Club finances – further thoughts
Over the summer, those of you who follow the business aspects of Fulham Football Club may have noticed that filings were made into Companies House records relating to three of the UK based companies in the Fulham group.
These filings for Fulham Football Leisure Limited, Fulham Football Club Limitedand Fulham Stadium Limited were each described as a “registration of charge” in favour of J.P. Morgan Chase Bank and were notable because they have not been used before by the Club. A registration of charge is essentially security taken out over a company’s assets in order to borrow money – a mortgage in other words.
Fan Advisory Board (FAB) Chair David Claridge and Trust Chair Simon Duke recently asked the Club for clarification of the use of these financial agreements and provided a joint update in a statement released yesterday. Here’s a little more information about why the Trust asked the questions on behalf of Fulham supporters.
By way of background, the UK group that runs the Club consists of five companies organised in a small hierarchy, with a holding company called Cougar Holdco London Limited at its head. The Khan family funds the entire Fulham business by “buying” shares in Cougar Holdco London which passes money down the structure in the same way. This is all open information, freely viewable on the Companies House web site, which shows that since 2013 the owners have funded the business by well over £700 million with no external loans, unlike many other clubs.
It is for this reason that the registrations of charge against three of the companies caught the attention of quite a lot of supporters who, understandably, asked why the funding model seemed to have altered and whether this signified any change in strategy for the Club, particularly with the loan facility being secured against assets which include Craven Cottage. This is the most important aspect for many supporters and, while there is no suggestion of a reason for concern, we do have a genuine desire to fully understand the financial security of our Club, particularly given the vast sums of money it takes to operate in the Premier League.
The Club explained that the borrower in this case is Fulham Stadium Limited, the company that owns Craven Cottage, with the purpose of completing the new Riverside Stand. This is an understandable method of managing cash flow on a large construction project of this kind and, although the size of the financial facility remains confidential, the level of borrowing will eventually become evident when the 2024/25 accounts are published. Given that the facility is secured against assets which include Craven Cottage, we will of course remain interested in this detail.
We welcome the Club’s clarification of the purpose of this loan facility and that there is no change of direction under the Chairman’s ownership. As supporters, we always want the best for our football club, both on and off the pitch, which is why we are fortunate to have both committed owners and fully engaged and educated fans. It is important that questions of this nature can be asked by Fulham supporters, particularly as one of the founding aims of the Fulham Supporters’ Trust is to “protect Fulham’s unique identity at Craven Cottage”. The newly formed FAB will also have a role to play, with its remit including discussion of strategic vision, commercial matters and heritage.
The Trust remains committed to understanding how the Club is organised from a business perspective as well as making our presence felt in the stands and will continue to ask the relevant questions on your behalf.
