First year financial loss for The Silkmen

Macclesfield FC recorded a financial loss of £349,000 at the end of their first full year of trading.

The club, which last season secured promotion to the Northern Premier League Division One West, said embodied within the loss for the period ending 31 October 2021 was seven months where no income could be generated due to ground improvement work being carried out.

Total investment relating solely to stadium renovations stood at £2.9m during the aforementioned period. 

In a statement covering financial matters, the club also said they made no external borrowings and all staff were paid in full throughout the Covid-19 pandemic with no remuneration claimed via the furlough scheme.

They added that a total of 62 staff were employed by the club at the end of the financial year, while there have been no drawings by any of the directors throughout the period.

In terms of football and operational matters, The Silkmen created a “vast array” of teams across different age ranges during the financial period.

On the pitch, the men’s first team would go on to win the North West Counties Football League Premier Division by 15 points.

Initially, attendances at the Leasing.Com Stadium were limited due to the ongoing renovation work, but these steadily increased throughout the 2021/22 campaign to the extent where the season’s average was 3,388.

Season tickets for the 2021/22 campaign stood at approximately 1,000.

Director Robert Smethurst said: “I can understand why some supporters may react to the news that the club is reporting a £349k loss with alarm – however, there were many factors for this which will not be present going forward.

“We had to get what represented a dilapidated stadium fit for purpose and not only that, this had to be concluded within the Covid-19 pandemic. The club also launched our academy structure during the period and like all other areas of the business, this continues to go from strength to strength.

“As I have stated previously, the club is now in the position where we are broadly self-sustainable at the end of each month – but we can’t do this alone. We need our wonderfully loyal supporters to back us off the pitch just as much as they do on it.”

He added: “Whether this is through season tickets, memberships, the academy, stealth gymnasium, or Bar Twenty Seven – I appeal to everyone who has taken this club into their hearts to help us in any way they can, as we look to move closer to where we all want to be.”