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Aston Villa officially have a dig at us and Charles


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read an article on Friday about the profit and losses made by Premier League clubs, and an interesting view on ticket pricing. In the article, the author made the point of explaining the true cost of match tickets if match day ticketing was to be the sole way of recouping the recent club losses.

Of course, such an analysis is a tad unrealistic as there are multiple ways to make money – sponsorships, partnerships, and other financial schemes – but it does go to show that, despite the complaints of some fans about match day ticket prices, it could be a lot worse at Villa Park than it is now.

The true cost of losses per game and per ticket

For example, the losses posted by Aston Villa over the past three years give a total profit/loss between 2008 to 2011 of £137.8m, leaving Villa with the third highest subsidised cost of a ticket. At an average loss of £45.9m per season, the article serves to show that Villa are losing a colossal £2.418m per game based on a three year average attendance of 38,526.

Breaking this down to the individual level, this would mean that the club are losing £63 per ticket on average per game, or a season ticket loss of £1,192 per season ticket. If these figures were adjusted in line with these losses, it would leave Villa’s most expensive ticket at £110, and the top standard season ticket at £1,787 for a seat in the most expensively priced standard seated area of the ground.

If we are to compare this to the real costs, £47 and £595 respectively, it is clearly evident that Randy Lerner is subsidising the club heavily. Lerner has translated some of the existing club’s debt into capital, leaving him with a £133m share value in the club due to the increased club value since his purchase of Villa from Doug Ellis.

Existing debts and how Lerner is actually helping Aston Villa massively

However, the club also has additional debts payable to the Lerner family trust (from where the club is funded in terms of cash liquidity) to the tune of £130m. Had Lerner not exercised the conversion of existing debt to shares, this would have left the Midland club over a quarter of a billion pounds in debt – and yet some fans questioned the recent austerity measures made by the board.

For this investment, Lerner receives £6m in interest payments annually, roughly equivalent to 12,000 average priced season tickets. That’s right – twelve thousand – just above half of the average spend by Villa fans who have accounted for roughly 22,000 season tickets sold.

Some might think that this payment of £6m is money that could otherwise be invested in other areas of the clubs – wages, player transfers etc – but £6m in the grand scheme of things is very little. On the monetary debt of the club, £6m equates to an interest rate of ~4.62%, though based on the true debt of the club to Lerner – factoring in his £133m share exchange – this gives an interest rate charge of 2.28%, a value insignificant in the face of the money the American has tied up in mostly illiquid assets.

Randy’s committed – in real terms – financially

After all, Lerner is locked into these debts due to the nature of the club. Barring a sale, one that would have to recoup over £250m worth of equity – over three years worth of turnover, never mind profit – Lerner is most certainly committed to the club in financial terms with his share capital actually at less value than the losses made by the club in the three year period between 2008 and 2011 alone.

Think about that for a second. Three years of losses that were the result of a failed attempt to bring Champions League football to the club equate for over half of the total debt of the club, and more than the total monetary debt of Villa overall – when people debated as to whether the money spent in the Martin O’Neill era was sustainable, here is stark evidence to suggest it most certainly wasn’t.

Does it shock you? It should.

With those figures in front of you, along with the additional financial analyses I have included above, fans should be feeling shock, even after well-known and widespread knowledge of the club’s austerity measures. That Villa are third in per ticket sale losses over a three year period should bring sharply into focus the need for Gerard Houllier’s successor having his hands tied financially, and the value of Paul Lambert’s search of the lower leagues for talent.

With the right financial direction, the club will return to profit in the medium term, with the monies coming from both Genting, Macron, and other deals improving the bottom line.

For those that wanted a “big name” manager with a big budget, above is the evidence on why it would never have happened, and why Lambert’s transfer ethos, whether it is he or any other manager in charge in the next five to ten years, is integral to the club’s continued operation.

