Hammers punching at our weight

Blind Hammer reviews the Revenue Table and concludes the Hammers are punching at our weight

I am, as regulars’ readers will know, an unashamed Moyes loyalist.

Frankly, the experience of seeing attempt to destroy the most successful manager for several generations for, as an example, losing a pre-season friendly, seems bizarre in the extreme.

Whilst we may have a short-term abatement because of recent positive results it always seems as if we are only just one or two defeats away from the shrill chorus of “Moyes out” to re-emerge.

So, what are realistic expectations for West Ham?

What is clear is that for decades we have under-achieved, until now that is. Frustratingly our results never matched our commercial potential or our large fan base. To yardstick our performance I looked at the latest revenue table.
I went to https://www.statista.com/statistics/566666/premier-league-clubs-by-revenue/
to look at the revenue rankings for season 2021-2, the latest figures currently available.
Here is the table.
Revenue Season 2021 2022.

£619m Manchester City
£594m Liverpool
£583m Manchester United
£481m Chelsea
£443m Tottenham Hotspur
£368m Arsenal
£255m West Ham United
£215m Leicester City
£189m Leeds United
£181m Everton
£180m Newcastle United
£174m Brighton and Hove Albion
£169m Aston Villa
£166m Wolverhampton Wanderers
£160m Crystal Palace
£151m Southampton
£141m Brentford
£134m Norwich City
£128m Watford
£124 Burnley

This table shows that the northwest and London remain the power houses of footballing dominance. Whilst West Ham are clearly in the category of the “best of the rest” the gap between them and the earnings of the top three is still enormous.

In the top three Manchester United have now been usurped by not just Manchester City but Liverpool. . Other figures of note are the clear superiority of Tottenham over Arsenal, where the commercialisation of their new stadium, now able to host NFL, Boxing, rugby, concerts etc. has allowed then to streak past a comparatively passive, in commercial terms at least, Arsenal.

Below West Ham, Brighton, by dint of their successful transfer dealings are surprisingly robust, whilst it is clear how much of a disaster relegation was for both Leicester and Leeds, their commercial advantage suggesting relegation should never be an issue.

The table also reveals how much of a mess Everton are in if in danger of relegation with the size of their yearly revenues. Above all, it shows what a basket case Chelsea have been since Abramovich’s departure.

The big feature though is the gap between West Ham and the top six. Although Arsenal is the next biggest club above them, they are currently out of sight, in realistic terms with revenue still looming over £100m a year more than West Ham.

Year on year this is a massive hurdle for West Ham to overcome. The gap between West Ham and Chelsea and Spurs is even more ominous, with these clubs having nearly twice our revenue. 

There is a smaller but significant gap developing between West Ham and the rest of the league. Newcastle and other wealthy owners will try to erode the gap and distort the picture, but even they will have to rely on growing the revenues of their clubs rather than simply plunging Abramovich style billions,  into their new ventures.

So, every season West Ham finish 7th or 8th they are effectively punching at their weight, and we should be relatively satisfied at the level of their performance. Finishing higher than these rankings would represent a huge triumph over the massively resourced clubs above them.

Similarly, though, West Ham should never ever be a club flirting with relegation. Under-achieving in a season or two is understandable, especially if the squad is undergoing a rebuild but the consistent under-achievement that we have seen in the decades before Moye’s appointment is not now, acceptable.

West Ham cannot, ever again, use small club status, to excuse under performance. It may take years, even decades for them to grow the club to realistically challenge their London neighbours, but this is the yardstick against which we should provide the patience of realistic expectations.

David Griffith