Manchester United’s income falls £10 million

Manchester United’s revenue dropped by almost £10 million in the first quarter of the financial year as they paid the price for failing to qualify for the Champions League.

Commercial, matchday and broadcasting revenue all dropped at the former Premier League champions as the cost of last season’s struggles under David Moyes became apparent.

United brought in £98.5m in the three months to the end of September 2013, but that was reduced by £9.8m to £88.7m in the same period this year.

Scholes? Too small to make it

Sir Alex Ferguson managed Paul Scholes for 26 years at Manchester United © Getty Images

Matchday revenue was £15.1m – down £4.2m – as United played fewer home games, while broadcasting income dropped from £19.3m to £16.8m.

The club’s commercial revenue was also reduced, falling from £59.9m to £56.6m, while debt rose from £361m to £362.2m.

Executive vice chairman Ed Woodward said: “While we recognise that the 2014-15 fiscal year financial results will reflect our absence from the Champions League, we signed the largest kit sponsorship deal in the history of sport in the first quarter and, with that concluded, we are excited to focus our efforts on the meaningful growth opportunities in sponsorship, digital media and retail and merchandising.”

Manager Louis van Gaal signed Angel Di Maria for a British record fee of £59.7m in the summer, spending £152m in total as Radamel Falcao, Daley Blind and Marcos Rojo also arrived.

Luke Shaw and Ander Herrera came in during the previous quarter of the financial year.

But United’s net spend on players in the three-month period was £55.9m – showing that the fees agreed in their summer spending spree have been staggered over longer periods.

The club are sticking to their projections from September, when they estimated that their income for the year would be between £385m and £395m, a drop of up to £48m from their record revenue of £433m in the 2013-14 financial year.

United also agreed five sponsorship deals and played five matches in the US, including beating Real Madrid in front of a record crowd of 109,318 in Ann Arbor, during the three months in question.

They signed a 10-year, £750m kit deal with Adidas, although that will not come into effect until next season.

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