FAW posts loss for 2025 despite record revenue

The Football Association of Wales made a loss of £3.4m for the year ending June 2025 despite posting record turnover.

After making a profit of £1.1m for the year ending June 2024, revenue for the following 12 months rose from £32.4m to £40.6m.

That was a result of increases in funding from sources such as Uefa, the UK Government and the FAW's coaching education programme.

Administrative expenses rose by nearly £10m to £32.8m, contributing to an operating loss of £5m.

Net assets were £11.9m, with cash reserves of £16.1m, up nearly £5m.

The accounts for the year ending June 2025 were available to view on Companies House from Wednesday night, two weeks after the FAW published a statement about them.

The FAW described it as "a period of strategic investment and accelerated growth", helped by the women's national team qualifying for their first major tournament, Euro 2025, in December 2024.

The governing body also listed the men's team winning their Nations League group, increased Uefa funding for the expansion of the Cymru Premier and additional financial support from the Welsh Government to expand the FAW headquarters as reasons for the increased turnover.

In its statement, the FAW added: "The FAW generated an operating loss of £5.0m, primarily due to a conscious decision to invest across all areas of Welsh football, supported by the visibility of Euro 2028 hosting fees.

"The net loss after tax of £3.4m was a result of healthy returns from investments, together with deferred tax movements relating to the transfer of the investment portfolio."

John Young, the FAW's chief finance and operations officer, said: "The organisation recognises that operational losses are not viable over the long term but believes that, given the strength of our balance sheet, continued investment is justified to strengthen our domestic league, provide our national teams with the best possible opportunity for tournament qualification and success, and to support the growth of the grassroots game."

Wales will co-host Euro 2028 alongside England, Scotland and the Republic of Ireland, which will boost future accounts.

However, the next financial results will be impacted by the men's team failing to qualify for this summer's World Cup.

"If you look back at qualification for Qatar in 2022, back then we had no finances or plan for grassroots facilities, and we used the platform of qualifying for the World Cup," FAW chief executive Noel Mooney told BBC Sport Wales.

"We put £4m to create the Cymru Football Foundation [the FAW's charitable arm] and since then we've distributed about £30m. So that was a real catalyst for grassroots facilities.

"This World Cup would have helped us to accelerate even faster that development. But at the same time, we've got to be agile.

"Yes, it would have been lovely to go to the World Cup from a financial perspective, again, to accelerate the growth of the game in Wales.

"But ultimately, we've got the Euro 2028 here to come. And that will enable us to invest even further into the game at all levels."