Cardiff City post £35m loss for last financial year

The accounts state that since the reporting period at the end of last season, Cardiff have also received a further £19.5m from that does not require repayment. The source of that £19.5m has not been made public.

Cardiff’s turnover increased £2.6m to £25.8m, but their wage bill increased to £29.1m during the last campaign – although the accounts confirm most of the squad did include relegation clauses.

The £35.1m overall loss is a jump of £23m, although last year’s finances were boosted by the sale of a percentage of any successful damages gained in their court action with French club Nantes over the death of the Argentinian striker Emiliano Sala.

Their operating loss remained relatively unchanged at £28.1m.

In the notes accompanying the accounts, the club state that relegation from the Championship meant they faced an “immediate challenge” of an “incredibly significant drop in turnover and the actions that by necessity had to be taken around the club’s cost base to bridge that gap”.

That has included pausing development of the club’s proposed new training base until they return to the second tier, as well as utilising the club’s academy talent as part of a squad restructuring.

That has proven successful so far with new manager Brian Barry-Murphy leading them to a healthy position at the top of League One.