West Ham are only one of two Premier League football clubs that made a profit on paper excluding player sales according to football finance expert Kieran Maguire speaking on his Price of Football podcast this week.
Maguire explained that the only two clubs to make a profit minus player sales was West Ham United and Brentford in the 2021 to 2022 season, the last season with published financial accounts for all clubs.
Brentford’s profit was mostly due to their low wage bill after being promoted to the Premier League from the season before, but he said he expect them to make a loss the following season as agents demanded higher wages for their clients closer to Premier League averages.
West Ham’s profit was solely down to the London Stadium advantage where the Hammers pay just under £4m in rent despite the government subsidising the stadium after spending £323m to convert it for football.
Maguire says that financial deal was a massive benefit to West Ham but one of the worst deals for the UK Government and London taxpayers.
West Ham recorded a profit of £67.9m before player trading in 2022 and £12.2m after player trading per-tax. Post tax their profit reduced to £10.5m for that season.