The announcement that Marco Silva will replace Jose Mourinho as manager of Benfica might well make Fulham fans ask what will happen to the West London club after the departure of their own “special one”.
Under Silva, Fulham have established themselves as a solid Premier League club, losing their tag as a “yo-yo” club. Before the arrival of the Portuguese coach, on the previous two occasions that they were promoted to the top flight they had failed to avoid an immediate relegation.
However, next season will be their fifth in a row in the Premier League. Indeed, since Silva led the club to the Championship title in his first campaign, Fulham have finished no lower than 13th, which is a pretty decent record.
Transfers 2025/26
This included 11th place last season, which was particularly impressive, given that Fulham had the lowest gross transfer spend in the Premier League with just £66m.
Indeed, this would have been even smaller without the arrival of Oscar Bobb from Manchester City in the January window. The only major purchase in the summer was Kevin from Shakhtar Donetsk, though Jonah Kusi-Asare and Samuel Chukwieze were signed on loan from Bayern Munich and Milan respectively.
In stark contrast, no fewer than eight clubs splashed out more than £200m, led by Liverpool £420m, Chelsea £263m, Manchester City £261m and Arsenal £256m.
So it’s a timely moment to take a look at Fulham’s finances, largely based on the latest available accounts from 2024/25. Although these are now a year out-of-date, they are still relevant, as the club’s business model has not changed that much – and the Cottagers again finished 11th that season. They also reached the FA Cup quarter-finals, where they were eliminated by the eventual winners Crystal Palace.
The most significant development has been the completion of the shiny, new Riverside Stand, creating “a unique Thameside destination offering first class facilities for supporters and partners on match days, and for the wider community throughout the year”.
This review of Fulham’s finances will help explain why the Riverside development is so important to the club’s prospects, though it does also raise some other questions about the strategy, especially with regard to ticket prices.
Profit/(Loss) 2024/25
Fulham’s pre-tax loss widened from £32.4m to £44.0m, despite revenue rising £13.2m (7%) from £181.6m to a club record £194.8m, as operating expenses increased by £29.4m (12%) from £251.0m to £280.4m. In addition, there was no repeat of the previous year’s £4.6m other operating income.
As a result, the operating loss increased by a third from £64.9m to £85.5m, partially offset by higher profit on player sales, up from £32.7m to £41.0m.
The loss after tax was £44.5m.
There was good growth in commercial, driven by “sustained participation in the EPL”, which rose £6.5m (23%) from £28.7m to £35.2m, while broadcasting increased £7.1m (5%) from £134.5m to £141.6m, due to a better finish in the Premier League.
However, gate receipts surprisingly fell £0.4m (2%) from £18.4m to £18.0m.
In order to help survive in the Premier League, Fulham continued to invest in the squad, so wages rose £11.7m (8%) from £154.8m to £166.5m, while player amortisation increased £4.1m (7%) from £57.4m to £61.5m. Both of these established new club records.
Other expenses were also significantly higher, rising £11.4m (31%) from £36.4m to £47.8m, while depreciation almost doubled from £2.5m to £4.6m, though net interest swung from £0.3m payable to £0.5m receivable.
