Only seven per cent of English football's investment in the last financial year went into women's football ©Football Association

New broadcasting deals enabled the Football Association to bounce back into profit while boosting investments into English football by almost 30 per cent to £165.6 million ($202 million/€187.1 million) during the year to end-July 2019.

Of the additional £38 million ($46.4 million/€43 million) pumped into the sport, however, just £2 million ($2.44 million/€2.26 million) went into the women’s game, with nearly half of the additional funding earmarked for increased prize money for the FA Cup.

All told, women’s football got just £11 million ($13.4 million/€12.4 million), or less than seven per cent, of the £165.6 million total, versus £51 million ($62.2 million/€57.6 million) that went to FA competition prize funds, £19 million ($23.2 million/€21.5 million) to facilities, £17 million ($20.7 million/€19.2 million) to county football associations and £25 million ($30.5 million/€28.25 million) to other football organisations.

Newly-published accounts show that turnover for the year was up by nearly a quarter, from £375.5 million ($458.1 million/€424.3 million) to £467.2 million ($570 million/€527.9 million), with broadcasting much the largest contributor at £262.6 million ($320.4 million/€296.7 million).

Sponsorship and licensing income, by contrast, was down quite sharply at £63.4 million ($77.3 million/€71.6 million), against £79.1 million ($96.5 million/€89.4 million).

Events income edged up to £70.6 million ($86.1 million/€79.8 million), in spite of the ending of a tenancy with Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur, reflecting a good year for rock concerts and the staging of three American Football games plus a boxing bout involving Olympic gold medallist Anthony Joshua.

Football Association chairman Greg Clarke oversaw a profitable year for the organisation ©Getty Images
Football Association chairman Greg Clarke oversaw a profitable year for the organisation ©Getty Images

Operating profit surged to £62.8 million ($76.6 million/€71 million), against a £1.8 million ($2.2 million/€2 million) operating loss the previous year.

Pre-tax profit weighed in at £57 million ($69.5 million/€64.4 million), against a loss of £8.5 million ($10.4 million/€9.6 million).

The FA’s debt was restructured during the course of the year, with a term loan replaced, in effect, by a revolving credit facility.

At the 2018-19 year-end, net debt stood at £126.4 million ($154.2 million/€142.8 million), up from £106.7 million ($130.2 million/€120.6 million).

Year-end cash amounted to £39.2 million ($47.8 million/€44.3 million).

There was a £23.7million ($28.9 million/€26.8 million) purchase of tangible fixed assets.

A statement accompanying the accounts by FA chairman Greg Clarke was dated November 2019, predating emergence of the coronavirus pandemic.