Yeovil Town lost almost £2.8m during last season’s return to the National League Premier Division, the accounts of the club’s parent company have shown.
The accounts for Yeovil Football & Athletic Club Limited show the club is being kept afloat by owner Martin Hellier selling “assets from within a property portfolio” and highlight uncertainty about the club’s ability to continue as a going concern.
The balance sheet for the year until 30th June 2024 show the club’s debt rose from £3.47m in 2023 to £6.26m in 2024, a loss of £2,799,082 during the period.
On Friday morning, the club published a statement on the accounts which said: “The financial statements for the year to the 30th June 2024 report on the first full season under the ownership of Hellier Trading Group Limited. A season considered highly successful in our promotion, and welcome return to the National League.
“The year saw increased revenues across all areas, including, but not limited to, increased gate receipts, commercial income and hospitality.
“During this period, substantial investment has been made at the club, and infrastructure around the ground, including the new fan zone, performance area, car parks re-laid, and home changing rooms transformed.
“The team’s performance on the pitch has had a huge impact on the match day experience for the fans, and you have all responded in kind with tremendous support, both home and away.
“Taking all the above into account, football clubs require a high-level continual investment. During the year, significant monies were invested by the Hellier Group. The increase in creditors identifies much of that balance, with £1m was capitalised into Equity during the period, which demonstrates the level of commitment to YTFC.
“Following promotion to the National League, the difference in strength and standard of teams & competitors has been clear compared to the National League South. However, with the strength and ability of Mark Cooper and the team, we have played to a standard which remains strong & competitive, and continues to provide a good grounding to return to the Football League in the future.
“I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to everyone involved with the club at every level. To our dedicated staff, players, and coaches—Your hard work and commitment do not go unnoticed. To our fans, your unwavering support is the backbone of Yeovil Town Football Club, and we would like to thank you all for your passion and loyalty.
“Achieve by unity – long may our success continue.”
Earlier on Friday morning, football finance expert Kieran Maguire, co-host of the Price of Football podcast, posted about the accounts on X/Twitter on Friday morning. For those of you not on it, here is what he said:
The highlighted sections read as follows:
“The directors have considered the future working capital requirement of the club and have concluded the club is now reliant on the ultimate controlling party, M Hellier, being able to inject sufficient working capital into the club to support is financial position from the sale of assets outside the Hellier Trading Group. This is expected to come from the sale of assets from within a property portfolio which therefore will be reliant on market conditions and the ability to facilitate the sale of those properties to meet the financial obligations as they fall due. As a result, the directors prepared the financial statements on a going concern basis but have concluded that material uncertainty exists that may cast significant doubt on the company’s ability to continue as a going concern.”
“As stated in Note 1.2 (see above), these events or conditions (i.e. the losses highlighted), along with other matters as set forth in Note 1.2 indicate that a material uncertainty exists that may cast significant doubt on the company’s ability to continue as a going concern. Our opinion (that is the opinion of auditor Joseph Doggrell, an audit partner at Albert Goodman LLP) is not modified in respect of this matter.”
So, what does this all mean outside of the complicated numbers and language used in the results? Well, it ‘material uncertainty’ is not a term which is used lightly in accounts and it underlines the financial state of the club which the chairman has spoken about on his own social media saying he is putting £100,000 of his own money in to the club every month. This statement is certainly validated by the statements around sales of assets within his own property portfolio.
It must be said that since June 30th 2024, there has been a lot of changes in the club’s playing staff with a number of experienced players – which often equates to higher earners – leaving the club which will have reduced the wage bill.
You may recall in the the fans’ forum held with Martin Hellier and manager Mark Cooper at Huish Park in January, the chairman answered a question from our own Ian Perkins who asked about the financial health of the club. You can watch the forum in full on the club’s YouTube channel – here – and the question in question begins at 31 minutes 20 seconds in to the live stream of the forum.
As we reported at the time, the owner said: “It is in a far more stable position than it was. The first call I had when I came in was from HM Revenue and Customs saying ‘we are going to wind you up tomorrow if you don’t pay this large amount of money and you have to pay more next week. The first ten days probably saw us paying out five digit numbers every day, so we probably cleared away £500,000 of debt within ten days of arriving.
“We had numbers of staff paying bits and pieces on Ebay to pay bills, so the first thing was steadying a ship which had capsized. We have put £3.8m in to the club which is money we will undoubtedly not get back, but that is my problem. So it is a far better position than it was, but it is still a tough gig as it is for any club that is below the EFL and even at EFL you are breaking even. We are in it for the long run and because we love the club and clubs in this league exist for as long as the chairman is funding it. It is hard to make the numbers work but we came in with a long-term target of EFL. If you map that out from the beginning to where we are now, I would say that journey is going well. It will continue to need money, but that is what it is.”
As the owner says, the club “will continue to need money” and, as long as that money is available, the club continues.
You can view the published account documents below.
YEOVIL FOOTBALL AND ATHLETIC CLUB – CLICK HERE
YEOVIL TOWN HOLDINGS – CLICK HERE
Off topic but As someone who is not in the area nor on social media, could someone explain what the first 5 minutes of the pod is about? What happened this week?
Long story short, MH had another one of his ‘outbursts’ on Facebook, being quite abusive to Dave, Ben & Ian, it’s since been deleted, but as they said, plenty of people have the screenshots. He’s quite clearly a very troubled man with a problematic relationship with alcohol and chooses Facebook to throw tantrums.