Sheffield United accounts: A huge loss, £80m loans, £10k a day interest and the Dozy Mmobuosi takeover money

The importance of Premier League football to Sheffield United has been outlined once more in the Blades’ latest accounts, which show that United lost a whopping £32m in their promotion season in 2022/23. The latest accounts cover the period to June 30, 2023.

The huge loss, in a year that the Blades were placed under a transfer embargo for non-payment of transfer money owed for signings, will be offset by a bigger turnover in this year’s accounts thanks to the Premier League riches but would have painted a worrying picture for the Blades had they not won automatic promotion from the Championship last season.

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The accounts show a turnover of just over £64m, boosted by parachute payments and gate receipts from the Blades’ run to the semi-finals of the FA Cup. Parachute payments were down £8m from the previous year but matchday income was up £2m.

United’s wage bill rose by over £6m, largely because of a promotion bonus scheme that is one of the most generous in English football, while a tight transfer spend of £4.6m - largely on defender Anel Ahmedhodzic - helped reign in the financial deficit.

United’s bank loans totalled a huge £52million in total, with just shy of £28m also owed in directors’ loans - likely to represent previous investment from owner Prince Abdullah. The prince has previously expressed a desire to sell the club and it is currently unknown whether his asking price includes the debt to him, or would need to be repaid on top of any purchase price.

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One prospective buyer was Nigerian businessman Dozy Mmobuosi, who has since been charged by the SEC in America over alleged fraud. One interesting note in the accounts revealed that Mmobuosi paid a “non-refundable deposit” of £8.85m to United World Holding Limited, a “proportion of which was loaned” to United’s parent company, Blades Leisure Limited. United have taken legal advice and the accounts add that “should the SEC charges proceed to be accurate, the [amount] could potentially be recovered from Blades Leisure Limited and/or the club.

"Based on legal advice received, the directors are satisfied that the risk of any payment requiring to be made in the future is remote. In addition, the legal advice has indicated there has been no breach of laws or regulations by the group.”

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United also made £4m from add-ons in the Aaron Ramsdale deal and the sale of development players from the academy, thought to be Kylan Midwood and Will Lankshear to Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur respectively.

During the year United received a loan of £22.7m from the United World Holding company, with no interest payable other than if the loan is defaulted, and the Blades paid £3.8m to United World in “consultancy fees”, up from just over £1.5m the previous year, which are explained as “covering certain costs including staff-related costs.”

The accounts also include £3.8m in interest payments on loans, the equivalent of just over £10,000 a day throughout the period. The operating loss was the eighth in the last 10 years, with the two previous Premier League campaigns the outliers and a net pre-tax loss over the past decade of £65m.