Black and white - and in the black

Two slightly different takes on the club's figures for the financial year ending June 2012 from the BBC and the Guardian. The former led with the fact that our operating profit fell by nearly £6m to £7.5m - but TBW, to her credit, instead rightly focused on the positive, noting that the fact we've turned in a tidy profit at all in these straitened economic circumstances is the real story. Both reports also noted that we've elbowed our way back among the world's top 20 revenue-generating clubs.

Other interesting observations were that our ticket revenue has actually dipped slightly despite healthier attendances due to the commendable decision to freeze season ticket prices, and that our wage bill has rocketed by 20%, now standing at 68.7% of turnover. While that's not ideal (Llambiarse has spoken of the desire to nudge it back down to about 64%), it's nevertheless a far cry from the unsustainable days of 80%+ and much better than many if not most other Premier League clubs. It's not for nothing that we're confident of being in good shape to comply with the Financial Fair Play regulations.