Oxford United have announced a profit in the year to June 30, 2020, despite the early effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
Having made a loss of £4.2 million in 2019 and £2 million the year before, the club have made a profit for the first time since 2017, having made £1.5 million from the last twelve months.
Despite an increased playing budget, the club recouped a large amount of that money due to its on-field activities. Successful cup runs and the final standing in League One has helped towards the finances. This has also been the case despite not playing the final nine games of the season.
But the biggest attribute was the sale of three players. The U’s sold Gavin Whyte to Cardiff City in the summer before Shandon Baptiste and Tariqe Fosu left to join Brentford in the January transfer window.
While manager Karl Robinson was unhappy with the departures, the fees received has put the club in a good position going forward.
Finance Director Tim Davies told the club’s official website: “It’s highly unusual for a football club to make a profit and I have to say the Board have been incredibly supportive.
“Over the last few years, we have had to sustain losses each year. Fans shouldn’t get carried away though as the profit was derived essentially from the sales of Gavin Whyte, Shandon Baptiste and Tariq Fosu. It is great credit to Karl, his staff and players that despite these sales we still had an incredibly successful season.
“We managed to bring in some new players and we were able to reach the play-offs and who knows, if the season hadn’t been cut short when the team was in great form we might even have won automatic promotion to the Championship.
“To make a profit while we were making huge strides on and off the pitch is a wonderful effort. The Shareholders supported the club by a further £3.3m during the year and that helped the club substantially reduce its third-party creditor base.
“Perhaps most importantly during this period they also invested in the training ground and the club now have a long term lease, with thanks also due to the Council for their help in the club now owning a facility which will benefit the club and the city of Oxford for years to come.”
While chairman Sumrith ‘Tiger’ Thanakarnjanasuth confirmed the club had lost £2.3 million as a result of the pandemic, the fact the club start the year in the black bodes well going forward.
