The Athletic’s recent Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) calculations for West Ham don’t appear to add up.
The difficulty in producing an accurate and meaningful PSR table lies in the fact it requires a lot of guesswork—no Premier League club has yet announced their full accounts for last season.
West Ham’s financial year-end closed just nine days ago, and the official figures won’t be published until December. Most other Premier League clubs are in a similar position.
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What we do know is this: West Ham made a profit of £57m two seasons ago, and a loss of £18m three seasons ago—leaving an overall profit of £39m across those two years.
The tricky bit is estimating the loss from last season and forecasting the loss for the coming season.
The Athletic’s article on the matter estimates that West Ham lost up to £95m last season. However, our senior club sources suggest the figure was closer to £85m.
Using The Athletic’s numbers, West Ham have posted a £56m loss over the three-year PSR cycle. By our figures, it’s closer to a £46m loss.
Either way, clubs are only permitted to lose £15m over three years unless shareholders inject more cash. In West Ham’s case, the last shareholder cash injection came in 2021, which is now outside the current three-year window and no longer counts.
If cash had been injected, West Ham would be allowed losses of up to £105m over three years. That would, in theory, give them an extra £49m of allowable losses using The Athletic’s figures. But without any fresh shareholder cash injections, that option is off the table.
West ham United board of directors in front of the London Stadium
West Ham owners have made no new cash injection
To make matters more complicated, West Ham are forecasting another loss of around £85m for the current season. That means the club needs to take a long-term view—not just spending this summer, but making sure next year doesn’t lead to a breach.
West Ham set to curb spending
There’s also the shadow of the incoming Squad Cost Rules (SCR) to consider. These will limit spending on transfers, wages, and agents’ fees to 85% of club income. These new rules will run alongside PSR regulations.
The absence of European football last season hit West Ham’s revenue hard. Prize money, ticket sales, retail income, and sponsorship have all taken a hit—resulting in a four-year low for club revenue.
The real reason West Ham are in this financial bind is years of transfer overspending under multiple managers, which has led to a record amortisation figure of around £100m and the largest wage bill in the club’s history. Most of that investment has been lost, with players sold for a fraction of what they were originally bought for.
But amortisation and wages aren’t the only issues. Cash flow is also a major challenge. While we are still paying for players signed over the last three to four years, the club sold off all future incoming transfer instalments owed by other clubs to a bank last summer—just to release some ready cash.
On top of that, West Ham continue to borrow money from Barclays each summer to keep the operation moving.