All of us like to congratulate ourselves on the level of support the city gives to our football club. We also like to complain about the prices of replica kit, and the paltry money the club spends in the transfer market.
We probably even moan occasionally about how much money the modern footballer makes. All of this money stuff came together this week in what should be an item of great interest for all fans, not just for those of us in the bean-counters' fraternity; as Derby County announced the club's financial results for the year to 30th June, 2013.
While most fans will probably greet this sort of news with a yawn, it’s something to which we should all give attention, and I'm here to tell you why.
The information released by the club is fairly sparse. Turnover - to us fans that's gate money, television, kit sales, and transfer fees received - was £15.4M in the 12 months to 30th June. That would not include the Brayford fee I should think, as he didn't move until July.
The number is down from £17.3M the previous year, a drop which the club puts down to lower TV receipts and kit sales which were outsourced.
The other big number was costs; players' wages, stadium maintenance, transfer fees and interest payments. This was £22.5M in the year to 30th June, 2013. It would probably include the bulk of the Johnny Russell fee, as he moved in June. Beyond that, we don't know much.
So the loss for the year was £7.1M, down from £7.9M the year before. These numbers have been remarkably consistent from one year to the next over the last four years. In a sense they lend a feeling of comfort that the club is being run with a steady hand, with no great shocks from year to year. But the consistency of results also brings a concern; for every £3 the club is spending, they are bringing in only £2, and it isn't changing no matter what they do.
Looking at the numbers, there obviously is an argument to be made that the club cannot afford to spend any more than we are on transfers. In fact you could say that we cannot afford to spend as much as we are.
If the Rams would just field a team full of the likes of Saul Deeney, Jake Buxton, Ben Pringle and Dave Martin then we might be trading at a profit. That argument can be countered by saying ‘yes, we'd be making money perhaps… but in League 1.’
Obviously the opposite argument can also be made: that with a bit more money spent on judicious signings, we would be in the Prem and rolling in money. Ah, those judicious signings! Do we sign Craig Bryson or Chris Maguire? Or both? And does it get any better in the Prem, from a financial standpoint? Look at Bolton and their debt of more than £160M from their years as a Prem club.
The aspect of this that I find disconcerting is that there seems to be no way of making money for Derby County, only controlling the losses. And the club does seem to be doing that.
A comment in the press release stated that the club is "in a position to meet" FFP regulations, so we probably do not have to worry about penalties being applied to our club.
Despite the close eye being kept on costs - or perhaps because of it - we have one of the best and most attractive teams in the division, with a real chance of promotion.
An irony of the situation is that one of our biggest rivals for promotion, Queens Park Rangers, announced a loss of £65M for the same period that we lost a measly £7.1M.
So everything is going well, just so long as The Rams owners don't mind losing seven or eight million each and every year that is.