Villa pre-season friendly and player sales, this budget has been boosted significantly since then and we are all grateful for the support that we have received.
“In addition to reducing this budget, in the past two months we have reviewed all our costs and the outcome of that has seen us implement efficiencies which should save over £30,000 across the whole year.
“It should also be noted that increased season ticket sales and the excellent attendances so far this season are also above the figures budgeted for and this makes a huge difference. The attendances we have budgeted for between now and the end of the season remain sensible and extremely cautious, so we are all hopeful that the crowds will remain far better than our predictions.
“While there is no hiding from the fact it is disappointing to have to announce this loss, and that the club currently has no reserves, I’d again like to reassure supporters that immediate action has been taken to ensure it does not happen again. To continue on the previous path taken would have put the club’s future in danger and that is something that simply could not be allowed to happen.”
Headline Figures (unaudited) For 2022/23 Financial Year (all figures mentioned are gross)
Turnover – £1,265,000 (approximate breakdown as follows):
- Matchday ticket sales – 23%
- Bars/Hospitality/Room hire – 18%
- Season Ticket sales – 16%
- Sponsorship/Commercial/Shop – 16%
- Donations – 6%
- TV money – 5%
- League income – 3%
- Cup prize money – 2%
- Other – 11%
Expenditure – £1,310,000 (approximate breakdown as follows):
- Players, coaching and management costs – 42%
- Bar costs – 14%
- Administrative costs – 13%
- Wider football related costs (kit, travel, training facilities, match officials etc) – 12%
- Administrative/Office staff – 8%
- Shop costs – 2%
- Repairs and renewals – 2%
- Other costs – 7%
