Foolish Foolham

Mohamed Fayed's Fulham Football Club last year made losses thought to be the biggest recorded in British soccer history, the Evening Standard reveals today.

Fulham made a staggering £24 million loss in the year to 30 June 2001 as the club fought an expensive battle to join the Premiership. That compared with a £14.1 million loss in the previous 12 months, figures from the club show.

The losses were even worse than Newcastle United's deficit of £18.9 million in 2000 and will further fuel repeated speculation about the health of the Egyptian mogul's business empire.

Staff costs, including player wages, were the biggest drain, with the overall payroll leaping more than £8 million to £19.3 million during the period. And that was before Mr Fayed's £31.8 million outlay in the following months on players such as Steed Malbranque, Steve Marlet and Edwin Van Der Sar.

Those player costs will hit the club in the current year's figures, which will not be reported until next April.

On the other hand, this year's club coffers will be swollen by bumper Premiership media rights, helped further by Fulham's performance in the FA Cup, which saw them getting knocked out in the semi-finals by rivals Chelsea. Mr Fayed will also take comfort from an upturn in match receipts and season ticket sales.

Last year showed a rising trend, which helped boost turnover to £9 million against £7.6 million a year earlier.

But Fulham, who listed their financial results at Companies House this week under the name Fulham Football Leisure Limited, must be proving a drain on Mr Fayed's commercial interests. City analysts suspect his big cash generator Harrods will have suffered from the downturn in tourism numbers in the wake of the 11 September tragedy.

The report today also reveals that the club's net debts spiralled to £61.7 million in the last financial year compared with £40.6 million 12 months earlier. It shows that as recently as February this year, Mr Fayed used the promise of big fees from Sky broadcasting rights to secure £8 million of debt finance for the club.

Mr Fayed bought Fulham in May 1997 in a deal worth £30 million and pledged to make the club "bigger than Chelsea".

[Daniel_Nash]

and things might get worse while they ground-share and have Craven Cottage redeveloped!

Where are they sharing for next season? is it QPR?

[Ian of Chatham]

Yes that is right Daniel they are playing at Loftus Road.

On what criteria is Fulham's debt "the biggest recorded in British soccer history"? I thought Chelsea and Coventry are among two clubs that have suffered worse losses, unless the Chelsea Village doesn't count in Chelsea's case.

[Rash the Smash]

[quote]Originally posted by tmjwat


But Fulham, who listed their financial results at Companies House this week

Football clubs lodging information at Companies House? Surely some mistake? Does our beloved chairman know?

[pete eagle]

If they go down, they will be very very screwed.

[selhurst]

New money, new fans. Let's face it, Fulham are never going to be bigger than Chelsea. Some bad news for the quietest fans in London.

[Jimbo ?]

when you have the cash momo has then i wouldnt rule anything out!!! they all knew a big loss was coming but a chairman like al fayed can pay it all off

[Del Gland]

Just goes to show that you can fool some of the people some of the time but you can't Fulham all of the time!

[wedgetail]

Originally posted by Jimbo ?
when you have the cash momo has then i wouldnt rule anything out!!! they all knew a big loss was coming but a chairman like al fayed can pay it all off

If he has so much money why has Fulham run up a debt of greater than £60 Million? Even at today's low interest rate that is costing £5 million a year. With Harrods trading at a loss since last September the next year may get very interesting for Fulham.

[congress]

The local residents have complained again about the ground being built so it is going to be delayed now.They will now play at Loftus Road for 2 years at least.