As touched on in the introduction blog, which can be found here, I wanted to continuously track our progress in terms of the club’s infrastructure as we develop the club season-on-season. At the same time, thanks to a huge influence from A FM Old Timer, I wanted to track the financial security of the club and all changes year on year.
As expected, from a club perspective, there are no changes to Brera’s reputation, facilities or finances. Being in the 8th tier of Italian football, it is tough to develop these areas, especially with the lack of money.
The only notable difference is the drop in reputation for AC Milan, going from a once world-renowned club to only being continentally known. This will be sure to yo-yo from time to time as the world of football forever changes season upon season. In the current season, both Milan clubs finished on 76 points, with Internazionale sneaking runners-up thanks to their slim 1-0 victory over AC Milan earlier in the season. Juventus were back on top of Italian football with 86 points, but with both Milan clubs being back in the Champions League, their reputation could only improve.
My biggest concern at this point was the stadium capacity. As much as this save is very much young, we have a 10K capacity according to the game, but only fill just about 2% of that – average attendance for the season was only 178. This then has an effect on the financial side of the club.
Financials
As mentioned above, A FM Old Timer was the inspiration behind looking at the financial side of the club. Thanks to his blog released on the back of an extensive Twitter thread on his Southampton finances, I found myself looking through the comparisons year on year in a league as wealthy as the Premier League.
I do wish that there was more extensive data available on Football Manager instead of the current financial tab we have (perhaps one can dream for FM23), but in using the existing tab, it is quite easy to pull this down into an Excel and then begin your comparisons and analysing line-by-line. Of course, a lot of the costs you have no control over, but it is interesting to note particular trends and if there is anything you can do from a footballing point of view, that can help mitigate some of the financial effects.
To me, finances must be well looked after early on in the save to give Brera the best chance of going up the divisions. A quick look into future divisions suggests that semi-pro football is in the Eccellenza tier where clubs are spending a range of £57K to £114K on salaries. We are a few divisions from that stage as things stand, but being in a healthy position would avoid breaking the bank to be competitive.
Bank Balance
| 19th July 2021 | 1st June 2022 | |
| Bank Balance | £5,442 | £35,167 |
| Movement | + £29,725 |
Revenue
| Season ended 2021-22 (Figures taken on 1st June) | |
| Corporate Facilities Income | £468 |
| Fund Raising | £2,804 |
| Gate Receipts | £15,825 |
| Grants | – |
| Interest – Bank | £280 |
| Investments | – |
| Match Day Income | £2,576 |
| Merchandising | £272 |
| Other | £1,889 |
| Players Sold | – |
| Prize Money | – |
| Season Tickets | £2,330 |
| Solidarity Payments | – |
| Sponsorship | £251,597 |
| TV Revenue | – |
| Total Revenue | £278,041 |
With no comparison, it is a basis for taking these figures at face value and trying to understand why they amount to as much as they do. It is clear to see that for an amateur football team, sponsorship is a massive part of the club’s seasonal income.
At this level of Italian football, there is practically no prize money either. The only form of prize money is through the Coppa Dilettanti Lombardia, in which the winner will receive £12.75K and the loser £6.5K. Whilst this is not life-changing amounts of money, both figures can certainly go a long way in preparing for the status change to a semi-professional club, and paying the wages that come along with that. To receive these amounts, requires going through 9 rounds of cup football, and it certainly is something I have my eye on over the next couple of years.
Sponsorship
Alessandro and Leonardo Aleotti announced at the beginning of the season four new sponsorship deals; 3 of them being general club sponsorships whilst the last one was the main kit sponsor. As we climb up the Italian football levels, I would expect to see these even themselves out to a position where the main kit sponsor will be contributing at least double of the current 20% value of income.
Currently, our main kit sponsor is a deal worth £83,000 over two years. This is due to expire on the 1st of September 2023, meaning a new sponsor will be due to come in before the beginning of the 2023-24 campaign – this should result in a small loss of income of circa £6,916 but it should be offset with a new deal. Should the current sponsorship extend their deal, then we should be expecting another £83,000 minimum over another couple of years.
Two general sponsorship deals both contribute to 20% of the funding, which is worth £210,000 and £250,000 over 5 and 6 years respectively. As things stand, these are due to expire during by March 2024 and 2025, meaning new sponsorship will either be required for the remainder of those campaigns, new deals will take over upon expiry or will sign on at the end of the season. Our final general deal is in a similar situation, worth £325,000 over 4 years and is due to expire on the 1st of March 2023.
Hospitality, Gate Receipts & Season Tickets
The biggest challenge that Brera faces as a club is the ability to entice fans to the Arena Civica Gianni Brera. Bringing fans in would propel the finances a bit further, and whilst £21,199 is not a bad source of income, this is an area of untapped potential.
Starting with the easiest calculation available to us, I can see that we received £2,330 in season ticket money after selling 40 of them for the season. Whilst that would price season tickets at £58.25, this price may increase with promotion along with the demand for season tickets which could be a blessing so early on.
Over 16 home games this season (1 cup game & 15 league matches), Arena Civica Gianni Brera saw 2,782 spectators through the turnstiles. Knowing that 40 of those fans are season ticket holders, and assuming that all 40 went to every home game, we would be able to estimate that 2,142 spectators were present for the season. Entry into the stadium for a game averages out to be around £7.38 and to take in £15,825 in gate receipts is good going. Much like the above point on season tickets, it would not be unfair to expect an increase in attendance next season and ticket prices may slightly increase to reflect the new division.
Finally, corporate income. As things stand, Brera only have basic corporate facilities, and whilst this is something that I cannot ask to improve on, I can only watch on and hope that the Aleotti family watch this with keen interest. However, with the information at hand, prices for corporate are £29.25 per game and again, this is an area of untapped potential as we begin our climb.
Expenditure
| Season ended 2021-22 (Figures taken on 1st June) | |
| Agent Fees | – |
| Bonuses | – |
| Director Emoluments | – |
| Dividends | – |
| Ground Maintenance | £6,345 |
| League Fines | – |
| Loan Repayments & Interest | – |
| Loyalty Bonuses | – |
| Match Day Expenses | £720 |
| Non-Football Costs | £2,565 |
| Other* | £11,677 |
| Player Wages | – |
| Scouting Costs | £6,387 |
| Staff Wages | – |
| Tax | £4,009 |
| Transfer Expenditure | – |
| Travel Costs | £5,183 |
| Youth Setup | £4,510 |
| Total Expenditure | £41,396 |
With no figures to compare previously, it is extremely difficult to pass judgement on what is being poorly managed or what can be improved. As the manager of Brera, I can only control a handful of areas here and many of them are not applicable at this stage of the save. However, the Aleotti family trusted me with a scouting budget at the beginning of the season (£38.5K) it was being poorly spent as we could not compete with other teams nor attract the quality of players that it was returning. After dropping the recruitment package down to no package and relying on staff knowledge of players, we did manage to save the club a fair amount of money throughout the season.
We are blessed in that we play football only in the Lombardia region now and for the years to come, but once we move out of the regional leagues, I expect to see this figure sharply rise.
As things stand, the club has no debts to pay back, and should the club continue to trade in the manner above, we should be debt-free for several years.
Future Projections
Thankfully for the club, the next year is looking positive for the club’s finances. With a potential extra £200K sitting in the bank after expenditure, it would set the club up nicely for the Promozione divisions as we edge closer to paying wages on staff and players. At this stage, it will be important that we keep a close eye on the wage budget and ensure that we are strict in the negotiations that don’t see us paying out a fortune to players for any performance incentives, but at the same time, incentivising them enough to perform on the park.
CAMERONFM 
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