Wrexham’s record-breaking financial figures highlight farcical Stoke City anomaly
Stoke City’s billionaire backers are stuck in a Financial Fair Play sandwich
There was an eye-catching story this week as Wrexham published their accounts for the last season, when they won promotion from League Two. They have increased their turnover to £26.7 million, which is more than Stoke City (£23.78m) for the same year in the Championship.
Stoke don’t even by any stretch have the lowest income in the second division. It’s more than Hull City (£21.2m), for example, or Preston North End (£16.9m) while Wrexham made more than Sheffield Wednesday (£26.3m) too. It is expected to be more than three times as much as the next highest in League Two.
It’s record-breaking income for a club at that level and made possible by the commercial deals – and a lucrative documentary – secured thanks to their Hollywood owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney. They have still made a loss of nearly £11m over the last three seasons but The Athletic notes that “the sizeable loan” to the RR McReynolds Company has now been paid off.
So well done Wrexham and it’s no surprise that it’s celebrated as a good news story, bringing unexpected success to an old club that had hit on hard times. There are Stoke connections at the Racecourse Ground, not least through Denis Smith, Jon Walters and Mickey Thomas, as well as current players James McClean and Steven Fletcher.
It is all a bit of a head scratcher for Championship clubs, however. They look up and they look down and there are different rules and greener grass.
The EFL have repeatedly made the point that Financial Fair Play rules in place to restrict the amount of money a team can spend on transfers to safeguard the club itself.
