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Arsenal announce record losses of more than £100m, citing the Covid-19 pandemic

Arsenal fans arrive at the ground for the Premier League match at the Emirates Stadium, London. Picture date: Sunday January 23, 2022.

Arsenal posted post-tax losses of £107.3million in their latest financial statement – the biggest in the club’s history.

The Gunners, who announced losses of less than £50million the year before, put the latest figures down to the effect of Covid-19. 

In fact, as much as £85million has been attributed to the pandemic as the club played just two games in front of a crowd at the Emirates Stadium during the 2020/21 season - with coronavirus measures preventing live attendances for much of the campaign.

A club statement said: "The results for the financial year have been materially impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, which caused the majority of matches for the 2020/21 season to be played behind closed doors.
"For matches played behind closed doors there was a complete loss of ticket (and other matchday) revenue.
"Despite playing 31 home matches (23 Premier League, including four fixtures deferred consequent to the 2019/20 season suspension, six UEFA Europa League and two domestic cup ties) only two of these games were played with any fans present. As a result, matchday revenue fell by some £75 million to £3.8 million."

During the pandemic, Arsenal's first-team squad agreed a voluntary pay-cut of 12.5%. This helped to offset the club's outlay of wages which added up to £244million.

Redundancies - 55 in total - and restructuring during that time also saw the club incur exceptional costs of £6.7million.

The total profit on player sales earned the club just £11.8million as the likes of Shkodran Mustafi and Mesut Ozil - the highest-paid player in Arsenal's history - negotiated the termination of their contracts to move elsewhere.

The financial figures were released just hours after Arsenal announced an increase in ticket prices for the 2022/23 season.
A first stadium-wide increase in eight years will see supporters pay an extra four per cent to watch the Gunners next year.
"We recognise that no one welcomes price increases, and this decision has not been taken lightly," a club statement read.
"Ultimately in the face of continued rising costs, we need to continue to drive growth in all our revenue streams - including matchday - as part of our aim to return our finances to a break-even position in the medium-term."

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