Newcastle reveal cost of relegation by announcing losses
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Newcastle reveal cost of relegation by announcing £33.5m losses from year in the Championship
Silver lining: Newcastle lifted the Championship trophy in 2010
Newcastle United have announced losses of £33.5million from their season in the Championship.
Relegation from the Barclays Premier League also resulted in the loss of 4,000 season ticket holders and a 39 per cent reduction in turnover from £86.1m to £52.4m. The overall loss after player trading was £17.1m.
Despite relegation, and the fall in actual season ticket sales, more than one million fans still visited St James' Park last season as Newcastle stormed to the Championship title, with an average league attendance of 43,388, which was the fourth highest in England.
Newcastle also paid more than £47m in wages in the Championship, even after losing big earners like Michael Owen, Damien Duff and Obafemi Martins - three times the amount paid by West Bromwich Albion who were also promoted.
The overall level of debt between the start and end of the financial year remained at £150m. However the level of bank borrowings fell by £25m and this was replaced by a £25m increase in loans from the club's owner, Mike Ashley.
All loans from Ashley, which totalled £139.8m at the year-end, have been and remain interest free. In addition, the owner advanced a further £13m to the club who hope to break even this year, even without the addition of the Andy Carroll transfer money.
In the black: Newcastle hope to break even this year, even excluding the proceeds from the sale of Carroll
Managing director Derek Llambias said: 'Mike Ashley's money has kept this club buoyant. Quite honestly Newcastle United would not be here without him, its as simple as that.
'He has never taken a penny out of the football club but he knows what he has to put in every year and he is keen to grow it. He knows where we want to be and where we should be in four or five years time.
'But we are a very tight unit here and a much better unit than we have been previously. At the end of the day Mike is a football fan, a Newcastle fan and he loves coming here.
'We are starting to get the stability we need into the football club both financially and within the squad. That stability is one of our most important goals.
'That would give us the security that the club and the playing side needs. We need to get that stability back here, including on the managerial side.
'Our vision for the club is to finish 10th or above every year, year after year. That is our target, we want to be challenging for Europe every single year.'