Football League clubs' aggregate revenue

Championship clubs’ aggregate revenue of £749m was a 10% increase, but largely comes as a result of club mix.

In 2022/23, Championship clubs’ revenue of £749m was a 10% increase compared to the previous season (£678m), largely as a result of club mix. The five clubs in receipt of parachute payments had average revenue of £66m, with the other 19 clubs averaging revenue of £22m.

In aggregate, parachute payments to the five clubs contributed around £200m (27%) of Championship clubs’ total revenue, helping to fund the efforts of Burnley and Sheffield United to gain promotion, alongside the remarkable rise of Luton Town who reached the top-tier without such support. 

The Football League’s hierarchy continue to push strongly for a revamp of the Premier League’s system of parachute payments, the scale of which have increased significantly over the past decade, emboldened by the prospect of a new Football Regulator with backstop powers to deliver financial redistributions should the game be unable to agree a deal itself. 

Although still behind the pre-pandemic levels, matchday revenue of £152m among Championship clubs in 2022/23 represented a £22m uplift compared to the previous season, largely driven by increased attendances across the league. Over 10 million cumulative fans attended a Championship match, making it the fifth highest total attended division in Europe behind only the Premier League, Bundesliga, LaLiga and Serie A. 

In League One, clubs’ average revenue in 2022/23 of £9.8m was 9% greater than the previous season. Meanwhile League Two clubs’ average revenue in 2022/23 of £5.4m was slightly (1%) higher than 2021/22, aided by increased matchday attendances.

Football League clubs’ losses 

Championship clubs’ operating losses improved to £316m in 2022/23, albeit no Championship club generated an operating profit (before player trading).

Championship clubs’ pre-tax losses of £315m were at similar level to operating losses in 2022/23, as costs of player amortisation (£158m) and finance costs (£35m) were broadly offset by profit from transfers-out of players (£182m) and £11m exceptional credits. Seven Championship clubs suffered losses in excess of £20m and only one club managed to generate a profit (Watford, £24m) given player disposals following relegation. 

Whilst losses incurred by Championship clubs remain unsustainable without significant funding from club owners, there was some improvement in 2022/23 as previous season’s losses were over £450m excluding some one-off credits for loan waivers at certain clubs. 

League One clubs’ pre-tax losses worsened to an average of £5.0m (2021/22: £2.2m), with Derby County responsible for £30m (25%) of the total (c.£121m). League Two clubs’ pre-tax losses averaged £1.5m per club.  

Exiting the Championship at the wrong end of the division exposes a club to instability and financial stress as experienced in recent years by communities such as Bolton, Charlton, Derby and Wigan. Such situations have been key drivers for the prospective Football Regulator’s focus on clubs’ financial planning and security of owner funding to help promote financial sustainability, which also needs to be accompanied by the gritty realism that in a pyramid of promotion and relegation, not all clubs can always be successful.