Preston North End hit back at £1.2m figure amid 'unfounded criticism and social media abuse'

Preston North End have published a statement on the club website, after a table of Championship club's commercial income for 2022/23 spread on social media.

The Lilywhites are shown to be bottom of the pile, with a figure of £1.2million against the Deepdale outfit. Top of the list is Bristol City (£19.5m), with Norwich City (£15.7m) in second and Stoke City (£13.2m) sitting third.

PNE's comment read: 'Preston North End note that a number of supporters have read and are commenting on what appears to be a survey which shows the club as bottom of the commercial revenue league table for the Championship. Ordinarily such matters wouldn't be publicly commented on by the club but when it leads to unfounded criticism and social media abuse of our hardworking staff and executives, we feel the need to put things into context.

'As has been publicly outlined previously, much of the club's commercial revenue is third-party operated and therefore the numbers PNE report are not revenue lines but are the net income received by the club. Were it to be shown on a like-for-like basis versus many other clubs, the commercial income would be significantly higher, closer to revenue of £5m-£6m rather than the £1.4m shown on the survey.

'Indeed, thanks to the North End fans, the growing season card numbers and the improving matchday attendances have been driving this season’s revenues with PNE's new third-party operators to record sales levels, all of which drops profit through to the bottom line.'