Putting Hammers £25m bank loan into context

West Ham’s bank loan of £25m from Barclays – revealed here yesterday (Fri) is in line with the actions of numerous other clubs who have taken out loans this season.

It comes on top of the £30m rights issue from the Hammers shareholders in August to plug a £55m hole in the  West Ham finances.

It’s believed the Barclays loan has been guaranteed against the owners’ personal finances given other club assets have already been borrowed against.

West Ham are likely to lose a significant proportion of their £40m ticket and hospitality revenue this season with no return in sight for supporters to the London Stadium.

TV income is down too after earning around £13m less for finishing 16th last season with the burden of a £330m compensation package to Sky and BT and the loss of a £564m Chinese TV deal which is likely to cost each Premier League club around another £16m each in lost TV revenue this season.

Players did defer their wages over the last lockdown but this has since been paid back in full although the wage bill has dropped by around £15m from £115m last season to £100m this season.

The Hammers continue to pay their £3m London Stadium rent regardless of whether supporters are present or not with the public stadium owners making savings from non-employment of stewards and casual security match day staff.