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Thread | Finances around sale of Matt Grimes
at 10:29 28 Jan 2025
This is my take on the finances surrounding this sale and also the Swans as a whole. Matt Grimes is reportedly on £20,000 a week, a staggering £1,040,000 a year. When employers NI and pension contributions are taken into account this could easily cost the club £1.2 million a year. The total turnover of the club in the last accounts was £21.5 million. This means that Matt Grimes accounts for 5.5% of the total income of the club. That is an amazing £1.80 of every general Category A ticket sale goes to Matt Grimes. or £3.10 of every replica shirt sold goes to Matt Grimes. These figures are just incredible and not sustainable for any business.
For the club to be truly sustainable and to survive long after my days, I have been a fan since the mid 70's (had a poster of Herbie Williams on my bedroom wall) the club needs to stop this madness. In reality wages should be no more than 75% of turnover (Premier League average is 66%). If we use this 75% as benchmark then total wages should be £16 million. Allowing for other staff, manager, coaches, marketing, U21 wages etc this would leave an estimate of £13 million to spend on players wages, if we take off employers NI and pensions say gross wage to the players are £12 million. If we assume a squad of 22 supported by the U21's then this means an average weekly wage of £10,500 a week.
This means that wages of £20,000 are really exceptional and the player has to be outstanding with a large sell on fee as a makeweight. I would respectfully suggest that Matt Grimes is neither exceptional nor going to attract a massive sell on price and therefore we should do everything in our power to push any price up but not ruin the deal. Matt Grimes needs to go for the long term benefit of our club.
On footballing matters we need to readjust our aims for the immediate future, these should be set at retaining our place in the Championship and changing the whole coaching set up to one that actually encourages our youngsters. Swansea City cannot compete with Birmingham, Stoke, Leeds etc on a financial basis so we need to change tack and get young, hungry overseas and local talent on the pitch playing the same way throughout all age groups.
Any investment from our owners goes directly to transfer fees, any transfer fees received is reinvested in the playing squad, this reinvestment will include young teenage prospects and not necessarily first team players.
This is a long term strategy but the only way I see for my team to be sure to continue providing professional football for my children and grandchildren to support.
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Thread | Pubs in London to watch Wales England
at 19:20 22 Nov 2022
I’m going to be in London next week and was wondering if anyone knew of a pub that would be mostly Welsh to watch the game. The Welsh Club is obviously sold out so any suggestions would be gratefully received. |
| Forum
Thread | Last night shows where we are as a club
at 09:19 27 Apr 2022
Firstly I thoroughly enjoyed an exciting game of football last night, initially I was disappointed we didn't win but it's also a game we could have lost at the end. For 60 minutes we went toe to toe with one of the best teams in the division and were comfortably ahead, even if 3-0 flattered us. The game changed with the substitutes Scott Parker could bring on, in particular Robbie Brady & Keiffer Moore. To be fair to Russel Martin we had no one of that calibre on the bench. That coupled with the fact the Obafemi & Piroe were knackered meant that there was no out ball and no way to relieve the pressure, the ball just kept coming back. A draw on reflection was probably a fair result but it shows the large gap in squad depth between us and the teams at the top. Our starting 11 is a match for most if not all teams in the division, however we do not have a squad deep enough to compete at the top of the table . This will not change as the business model being pursued by our owners is for the club to be financially self sufficient, this will mean that every year we will sell our best player (Piroe probably sold in the Summer) and only part of this income will be reinvested in the squad as the rest will be used to cover expenses etc. This will mean that we cannot buy a squad as good or as deep as Bournemouth's and realistically we will be a mid table Championship club that once every few years flirts with the playoffs, or relegation or a cup run. This is where we are as I see it. You can say this is a lack of ambition but actually I see it as a way to ensure we have a football club in 20 years time that I can take my grandkids & great grandkids to. I first went to the Vetch in 1973 and for the majority of the time I have followed the Swans I would have been thrilled to see us in the Championship (or Div 2 as was). There is more to football than the Premier League and watching the Swans play good football in an exciting game (like last night) knowing we are financially secure, is fine by me.
Spending money doesn't guarantee success (look at Everton) but it can rob a city of its football club (Macclesfield, Bury etc) so I for one am happy with the current approach and look forward to supporting the Swans for many years to come. |
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