West Brom Doomsday clock ticking with Derby comparison made
West Brom fans are chanting to drown out the noise of their potential sorrow as the “Doomsday clock” continues to tick on their potential demise striking resemblance to that of Derby County, according to Inews.
With the Baggies’ parachute payments ending this summer, it will be the first time in 20 years that the club haven’t enjoyed that security blanket nor that of Premier League broadcasting revenues.
This gap in West Brom’s annual accounts will be even clearer if promotion isn’t secured and the £20m loan similar to the one Derby took from MSD Holdings could prove to be a grave mistake.
“At the Hawthorns, they chant to cheer on the team and they chant because the noise drowns out the sound of the Doomsday Clock ticking down,” as quoted by Inews. (26 January, 5:00 PM)
“For West Brom, the urgency is palpable for good reason. It’s not that their parachute payments end this summer, although that’s true. It’s that this would be the first time in 20 years that the Baggies will neither enjoy that financial comfort blanket nor the cast riches of Premier League broadcasting revenues.
“West Brom have secured their own loan – £20m from MSD Holdings, the company that Derby County borrowed a roughly similar amount from in August 2020. Xu Ke, the former chief executive who is now the sole director of WBA Group, announced that the loan is secured against all of the Group’s assets and is required to finance the continued business operations of the club.
“Although players would presumably be used as saleable assets if the loan cannot be repaid, it places the future of the Hawthorns at some – even if slight – risk. The annual repayment of £5m (plus interest) is roughly 10 per cent of the annual revenue of a Championship club that receives parachute payments. A reminder: West Brom stand to lose theirs this summer.
“With Derby going into administration owing money to MSD Holdings (£15m), there is understandable panic that West Brom could follow suit if, like Derby, they are unable to escape to the Premier League via the playoffs. Gourlay rejects that notion – “I don’t believe it will get to that stage” – but then in the same conversation he admitted that “at the end of the day it will be a decision for the owner”.
“Lai reportedly rejected an offer to sell the club in 2020, but Gourlay says there have been no approaches in the last 12 months. Are we to assume that, if Lai is borrowing from the club and the club is borrowing to continue to operate, there will be no more investment? And if there’s no more investment, no offers to buy, loans to pay and revenue is about to decrease if they do not gain promotion, what else are supporters supposed to do other than worry?
“West Brom, the yo-yo club of the Premier League era, now need promotion more than ever. These may be a defining four months in their history. Nobody wants to think about what happens otherwise. Nobody can stop thinking about it either.”
Sketchy stuff.
In the wild and wonderful world of West Brom, nothing is ever plain sailing and unfortunately, the club are walking on a razor-cut tightrope currently.
Performances on the pitch are great and ultimately this may be the saving grace for the Baggies as Carlos Corberan catapults the club up the league table.
The next four months may be the most defining the club has ever seen and promotion to the Premier League has never been more important.
Derby are a clear and frankly scary example of just how a loan can go wrong for a club and the fact Albion have borrowed from the same company alludes to a sketchy outcome.
This is something that is at the forefront of fans’ minds and there is no getting away from the fact that West Brom may be in very big trouble here.
A drop in results will only increase anxiety further, fortunately, for those in the upper echelons of the club, things on the pitch are going their way right now.
In other West Brom news, Ron Gourlay meets with concerned Baggies fans to discuss Guochuan Lai’s failure to repay the loan.