West Brom indebted to Shilen Patel despite new accounts showing £17m loss
West Brom have announced losses of £17million for the 2024-25 accounting year, as owner Shilen Patel’s input has come to light.
Patel has not been a particularly popular figure at West Brom this season, as the Baggies are in the thick of a Championship relegation battle.
After all, he played his part in the decisions to hire inexperienced head coaches Ryan Mason and Eric Ramsay, both of whom have since been sacked this term.
James Morrison is currently the man in the dugout at The Hawthorns until the end of the campaign, with Patel and West Brom fans hopeful he can guide them to safety.
And despite there being many justified criticisms of Patel’s tenure, it appears he is putting his money where his mouth is for the Midlands outfit.
Shilen Patel’s financial input into West Brom revealed
According to the club’s accounts, West Bromwich Albion Group Limited recorded a loss of £17m for the 12-month period ending 30 June 2025 – down from £31.3m the year before.
Patel’s Bilkul Football WBA – who took over from Guochuan Lai in February 2024 – invested £17.6m for the 2024-25 campaign, an increase on the £8.7m he injected in the latter end of 2023-24.
The report adds that Bilkul have covered the interest figure (£5.2m) incurred from the MSD loans taken out at the end of Lai’s reign.
West Brom state that their outstanding balance from the MSD loan will be repaid by December 2026, with Express and Star claiming that it stands at £25m.
More importantly, they have managed to fall within the PSR parameters.
| West Brom’s accounts 24/25 | West Brom’s accounts 23/24 |
| Operating loss – £17m | Operating loss – £31.3m |
| Proceeds from Bilkul – £17.6m | Proceeds from Bilkul – £8.7m |
| Staff costs – £37.1m | Staff costs – £42.9m |
| Championship distributions (including broadcast) – £12.8m | Championship distributions (including broadcast) – £11.4m |
The Baggies brought in £8.2m from selling the likes of Brandon Thomas-Asante, Okay Yokuslu, Alex Palmer, and Mo Faal from 2024/25.
On the flipside, the accounts show they forked out around £5.4m to sign Torbjorn Heggem, Mikey Johnston, Callum Styles, Isaac Price, Tammer Bany and Nat Phillips.
These figures will be released on Companies House soon, with it yet to be known how much Patel has put into the club for the current season.
West Brom may yet get relegated, with some of the blame understandably heading Patel’s way, but he is working hard to put the Albion on a much better financial footing.
West Brom have fighting chance at staying up
Ever since Morrison was given the job full-time until the end of the season, there has been a noticeable upturn in form for West Brom.
Indeed, after creditable draws with Southampton and Sheffield United, the Baggies thumped Hull City 3-0 on Saturday.
That was only their first win in the league since 29 December, as Josh Maja, Aune Heggebo, and Isaac Price all got on the scoresheet.
There are still plenty of twists and turns likely to happen in their remaining eight fixtures, with the Baggies just one point clear of the relegation zone.
But the manner of their recent displays is a far cry from Ramsay’s uninspiring and ultimately disastrous spell at the club.
Next up, West Brom travel to Bristol City on Saturday, before hosting play-off chasing Wrexham after the international break ends. If they can pick up a win or two in this stretch, belief will blossom.
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