Tony Bloom's statement on the 2023/24 club accounts

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2025-03-01T09:00+00:00

Albion chairman Tony Bloom MBE. 📷 by Paul Hazlewood.

The period for these accounts relates to 2023/24, an historic season for our club as our men’s team played in Europe for the first time. Despite the extra demands upon the team that European competition brought, we ended the season a credible 11th place in the Premier League — the third-highest finish in our 124-year history.

Roberto De Zerbi oversaw the Premier League and Europa League campaign and provided us with some incredible matches and memorable moments — not least winning home and away against Ajax and that sensational late win against Marseille at the American Express Stadium.

Our women’s team came through a testing campaign to secure their Women’s Super League status, but the work interim head coach Mikey Harris undertook at the end of the season raised levels on and off the pitch and paved the way for Dario Vidosic to hit the ground running this season.

With new head coaches and revamped backroom teams in place for both the men’s and women’s senior teams, we are delighted with the early signs for both squads under Fabian Hurzeler and Dario respectively.

These accounts include some substantial transfer fees received: most notably the British transfer record fee received from Chelsea for Moises Caicedo, along with the fee received for Robert Sanchez in the 2023 summer transfer window. They also include some significant transfer fees paid, but none beyond 30 June 2024, the end date of this accounting period.

Overall, the accounts show another healthy profit during a period when we’ve stayed competitive on the field, while also making some significant investments in terms of early summer transfer dealings. They also show a record turnover for the club at £222.4m (not including the New Monks Farm Development) which was significantly boosted by our Europa League endeavours. This turnover is a staggering 762% increase when compared to our final year in the Championship!

The hard work, expertise and professionalism of our board of directors, executive team and entire staff continues to provide the platform to make this all possible. I remain incredibly proud of our club and all who work here, and I would like to thank everyone involved for their ongoing efforts.

In recent months our chief executive and deputy chairman Paul Barber has outlined a medium to long-term strategic plan for our club, under the title of Vision 2030. Paul’s work here, alongside how he leads the club day to day, further underline his exceptional leadership skills, and it is very reassuring to see his continued commitment to our club.

Community and supporters

Our fans have again been exceptional at home and on the road and, having had a taste of a European campaign, they want more of the same.

We continue to see growth in our fan base across the globe and our pre-season tour to Japan was yet another eye-opener with incredible numbers turning out for matches, training sessions and promotional events in Tokyo. At the stadium we pride ourselves on our matchday experience being one of the very best in the Premier League.

The upgraded in-stadium sound system has already helped improve the matchday experience and atmosphere, and we are looking forward to the new fanzone opening in early 2025,. We have further plans to upgrade and enhance the stadium, and we are making good progress in bringing the women’s team home to the city. We will continue to strive to provide fans of all our teams with the best experience when they come to give their support.

Sponsors and partners

The club is grateful to its many sponsors and business partners who continue to support the club’s growth and progress. We would especially like to thank American Express, Nike and SnickersUK.com. The club is also grateful for the ongoing support and hard work of Sodexo Live. As our stadium catering and non-matchday events partner, Sodexo Live continue to provide an excellent service.

The club gratefully acknowledges too the ongoing support we receive from the Brighton & Hove and wider Sussex business community. We have an excellent group of global, national and local partners and we remain committed to working with them to meet their needs and help achieve their business aims, while also supporting their own corporate social responsibility programmes.

We also have a vibrant, diverse and supportive group of businesses as part of our special membership 1901 Club. As part of our efforts to encourage local business, we aim to source locally wherever possible, including supporting local food suppliers through our hospitality and events menus and stadium kiosk food and drink offerings.

Foundation

As the Brighton & Hove Albion Foundation looks ahead to its 35th anniversary, the charity continues to support young people across Sussex who face some of the greatest social challenges due to poverty and disadvantage.

The Foundation supported more than 35,000 people last year across different locations in Sussex. By harnessing the power of football, the charity delivers football sessions, educational workshops and targeted support to improve people’s wellbeing.

The charity's work includes soccer schools and after-school clubs for 5,500 young people, supporting 180 local schools, bringing disability football to 3,700 people, providing free football sessions to over 1,000 children through Premier League Kicks, promoting girls’ football and much more beyond.

Each week children are taught essential literacy, numeracy and other vital life skills. People with a disability are given the opportunity to play the sport they love, and young people are improving their mental health by being involved in regular football activity.

We are so proud of the work undertaken by our Foundation and how it is changing lives within our local communities.

Looking ahead

Our long-term vision for the club, first outlined in 2019, remains the same: to be sustainable, for the men’s team to consistently be a top-ten Premier League club, and for the women’s team to be challenging regularly for the Women’s Super League top four.

Whatever the outcome this May, I’m sure we’re in for plenty of excitement and many more memorable moments as we continue the next stage of our journey.

To read the accounts, please click here.