Manchester United announce £515.3m revenue for 2015/16

Manchester United have become the first English club to earn more than half a billion pounds in a single year, having announced a total revenue of £515.3million.

Life at Old Trafford was often uncomfortable during the 2015-16 campaign, with FA Cup glory unable to save manager Louis van Gaal’s job.

A fifth-place finish in the Premier League saw United miss out on Champions League qualification, but matters away from the pitch were far more successful as they made a record total revenue of £515.3m.

The club’s accounts up until June 30th 2016 confirmed the widely-expected news that they had become the first British club to break the half-billion mark, but it is short of Barcelona’s €679million (£570million) revenue announced in July.

United’s revenue is predicted to be £530m to £540m at the end of the next financial year, having achieved a record operating profit of £68.9m in 2015-16.

Executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward said: “Our record Fiscal 2016 financial performance reflects the continued underlying strength of the business and the club is on target to achieve record revenues in 2017, even without a contribution from the Champions League.

“This strong financial performance has enabled us to invest in our squad, team management and facilities to position us to challenge for, and win, trophies in the coming years.”

Commercial revenue rose 36.3 per cent to £268.3m in a year that the agreement with Adidas came into play, helping retail revenues rise 207.9 per cent.

Broadcasting revenue was up 30.4 percent to £140.4m and matchday revenues rose 17.7 percent to £106.6m.