Blades into Red

[Beefy]

Soaring wages and bonus payments at newly-promoted Sheffield United have helped push the club almost £10m into the red, its annual results reveal.

The club made an operating loss of £9.6m for the year to 30 June, compared with a loss of £1.05m the year before.

The wage bill rose by £3.3m and the club forked out Premiership promotion bonus payments of £2.3m.

But it said it would benefit from a significant increase in TV revenue and sponsorship in the coming year.

City analysts estimate the club could receive about £20m in revenue from lucrative television contracts this year.

Club chairman Kevin McCabe said: "In simple terms, we paid significant transfer fees for quality new players either prior to or during the Championship season.

"These players in turn increased the annual football wage bill to a level in excess of what otherwise could normally be afforded.

"Additionally, bonus payments to the management team and playing squad earned as a result of promotion amounted to £2.3m.

"The strategy succeeded and this year sees a major increase of revenue forthcoming from the lucrative broadcasting contracts that benefit clubs in the Premiership.

"Thus, I trust shareholders will accept that the benefits of Sheffield United FC achieving promotion outweigh the high annual loss for the year under review."