Perhaps the scariest statement in the West Ham accounts is talk of a liquidity shortfall of £4.3m this summer, suggesting the club will not have enough money to pay the bills come summer, even if West Ham avoids relegation. This can only be resolved by shareholders injecting cash or selling assets of either players or part of the women’s team this summer.
The accounts state “further player trading” will be needed in the summer, while shareholders will have to provide more funding.
*“Under both the base case and severe but plausible case forecasts, mitigating actions are required in order to have sufficient liquidity for the Group to meet its liabilities over the going concern period,*” the accounts say
“The primary mitigating action within the control of the Group is cash receipts from further player trading,”
“Should this not be preferred or sufficient, additional funding from the shareholders would be required.
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“In the event the severe but plausible scenario occurs, the Group is also forecasting a liquidity shortfall in summer 2026 to a greater severity.
“Accordingly, more significant mitigating actions would be required such as further player disposals to generate transfer fee income and wage savings, or additional funding from the shareholders, or a combination thereof.”
Claret and Hugh put this to our most senior source at the club, who responded, “Too many variables to predict at this time”
Even though West Ham lost £104m last season, they are still within the current PSR rules, which allow £105m of losses over three years.
West Ham made a profit of £57m two seasons after a loss of £17m three years ago, leaving a net loss of £64m last summer and well within the PSR limits.
At the end of this season, West Ham’s losses must stay under £58m to avoid breaching the final period of PSR before SCR takes out next season.