FA report profit

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England's failed campaign to win Euro 2004 in Portugal cost the Football Association an astonishing £7.1m. The FA's annual report shows that England's journey to the quarter finals of the tournament, which ended with a disappointing defeat by Portugal, made a loss of £400,000. It cost the FA £1.2m more than the 2002 World Cup finals in Japan and Korea. Nearly half of the money for Portugal is believed to have been spent on win bonuses for players. A pre-tournament training camp in sunny Sardinia had cost £1m. The FA are also believed to have come back with unsold tickets for the group game against Croatia worth nearly £500,000. The rest of the money was used on accommodation in Hotel near Lisbon. Around £600,000 was spent on the security of the team which was tightened after the beginning of the Iraq War.

According to the FA Annual Review, England made £6.741m from the championship, including ticket sales and a share of television revenue and prize-money for reaching the last eight. However, costs of £7.178m left them with a loss of £437,000. FA turnover was up by £16.6m in 2004 to £206m, costs were down by £1.26m to £82m, and pre-tax profits increased to £33m from £8.9m.

The largest single contributor to the FA’s income stream is the sale of broadcasting rights, and profits might have been expected to have fallen with a less lucrative deal with the BBC and Sky Sports coming into effect on August 1 2004. However, income from broadcasting, sponsorship and other commercial sources increased by nearly £11m to almost £177m. The effects of the drop in TV revenue are likely to be more keenly felt this year and next, even though negotiation of overseas broadcasting rights will generate £50m over the next four years.