Thomas 'comfortable' with Cobblers' financial position despite higher losses and increased debt

Chairman Kelvin Thomas says he is ‘comfortable’ with Cobblers’ financial position after the club posted significant losses in their annual set of accounts.

Northampton lost just over £1million for the year ending June 30, 2023, up from £150,708 12 months earlier. The club’s debt also rose from £6.3million to £7.3million.

The increased losses are down to a combination of things, including heavier investment in the playing squad, reduced EFL payments, inflation and promotion bonuses for Town’s third place finish in League Two. For context, title winners Leyton Orient lost nearly £4 million over the same period of time, highlighting the financial challenges faced by all EFL clubs.

Thomas said: “When you file the statutory accounts, you are always showing the financial information from a previous season, but these accounts cover a period of excellent success for the club on the pitch including an automatic promotion to League One with 83 points.

“People often say that transfer money received doesn’t go back into the playing department, but these accounts show that we made an investment decision to use part of this money to help the promotion push alongside our own financial input. We are very pleased that this decision proved to be a decent one and much credit goes to Jon Brady, his staff, and the players for their achievements during this season.

“There were some other factors like reduced EFL monies and the one-off bonus costs associated to the promotion that affected the financial results, but overall, we are comfortable with the level of investment especially when matched with the success on the pitch.

“We think Saturday’s result against Derby clearly showed it isn’t always about budgets and wages anyway and sometimes it about the process in the background along with desire and effort, and, whilst not mathematically confirmed, our current points tally would indicate we will be playing League One football again next season too.

“These numbers however also highlight the tough challenges that EFL clubs face and the need for a reset of football finances. The recent introduction of the Football Governance Bill and the upcoming appointment of a Football Regulator cannot come soon enough for football.

“There are a lot of people to thank that helped with achieving this promotion including all the staff, players, commercial partners, volunteers and of course the fans as a promotion is always a team effort and something for us all to be proud of.”