The impact of the pandemic wreaked havoc on football clubs and their balance sheets.
Since Covid struck in early 2020 there have been two financial periods published by clubs that have demonstrated just how severe the money issues have been for clubs.
The 2019/20 season was paused before restarting behind closed doors, something which forced clubs into rebates to broadcasters owing to the impact on schedules. Then, the following season, came a campaign that while played on time and in its entirety despite the pandemic raging, was done so without fans in stadiums, meaning that hundreds of millions was wiped off the balance sheets of or that period. Some fared better than others, though.
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Experts at value analysis firm Vysyble have looked at the finances of the Premier League over the two Covid-impacted seasons and compiled a full list of where the clubs rank based upon their economic profit and loss - with Liverpool faring well in comparison to their 'big six' rivals.
Economic profit and loss is the method used by Vysyble when measuring the financial performance of a business and is different to the commonly used metric of EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation).
The formula for working out economic profit and loss is taking the net operating profit figure and subtracting all of the capital invested into the business. Until a business turns a profit greater than the cost of its capital, then it is a business that runs at a loss.
Combined, the Premier League made economic losses of £2.25bn, with only Wolverhampton Wanderers (£90.3m economic profit) and Sheffield United (£21m economic profit) in the black from those two seasons following the pandemic.
Out of the 17 Premier League teams that were included in the research, due to them having been in the top flight for both of the Covid-impacted seasons in question, Liverpool ranked seventh best in terms of mitigating their economic losses through Covid, with £71.56m in 2019/20 and £40.43m in 2020/21 seeing them accrue a total economic loss of £112m. Crystal Palace, Newcastle United, West Ham United and Burnley recorded smaller economic losses, with Sheffield United and Wolves the only two in profit, as mentioned above.
While Everton propped up the table with staggering economic losses of £286.9m over the two years, the next five heaviest economic losses all came from five of the big six.
Tottenham Hotspur, with their stadium financing a major factor, posted the highest of the economic losses of those five at £240.14m, with Manchester City next at £238.9m, Chelsea at £234.13m, Arsenal at £230.62m and Manchester United at £188.70m. Chelsea posted the highest economic losses in one year of all the clubs analysed, a figure of £207.51m in 2020/21.
Of the Premier League's £2.25bn combined economic losses, those five clubs accounted for just over 50 per cent, a total of £1.13bn.
"Sustainability is a slow process and not something that can or will be an overnight success," Vysyble co-founder John Purcell told the ECHO back in December.
"Our most recent figures showed three teams out of 20 had made an economic profit in the past five years, but with Spurs' latest financial results being so damaging they are now running at an economic loss. If football is to be sustainable going forward then you have to drive down the economic profit and loss levels.
"Compared to the other members of the big six then FSG are probably the most astute thinkers. They put in a lot of thought and effort into the strategy to get the business to where they want it to.
"There is clearly a sense of ambition over the growth of FSG and Liverpool, as seen in the deals that they have been making. Whether the success continues remains to be seen."
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