In its annual accounts for the year ended 30 June 2022, Aberdeen Football Club reveals that it has seen a steady recovery from the profound financial impact of the pandemic.

The Dons have also made progress on their strategy of investing in the first team squad, increasing revenue through new initiatives, improving fan engagement, being at the heart of the community and developing plans for a new stadium.

The accounts show an increase in turnover of £2.79m, up from £11.07m in the previous year to £13.86m this financial year with an operating loss of £5.29m compared to £5.19m in 2021.

Wages increased from £9.36m to £10.23m during the period.

AFC Chairman, Dave Cormack, said: “The Club’s wages to turnover ratio is still high at 74% because we have continued to invest in the first team. We are now spending around 80% more on our guaranteed player wage bill, compared to five years ago. But this ensures we remain competitive with other clubs, such as Hibs and Hearts, who are also making significant investments.

“To balance the books, we are developing and acquiring talent which, at the right time, we can monetise through player sales, as we did this summer with the sale of Lewis Ferguson to Bologna in August and Calvin Ramsay to Liverpool in July.”

Key to Aberdeen’s success here, says Cormack, is bringing through or acquiring young talent to replace these players. In acquiring emerging talent such as Vicente Besuijen, Ylber Ramadani and Bojan Miovski, amongst others, the Club spent almost £2m in transfer fees in this calendar year.

The Chairman also pointed to the Club’s success in developing home grown talent such as Connor Barron, Jack MacKenzie, Ryan Duncan and Alfie Bavidge.

Cormack added: “Whilst there’s no getting away from a poor 2021/22 season, an important and critical part of our strategy is being one of the best developers of young talent in Scotland, underpinned by our Youth Academy. In 2021/22 all academy age groups travelled to and competed in elite European youth tournaments. This massive logistical and financial commitment is critical to exposing young, developing players to elite level competition with the likes of Ajax, Liverpool and Chelsea at an early age. “

The £14m investment in Cormack Park, opened in November 2019, with £800,000 of annual operating costs, has had a significantly positive impact on the Club’s youth academy as well as its ability to attract and retain both academy and professional players.

During the accounts period, the Club parted company with manager, Stephen Glass, and his management team and subsequently appointed Jim Goodwin.

Cormack commented: “Ending the season in a very disappointing tenth place in the league, it was clear that a significant overhaul of the playing squad was needed. As a result, in this summer’s transfer window, ten first team players left the club with eleven coming in.

“This re-build was largely made possible by experienced EPL scout, Darren Mowbray, who was appointed Head of Recruitment in August 2021. As a result of the significant recruitment work done in advance of the summer transfer window opening, right across Europe, by Darren and his team, working hand-in-hand with our Director of Football, Steven Gunn, and Jim Goodwin, the Club got most of its summer transfer business done early.”

The Club also increased its investment in the women’s team with greater resources this season, including the first-ever professional contracts for five of its women players. This represents a significant step in the development of women’s and girls’ football in the North-East and the Club is committed to further developing the women’s game in the region.

Cormack added: “The board believes we have the right football strategy and management team in place, and that we’ve made the right investments in young talent. While first team performance is critical, there has been significant progress on the key pillars of our strategy, such as the youth academy, growing our commercial income, and fan engagement.

“Off the pitch, we have been highly successful with increased commercial revenues, improved match-day experience and fan engagement initiatives.

“Despite the pandemic creating ongoing uncertainty about when fans would be allowed back, we sold a record number, 8,922, of full season tickets for the 2021/22 season.

“I must sincerely thank all our supporters, sponsors and partners for their ongoing loyalty, particularly after such a disappointing end to last year’s season. I can reassure them that the board, management and staff continue to work tirelessly to push the club, we all love, forward.”

Aberdeen FC’s free U12 membership programme, AberDNA Junior, which aims to nurture its fans of the future, reached over 9,000 members for the first time. While support for the Club’s paid membership initiative, AberDNA, was strong.

The Club’s list of official partners grew to 15, making up a diverse portfolio of local companies and global brands.

The long-running front-of-shirt sponsorship by Saltire Energy came to a natural close and the Club welcomed TEXO as the front-of-shirt rights holder from the start of the 2022/23 season on a three-year deal.

Notwithstanding the impact of global supply chain issues, AFC’s retail operation performed well, which it attributes largely to strong home and away kit sales performance.

Click here to view the AFC Annual Report 2022