Chelsea accounts reveal £9m shock ‘that’s beyond me’ after Newcastle United deal

Football’s financial landscape has produced its latest head-scratching anomaly as Chelsea’s accounting maneuvers reveal a staggering valuation disparity.

The club’s recent £198.7 million profit from selling their women’s team and other assets to a sister company has left experts questioning the numbers, especially when compared to Newcastle United’s £305 million takeover in 2021.

Kieran Maguire, the astute voice behind the Price of Football podcast, puts these figures into sobering perspective. “Newcastle came with a 52,000-seat stadium consistently filled to capacity, a Premier League squad worth hundreds of millions, and £150 million annual revenue,” he explains.

The Saudi-backed acquisition valued the historic club at just £305 million – roughly two times their yearly income.

Now contrast this with Chelsea Women’s valuation. The reigning WSL champions generated £9 million revenue last season while playing at the 4,000-capacity Kingsmeadow stadium.

Though boasting impressive average attendances for women’s football and undeniable on-field success, their reported valuation approaching two-thirds of Newcastle’s price tag defies conventional financial logic.

Maguire’s bewilderment is palpable: “To say they’re worth [up to] two-thirds of Newcastle United in the Premier League? How they managed to justify those figures is beyond me.”

The accounting move follows Chelsea’s previous £75.6 million hotel sale to sister company BlueCo 22 – transactions that conveniently help the club comply with Profit and Sustainability Rules while raising questions about valuation methodologies.

Todd Boehly’s prediction that Chelsea Women would be worth “hundreds of millions of dollars” appears prescient on paper, but the numbers warrant scrutiny.

While women’s football is undoubtedly growing – evidenced by record attendances and broadcasting deals – valuations leapfrogging established men’s clubs suggest either visionary foresight or creative accounting.

The comparison becomes even more striking when considering emotional value. As Maguire notes, even neutral observers felt moved by Newcastle’s recent trophy celebrations after decades of longing.

Such intangible fan equity and historical significance traditionally command premium valuations, yet Chelsea’s women’s side – despite their excellence – operates in a completely different commercial and emotional sphere.

This transaction highlights football’s evolving financial playbook, where asset reshuffling between related entities can manufacture paper profits. Whether this represents legitimate valuation of women’s football’s potential or accounting ingenuity to circumvent financial regulations remains open for debate.

One thing is certain – when a women’s team’s valuation approaches that of an entire historic Premier League institution like Newcastle, it demands explanation beyond the balance sheet.