Manchester United is set to announce record profits of around £75m
as `Gold Trafford' hits the jackpot.
A club best-ever annual turnover in excess of £200m has boosted
profits in the year to June 30, figures to be released next month
will reveal.
The previous record turnover for the Reds was in the 2002-03
season, with £174m in total. The previous record profit was in
2003-04, when the club netted £58m.
It is a significant increase on last January's figures, when the
club announced a turnover of £167.75m and profits of £46.25m.
The hike in turnover will help the Reds close the gap on Real
Madrid, the world's richest club by revenue. In this year's
Deloitte Money League, the Spanish club's turnover was 292.2m euros
- £208m.
United's success on the field last season and the raising of the
Old Trafford capacity has banked the Reds the increased fortune.
Last term saw United open their East and North quadrants at Old
Trafford, adding 8,000 more seats at the stadium, including 2,500
corporate seats.
It raised the ground capacity to 76,000, from just under 68,000 in
the 2005-06 season, and the club was able to fill Old Trafford for
most matches.
In fact only one game, against Middlesbrough in a Monday night FA
Cup sixth-round replay in March, was under 70,000.
United were crowned Premiership champions in May, and derived a
bumper income from that success. They also had a full FA Cup run to
Wembley which included two replays against Reading and
Middlesbrough, which increased the club's income.
Unlike the previous year, when the Reds were knocked out in the
group stage of the lucrative Champions League, last season Sir Alex
Ferguson's side progressed to its semi-final.
Part of the club's profit will be used to service the debts -
around £35m a year - incurred by its American owners, the Glazer
family, who took over the club in June, 2005. But it also leaves a
significant amount of cash for Sir Alex Ferguson to deploy in the
January and summer transfer markets.
United can probably look forward to breaking records again in its
next financial year.
Season ticket prices have controversially risen this season, but -
most significantly - the figures to be announced next month do not
even include cash due to Old Trafford under its the new £1.7bn TV
rights deal with Sky and Setanta. It will bring each Premiership
club an estimated £40m a year.
