Trying To Make Sense Of The Cardiff City Numbers
Trying To Make Sense Of The Cardiff City Numbers
By Ian on Jan 12, 2025 in Finance, Latest | 1 comment
Yesterday afternoon at The Cardiff City Stadium, a home defeat and the hands of West Ham United pushed The Artists Formerly Known As The Bluebirds into the relegation places. This, it seems reasonable to suggest, was not part of the plan. This was after all new manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's first home league match in charge of the club, and furthermore their opponents were one of the most out of sorts teams in the division, with a manager himself under pressure after a defeat at the hands of Manchester City last week so heavy that one might well wonder whether it's even worth the bother of playing the second leg of their League Cup semi-final.
So, symbolism abounded in South Wales yesterday afternoon, and whils tWest Ham United returned to London cheered by a greatly improved performance by their team, Cardiff City supporters may have found themselves looking mournfully at the dotted line at the bottom of the Premier League table this morning, and they are unlikely to have had their mood lightened over the last few days by the club's last set of annual accounts, which were released at the end of last week and which revealed that the club's current fincancial position means that there is a distinct possibility that tougher times could yet be around the corner for the club again, especially if it is unable to hold onto its Premier League place at the end of this season.
The headline figures were frightening, but headlines themselves only ever tell a part – and usually the most sensationalist part – of any story. The club's total debt now stands at £118m, an obviously unsustainable figure if taken on its own and without any context, but this single, solitary number cannot be of any use without context. Of that eye-watering figure, £66m is owed to owner Vincent Tan. This in itself tells a story in itself. The oft-proclaimed 'saviour' of the club – which, if the increasingly dwindling number of people who unconditionally support him are to be believed, was definitely going to end up in administration, on its knees and destitute had it not been for his intervention – seems to have effectively deflected the issue of the club's historical debts for another day rather than resolving them once and for all. Cardiff City still owes that money. It now just owes it to the owner of the club rather than somebody else. This could hardly be described as a crisis position, but it certainly allows for a different reading of the takeover.
It's not all bad news that is contained
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