Player in Focus: Kevin Gage | #645 | 1987–91 A right back who scored twelve goals in four seasons. An outstanding buy, in Graham Taylor's words. The kind of player whose total contribution makes itself felt in the table rather than the headlines

£110k from Wimbledon. 145 appearances. 12 goals. Full Back. Kevin Gage. Graham Taylor called him an outstanding buy. Never a truer word.

#avfc

21 April: A Day in Villa’s History Every game has a story to tell and it starts with AVFC.

21 April 2017. Ugo Ehiogu died aged 44. 206 appearances. A League Cup winner's medal. One of the best centre backs in Villa's Premier League history. Gone far too young.

#avfc

buff.ly/ZAOYDK7

Player in Focus: Tony Daley | #633 | 1985–94 Two hundred and ninety-one appearances. Thirty-eight goals. Nine seasons. Some of the most electric runs and spectacular goals Villa Park has witnessed. And a career built from scratch.

20 April 1985. Graham Turner rested Cowans and McMahon. A 17-year-old winger filled the gap. His name was Tony Daley. Villa lost 0-2. No one watching knew what they'd just witnessed the beginning of.

#avfc

20 April: A Day in Villa’s History Every game has a story to tell and it starts with AVFC.

20 April 2008. Villa 5-1 Birmingham. Young scored twice. Carew scored twice. Agbonlahor got the fifth. Fifteen goals in three Premier League games. We could easily have doubled it. Easily.

#AVFC

buff.ly/HglesMk

Player in Focus: Freddie Haycock | #376 | 1936–39 He arrived in Division Two, scored three assists in a nine-goal thriller against Plymouth, helped Villa win the championship, and scored on the final day of their return to the top flight. Freddie Hay

Born in Bootle. Nicknamed Schneider. Three assists in a 5-4 win over Plymouth in February 1937. Part of the side that won the Second Division championship in 1938. 110 appearances. 32 goals. Freddie Haycock: Villa's forgotten forward

#avfc

19 April: A Day in Villa’s History Every game has a story to tell and it starts with AVFC.

19 April 2015. Benteke. Delph. 2-1 vs Liverpool at Wembley. Grealish stars. Villa in the FA Cup final. This day was ours.

#avfc

Mythbusting, 6th lowest wage to turnover ratio in the Prem, #AVFC the lowest non-cartel club.

Never let anyone tell us different

Part 3/3 CFC vs. #AVFC

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part 2/3 of CFC vs. #AVFC

18 April: A Day in Villa's History Every game has a story to tell and it starts with AVFC.

18 April 1931. Pongo Waring scored his 49th goal of the season at Elland Road. Two games left. He finished with 50. The Villa record. Still stands.

#avfc

no way, hadn't realised he had even more talents!!

Player in Focus: Dalian Atkinson | #671 | 1991–95 One hundred and fourteen appearances. Thirty-six goals. The greatest goal in Premier League history. And a life that ended long before it should have.

£1.6m from Real Sociedad. 36 goals. The greatest goal in Premier League history. A League Cup winner's medal. Sold for £500k. Died at 48. Dalian Atkinson: the player Villa fans will never forget.

#avfc

17 April: A Day in Villa's History Every game has a story to tell and it starts with AVFC.

17 April 1897. Villa Park's first ever competitive match. Johnny Campbell scored the first goal. Double winners, unbeaten in 16. A ground for the ages.

#avfc

part 1/3 of the #avfc / chelsea comparison
Ouch

Player in Focus: Fred Wheldon | #128 | 1896–1900 £350, Seventy-three goals in four seasons, three League Championships and an FA Cup

£350 from Small Heath. 73 goals in 138 games. Three League titles and an FA Cup. Sold to Albion for £100. Fred Wheldon: the forward who was worth more than Villa knew.

#avfc

16 April: A Day in Villa's History Every game has a story to tell and it starts with AVFC.

16 April 2016. Old Trafford. 0-1. Villa relegated for the first time since 1987. Twenty-nine years in the top flight, ended on an April afternoon. A weight off Lescott's shoulders. The rebuilding started the next day.

#avfc

⤵️ #avfc #cfc

Player in Focus: Tommy Mort | #292 | 1922–1935 Thirteen seasons. Three hundred and sixty-eight appearances. Two goals. One of them from the halfway line. And an afternoon at Bramall Lane when he took over in goal and still kept Villa in the game.

368 appearances. 13 seasons. 2 goals — one a half-volley from the halfway line that let the wind do the rest. And the afternoon he took over in goal at Bramall Lane. Tommy Mort: Villa's left back for a generation.

#avfc

15 April: A Day in Villa's History Every game has a story to tell and it starts with AVFC.

15 April 1905. Harry Hampton. 2 minutes. Crystal Palace. 101,117 in the crowd. Villa beat Newcastle 2-0 to win the FA Cup for the fourth time.

#avfc

I'm biased, but there are few, if any, clubs I'd swap financial results with.

Don't believe me? Do check out twofootedtackle.substack.com
It's written to be consistent, understandable & highly judgemental but without an agenda.
The clubs we think of as models really aren't. Villa, as ever, are 💜💙

In summary:

- Record revenues
- Huge commercial gains
- Wages well within control
- All costs growing slower than revenue

This is a decent result, even before the one-off items made it look stellar

💜💙

Personally i strip these 'exceptional items' out of the results as they are misleading... this year alone Newcastle have added back £133m of 'benefit', Everton £49m and so on...

So the number for me is the EBIT -£88m, ⬆️ £7m more loss than last year but 25% down on the year before

💜💙

Then my bete noire:

The 'one off' boosts of the Women's / Warehouse sale that netted £114m.

As a result the 'reported' EBIT (profit made before we are charged interest and tax) comes out at £26m, ⬆️ from an £81m loss last season.

Headline = profit for a PL side !!!

💜💙

Profit on player sales in 2024-25 was £52m, although that is ⬇️ 20% on last year it is still the third highest return in the last 5 years.

Adding that in brings our EBIT loss to -£88m, ⬆️ £7m more loss than last year but 25% down on the year before

so again no major panic

💜💙

Folding in the accounting measures - amortisation and depreciation, in simple terms spreading the cost of acquiring players over the length of their contract that sits as an annual cost in the accounts

= an Operating Loss ⬇️ to £140m from £145m

BTW EVERY club in the PL makes an operating loss

💜💙

All that brings out an EBITDA ⬆️ to -£23m from -£43m last year.

So before interest, taxation and accounting measures - and uniquely for football clubs, player sales profit, we have reduced our loss by £20m...

all in the right direction

💜💙

Ditto all expenses... although a growth of ⬆️ 24% in costs vs. ⬆️ 37% in revenue, is tighter while still healthy.

This just shows the double-edged sword that European football brings.

Pretty much all clubs in UEFA comp see a big uplift in costs (not incl. wages) that those who aren't don't.

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Wages ⬆️ 8% to £273m BUT crucially this is a growth year on year of just 8%.

Wages growing at a much slower rate than revenue - this is crucial.

You'll not be surprised that most clubs are the other way round entirely

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That growth is driven by:

Gate receipts, flat-ish at 3% ⬆️
Broadcasting ⬆️ 31% - includes UEFA prize money
Commercial ⬆️ 56% !!! - fantastic news that we are finally milking the asset that is the name Aston Villa

💜💙

Turnover itself is ⬆️ 37%
No other club comes anywhere near close to that growth over the period

💜💙