Cardiff City post £35 loss for last financial year

Cardiff City made a £35.1m loss in the season they were relegated from the Championship, according to the club’s latest set of accounts.

The Bluebirds are currently top of League One with the aim of returning to the second-tier at the first attempt.

But accounts state they remain reliant on the financial support of majority shareholder Vincent Tan, whose loans to the club totalled almost £90m by the end of last season.

In notes accompanying the accounts for the financial year end of 31 May 2025, Cardiff’s overall liabilities stood at £161m.

As well as monies owed to parties connected to Tan, a sum of £37.3m is also owed to a company where chairman Mehmet Dalman has significant interest.

That saw Cardiff pay around £7m in interest and similar expenses, although more than half of Tan’s loans do not accrue interest.

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.