Preston North End report £13.5m loss as impact of Covid hits hard at Deepdale

The accounts were filed with Companies House and show a loss after tax of £13,597.

PNE paid out more than £22m in wages and staff costs, with turnover at £10.5m - down from £11.1m the year before.

The loss covers a tough time for North End and football in general.

Included in the financial year were the re-start games at the end of the 2019/20 season and the full 2020/21 campaign when all PNE's home matches were played behind closed doors to the Covid pandemic.

North End did receive £2.5m after taking out a business interruption insurance policy which paid out during the pandemic.

The loss this year does not put the club in breach of Financial Fair Play rules - in the Championship, clubs can lose up to £39m over a rolling three-year period.

In his strategic report in the accounts, North End director Kevin Abbott said: "In the short term, the Covid pandemic has resulted in a significant impact on the company's ability to trade and therefore its cash flow.

"This is mainly as a result of the club's inability to admit supporters to the stadium to watch football matches."

Abbott continued: "Operating cash flow continues to be adverse as the club has contracted a squad with wages which are high in comparison to its revenue.

"The company has therefore been reliant on the financial support of its shareholder."

The accounts show that during the 2020/21 financial year, North End had received more than £8.9m in funding from Trevor Hemmings who passed away in October.

Since the end of the financial year, they had received a further £8.4m in funding from Mr Hemmings and latterly the Hemmings family.

See PNE's financial figures from 2019/20