CAFC finances 2023/24

Charlton Athletic’s 2023/24 finances were published today and football economics expert Kieran Maguire was quick to make an assessment. Read down Kieran’s tweets here for Charlton commentary.

Maguire also cautioned that “Charlton’s auditors are unable to say whether or not the 23/24 accounts are accurate following a cyber attack against the club which meant that the auditors could not obtain supporting evidence.”

Cyber attack or not they are not pretty reading, no surprise though when you consider it was Charlton’s worst league finish for 98 years, no cup run, the SMT hired three managers, two of which they sacked and paid off, had a very bloated squad and were hardly if at all on TV.

Charlie Methven and the SMT didn’t quite offer the financial acumen they promised. Here are the high lowlights:

• Revenue down by 10% (£8.8m)
• Wages up 18% (£12.2m)
• Wages £138 for every £100 of revenue
• Operating loss £14.6m (£280k a week)
• Severance pay outs £746k
• Executive team paid £1.9m (up 80%)
• Player purchases £1.9m
• Player sales £1.3m

A lot of things to unpack there, but flashing like a Belisha beacon is how much the SMT paid themselves with solid rumours that Charlie boy was collecting an annual salary of £300k. The owner group subsequently made him the CEO offering him a chance to justify his cost, but then recently cut him loose before the end of this financial year.

Admittedly there wasn’t much of a SMT the season before, but the total number of non-footballing staff reduced from 57 to 42 in 2023/24 as Rodwell, Methven et all made cuts of regular salaried people, but paid themselves handsomely.

Wages were at an all time high, the great Scott Fraser being the highest earner, and this was a squad that was statistically the worst we have even seen in our entire history. Think about that for a minute.

Kieran Maguire states that the company has accumulated losses of £71.5m, but the debt figure sits at around £30m, and we have no football stadium or training ground to call our own.

Finances from April 2024 should look a bit better, especially with Gavin Carter having more oversight into club’s economic picture and the characters that profess to have it’s best interests at heart.