February 8, 2012: Chelsea Announces Loss of £67.7m for Previous Season

Chelsea announce a loss of £67.7m for the 2010-2011 season, slightly less than the previous one (see January 31, 2011). There was a modest increase in revenues to £222.3m from £205.8m, thanks to Champions League and television income. Wages were down by £4.4m on last year and operating expenses down by £7m. The accounts contain an extraordinary item of £28m relating to the replacement of manager Carlo Ancelotti with André Villas-Boas in the summer. This means that Chelsea’s manager replacement costs have been around £64m in the last four years. In addition, the accounts reveal Chelsea paid £6.4m to Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs to settle claims arising from a failed tax avoidance scheme that involved paying players not salary, but compensation for use of their image rights. The size and repeated nature of the loss means that Chelsea may have difficulty complying with UEFA’s financial fair play regulations, although the consequences of this are unclear. [Guardian, 2/8/2012]