Here’s to Randy Lerner – without him, we’d be in real trouble

So, with all this in mind, take a step back and raise a glass to our quiet American owner. He may well have caused massive uproar with his hiring of McLeish last season, but the figures state it clearly – without Lerner, Aston Villa would have been in deep trouble following the legacy of the three years between 2008 and 2011.

http://www.astonvillalife.com/aston-villa-blog/football-economics-true-cost-of-debts-exposed-via-villa-accounts/

Lol

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Green's statement is right though and his remarks resemble the opinion of (MANY) fans, and not just in Scotland but across Europe too.

Villa are in no way a "big club". They don't have a history strong enough to merrit such a term, yet teams like Deportivo and St. Ettienne who -ARE- big clubs struggle to cope (like alot of us) because of the SKY TV deal which, ironically, makes useless clubs like Villa feel big.

I have no bad blood with their club, but they are useless and they are not a big club. It's that simple.

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he is right.

the point he was making is that a shitey wee no-mark club like Villa are reaping in collosal revenue figures each year which is due to nothing more than geography - something that we, a far greater & superior club with a fan base any mulitple of Villa's, are pullign in pennies in comparison to the monopoly of the premier league.

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As someone previously said Villa were only used as an example but could have mentioned a dozen clubs whose main aim is mid table obscurity.

A big club in EPL is only that if they have a history as well as fan base not just finance. Villa do have a history but like Queens Park it's a distant memory, fan base is debate able when they can't fill their stadium and only have 22 k season tickets.

Also most fans in EPL would swap a trophy for a 4th place finish to get champions league. Understandable given the money involved but 4th place shouldn't be the height of your ambition if you are a genuine big club.

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The fuckers are still smarting from getting their arses skelped when we flooded onto the park in 76.

That was nothing to be proud of.

As I have posted elsewhere on here, that match : 'was the first meeting between Aston Villa and Rangers for 97 years. What should have been a great day was ruined by the knuckledraggers that invaded the pitch. I was in the Witton Stand that day and all Fans there, from both teams, were outraged by the actions of those drunken idiots.

The upshot of this fiasco was a boost for Celtic's reputation in Birmingham. When the Dummies (Birmingham City) played Celtic with no problems from the Celtic Fans, Rangers' reputation sank even further by comparison.'

When in 1976 that friendly was announced, I was delighted and hoped that the game would be the first of many friendlies between Aston Villa and Rangers, at Villa Park and at Ibrox. Fat chance of that happening after the events of that day.

The Clubs have not met since and people were saying at the time (not me, btw) that they hoped the Clubs would not meet again for at least another 97 years, if at all.

Nothing would please me more to see friendlies between Aston Villa and Rangers, but I doubt if it will ever happen now.

Nobody can deny Rangers' History, 54 Titles and the rest, but there is more competition in England than in Scotland.

This is the record of Aston Villa : AVFC - Aston Villa Club Honours & History

Note. The Charity Shield was shared in 1981, between Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur.

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That was nothing to be proud of.

As I have posted elsewhere on here, that match : 'was the first meeting between Aston Villa and Rangers for 97 years. What should have been a great day was ruined by the knuckledraggers that invaded the pitch. I was in the Witton Stand that day and all Fans there, from both teams, were outraged by the actions of those drunken idiots.

The upshot of this fiasco was a boost for Celtic's reputation in Birmingham. When the Dummies (Birmingham City) played Celtic with no problems from the Celtic Fans, Rangers' reputation sank even further by comparison.'

When in 1976 that friendly was announced, I was delighted and hoped that the game would be the first of many friendlies between Aston Villa and Rangers, at Villa Park and at Ibrox. Fat chance of that happening after the events of that day.

The Clubs have not met since and people were saying at the time (not me, btw) that they hoped the Clubs would not meet again for at least another 97 years, if at all.

Nothing would please me more to see friendlies between Aston Villa and Rangers, but I doubt if it will ever happen now.

Nobody can deny Rangers' History, 54 Titles and the rest, but there is more competition in England than in Scotland.

This is the record of Aston Villa : AVFC - Aston Villa Club Honours & History

Note. The Charity Shield was shared in 1981, between Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur.

So you admit that Celtic became the popular Glasgow team in Birmingham due to Rangers fighting with Villa fans.

So its true Birmingham is Blue

Secondly who has a second Birmingham team?

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