West Bromwich Albion have reduced their annual losses by almost half, to help strengthen the club’s aim of complying with the EFL’s profit and sustainability (P&S) rules.
In its latest financial report, West Bromwich Albion Group Limited – the part of the club that must comply with the regulations – posted an operating loss of £17m for the 12 months up to the end of June 2025, down from £31m the previous year.
Under P&S rules, Championship clubs are permitted to lose a maximum of £39m over a rolling three-year period.
Albion have been closely monitored by the EFL after their losses increased by £23.4m during the 2023-24 accounting period, the first without parachute payments since relegation from the Premier League in 2021.
And although the club has posted a combined loss of £55.6m since July 2022, the figure is considerably lower for P&S purposes because spending on infrastructure, their academy and the women’s team is exempt from calculations.
The Baggies have invested in their training ground in Walsall and installed nearly 4,000 safe‑standing seats at The Hawthorns.
Consequently, the club are understood to be confident that their accounts will comply fully with the P&S rules.
2025 sales to appear in next year’s accounts
Overall staff costs decreased from £42.9m to £37.1m, largely due to the departure of several high‑earning players who were either out of contract or sold.
Player sales totalled £8.2m, including academy product goalkeeper Alex Palmer to Ipswich and part of the fee received from Coventry for striker Brandon Thomas-Asante as the transfer was spread over more than one year.
Meanwhile, Albion spent a total of £6.4m on Torbjorn Heggem, Mikey Johnston, Callum Styles, Isaac Price, Tammer Bany and Nat Phillips.
However, last summer’s sales of other homegrown players Tom Fellows and Caleb Taylor to Southampton and Millwall respectively, and the £10m departure of Heggem to Bologna, will be reflected in next year’s accounts.
The accounts also show that the club received £2.55m in compensation from La Liga side Valencia following the departure of head coach Carlos Corberan and his staff on Christmas Eve 2024.
Revenue increased from £28.2m to £30.4m, driven largely by a new broadcasting deal with Sky Sports to televise more EFL matches.
Gate receipts fell by £300,000 to £6.8m despite a rise in average attendance to 24,984.
The drop was attributed to higher revenue received the previous year because of the sold‑out, televised home FA Cup fourth‑round tie with neighbours Wolves.
The publication of Albion’s accounts comes as the EFL continues to discuss the implementation of a Squad Cost Ratio (SCR) model in the Championship from next season.
The model, recently approved by Premier League clubs for next season, caps spending on player and manager wages, transfer fees and agents’ fees to a percentage of a club’s revenue.
West Brom are understood to be supportive of a move to SCR in the second tier.
Getty Images‘A huge boost off the field’ – analysis
It’s been an extremely difficult season for the Baggies on the field, but these figures should be seen as a huge boost off it.
Albion have had to tread an incredibly fine and precarious line in recent years thanks to the mismanagement of the club’s finances under the disastrous reign of absent owner Guochan Lai.
Shilen Patel may also be primarily based abroad but the American businessman’s presence is far from anonymous when it comes to the club’s accounts.
Since his company, Bilkul Football WBA, took over the club in February 2024, he has invested £31.5m up to the end of June 2025.
This has largely been to cover losses, as well as debts inherited from the previous regime, including loans from American financiers MSD Holdings.
One for £20m was taken out in December 2022, with the club’s stadium and training ground used as leverage, while another was taken out three months before Patel’s arrival.
It is understood there is a remaining balance of £25.7m left to pay to MSD, which will finally be settled by December this year.
Having to sell a host of players over the past couple of years has inevitably left the squad weaker, but they are also younger, fresher, and, most importantly, the era of irresponsible signings on bloated wages should now be a thing of the past.
The club has had to learn a harsh lesson of living within its means, particularly without parachute payments since 2023.
However, tackling their financial issues has got Albion to a point where they will have some wiggle room to improve the squad this summer.
Their finances will still be judged by the three-year rolling period of P&S for 2025-26, but regardless of what division they find themselves in, Albion are believed to be comfortable in the knowledge that arguably the darkest period in their history is in the rear view mirror.
There can be plenty of questions asked about the footballing decisions taken by Bilkul that could have a detrimental impact in the short term, but the financial choices they have made may well have saved the club from a much bleaker long-term future.
