Finances
A football club has to pay its way. Club > Finances shows the money coming in and going out, for the last week and for the season so far, your bank balance, and what the board thinks of it all.
Money coming in
- Gate receipts from your home matches. The bigger the crowd, the more you take.
- Sponsorship from your kit sponsor and your stadium sponsor. A sponsor pays once, when you sign the deal, so it shows in that week's figures and not again until your next deal.
- Transfer fees for the players you sell.
Money going out
- Wages for your players and your staff, every week: your biggest ongoing cost.
- Transfer fees for the players you buy. A big signing can cost more than months of running the club.
- Running the club: ground maintenance, training, and the youth squad if you have one.
- Stadium upgrades, paid for once, when you build them.
- Win bonuses, if you offer them, paid only when you win.
Interest is worked out on your bank balance every turn: a little is added when the club has money in the bank, and taken away when it is in debt.
The board
The board keeps an eye on your bank balance. The more the club has in the bank, the happier they are, and the deeper it goes into debt, the unhappier they get.
They also look at whether you can afford your wage bill, by comparing it with the gate money the club took last season. They allow you more after a promotion, and less after a relegation. A club in debt with wages it can afford may still have a contented board.
Free and premier games
In the free games the finances are simpler: there are fewer costs to manage, and the ticket price is set for you.
The premier games give you more ways to spend money, and more ways to make it: you set the ticket price, hire staff, run a youth academy, upgrade the stadium and offer win bonuses. Each one is a decision about where your money does the most good.
Tips
- Keep your wage bill in line with your gate money. A big wage bill can sink a club long after the players are gone.
- Sign new sponsors when your deals end: they are money for nothing.
- Sell players you no longer need, rather than paying them to sit in the reserves.
- Check your finances every few weeks, so a problem does not become a crisis.