Motherwell post profit in face of "ongoing threat" of Scottish football's COVID crisis

Motherwell have released financial figures for last season – posting a profit for the campaign despite the early closure stadia and conclusion of the season.

Fir Park before a Scottish Premiership match between Motherwell and Rangers on January 17, 2021 (Photo by Craig Foy / SNS Group)

The Steelemen overturned a previous loss of £435,970 in 2019, to post a gain of £346,590 through the year ending May 31 2020 – despite the pandemic’s “material impact on the club's ability to generate revenue in the last quarter,” the financial report said.

Not included in the cashflow – which also noted an increased turnover by £360,000 – was the club’s participation and prize money from the team’s return to Europa League football this term or the club record sale of David Turnbull to Celtic in August last year.

The financial report, posted on the club’s website said Motherwell's "view is that the club remains in a strong position" but also noted "genuine and ongoing threats" from the coronavirus crisis which, among other things, has meant no fans through the turnstiles at Fir Park this season.

It explained: “It is our view that the club remains in a strong position, but we are cognisant of the genuine and ongoing threats to the whole football infrastructure from the current crisis. The work that has been done to establish the club's model and strategy in recent years has been successful, but we have to do more.”

Trading in the transfer market also contributed to the positive figure in the accounts with the overall figure on player registration gains up by over £260,000 to £1.04m from £781,000 the previous year – primarily from the sale of James Scott to Hull in January 2020.

The statement added: “Costs for the year have remained relatively consistent. There was a slight increase in staff costs, most of which resulted from performance-related bonuses for confirming third place and European football.”

The Steelmen have also cleared debts owed to previous chairmen John Boyle and Les Hutchison and are debt-free aside from the amounts loaned by the fan ownership group The Well Society and a small ‘bounce-back loan’ from the UK Government taken at the height of the pandemic.

Motherwell face Aberdeen at Pittodrie on Saturday in Graham Alexander’s third match in charge.

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