Bristol City chief on financial realities of the Championship and Robins being a 'selling club'

Bristol Sport group CEO Gavin Marshall insists Bristol City are on a much steadier financial footing as the transfer window opens than in previous years, but the Robins will ultimately remain a “selling club” until there is fairer distribution down the pyramid from the Premier League.

The hope for City in pre-season is that City’s business will be one of addition rather than subtraction to balance it out. As was the case 12 months ago when Jason Knight, Ross McCrorie and Rob Dickie arrived for transfer fees in the region of £4.5m, then covered by the subsequent £25m sale of Alex Scott and, prior to that, the £10.5m departure of Antoine Semenyo to Bournemouth.

Those departures were also necessary in steering City away from the troubles of the EFL’s Profit and Sustainability rules as the club had veered dangerously close to the £39m threshold for losses over a three-year period, largely due to Covid-19 which exposed their fragile business model as the collapse of the transfer market outside of the Premier League led to a near-catastrophic decline in revenues.

The money generated by Semenyo and Scott’s exits has alleviated that threat and could well provide Liam Manning with slightly greater financial flexibility moving into the summer, as he targets a striker, No10 and winger. But with losses in the last financial year still at £22.2m, Marshall insists the club have to remain prudent in terms of their overall spending.

“We’re in a much stronger position financially than we were a couple of years ago,” Marshall told Bristol Live. “P&S was a concern for us. It’s not an immediate concern now but that’s not to say we can’t completely take our eye off the ball.

“We’re in a strong position at the moment, from a P&S perspective; the two high-profile sales we made last year have really helped us, but also from a financial health and cash perspective.

“The way the instalments are structured, in terms of contingency payments around appearances and bonuses that can kick in, so when we make those sales, it’s not a case of suddenly all your problems are solved overnight, but you can see the benefits often for the next three to four years, or six to eight transfer windows.

“So we’re in a much better position than we were, but we will still have a significant cash loss this season. But we’re moving in the right direction from a financial perspective.”

The question remains then, how do City progress up the Championship table with their current model, if players keep having to be sold as a financial necessity? Over th elast five years, Lloyd Kelly, Adam Webster, Josh Brownhill, Semenyo and Scott have all moved into the Premier League for sizable transfer fees - players that had they been retained unquestionably would have made the Robins a better team.

There are micro discussions within each case - Brownhill and Semenyo, for example, were into the final 18 months of their respective contracts - but it remains a frustration within the fanbase, given the talent that leaves the building with such regularity.

Unfortunately, it remains a reality of football, coupled with the allure of the top flight and how that can generate a player’s desire to move on after a certain period of time as a first-team player.

Full disclosure: this interview was conducted before it was reported that City are preparing to sell Tommy Conway due to his refusal to sign a new contract, but similar principles apply. Especially when Marshall mentions the consideration from within the club of the “human element” - that is, not standing in a player’s way if they declare a desire to move further up the food chain.

“I think it will always be a position for us, and for all Championship clubs,” Marshall added. “There’s an argument that we’re all selling clubs, apart from maybe Real Madrid.

“In terms of the financial health and the cliff edge between the Premier League and the Championship, clubs are always going to be in that position and we’re no exception that we’re going to need to sell players.

“I think the other thing is, everyone has ambitions. Lots have ambitions to play in the Premier League. So there’s a financial element in terms of balancing the books but then there’s also a human and an ambitious element from a player.

“It is hard to stand in a player’s way if they’ve earned the right to play in the Premier League, and they’ve got offers to play there. Then it’s a case, for us as a club, to accept that, to get the best possible deal for that player so that we can then reinvest those funds on finding the next one, or reinvest it into our academy.

“That’s the reality of it, that’s where we are, and that’s where we’ll be until we get into the Premier League.”

“Sustainability” has been a buzz word in football, particularly in the Championship, and it’s something that City have admirably but also perhaps slightly naively tried to pursue which, in 2024, now looks an near-impossible concept, even with 30-odd million of transfer revenue over the last 18 months.

The financial gap is widening between the top two divisions in England and with a few exceptions, such as Luton Town and Ipswich Town, the continuation of parachute payments maintains the status quo of relegated clubs into the second tier being far more well-resourced than their 21 rivals for that season.

The promotions of Leicester City and Southampton this term were laden with irony on that front as, having earned a swift return to the elite after just one season in the Championship, it saved the Premier League £103m in parachute payments, which were then shared among the clubs in the top flight.

The concept of a regulator remains on hold to an extent, due to the forthcoming General Election, but the Football Governance Bill is progressing through Parliament while all three major parties - Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives - have referenced the need for an independent regulator in their respective manifestos.

Meanwhile, the Premier League was unable to agree an appropriate funding package for the EFL at a meeting of the division’s 20 clubs in February, leading to fears the dispute could run for years.

From Marshall’s and City’s positions - with the club long-time opponents and public critics of parachute payments and the imbalance that creates - action is required to try and level-up the game, to coin a political term, otherwise the Robins will be perpetually in a position of losing millions and having to sell their assets without any additional financial security.

“We were pretty hopeful this season that there was going to be a new deal with the Premier League, that hasn’t materialised, which is disappointing,” Marshall said. “And I think while you’ve got that cliff edge between the Premier League and the Football League of such an incredible amount of financial difference allied to that, the parachute payments, you’re never going to have a position where the Championship clubs are sustainable.

“We’ve just got to wait and it’s going to take time in terms of a potential change in government and how that regulator gets introduced, so we’re all watching this space really, on that.”

Marshall, Jon Lansdown and COO Tom Rawcliffe have all engaged with off-season media activities in the wake of the Robins finishing 11th in the Championship, as a show of openness following Nigel Pearson’s dismissal and fan frustration around general communications.

Bridges still need to be further repaired on that front and there remains scepticism and curiosity from supporters around the new structure within the Robins hierarchy as, since Phil Alexander left the club last September, City have not operated with a traditional CEO.

Marshall, who’s been on the board of the club since 2018, is the closest approximation of that position but also has responsibilities across the whole group and, most notably, with Bristol City Women as he has served as chairperson for the last three years.

Last month, Jon Lansdown detailed how the structure feels “aligned” for the first time, devoid of decisions driven by self-interest, and Marshall, who has been with Bristol Sport since 2016 claims that while "unusual" in the context of their rivals, it's the right model for the club.

"I'm on the board of Bristol City and I have been for a number of years," Marshall said. "It's very much a collaborative effort in terms of the leadership of Bristol City, between myself and Jon, and other senior figures in the club such as Tom Rawcliffe and Brian Tinnion, and there are other external advisors that sit and advise us within that.

"It's very much a collaborative model that I'm a part of and have been for many years. We've had different models, and we've had CEOs in the past. We think this is the right model for us moving forward.

"In terms of a figurehead, Jon is chair of the board and has that ultimate leadership role for the football club. It's not a conventional model; a conventional CEO would havee commercial responsibilities and that sits within the Bristol Sport model.

"We do have an unusual model compared to other football clubs in this country but it's a model we think is the best model for us, and is working for us."

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