A FOOTBALL finance expert believes Oxford United will be overperforming if they manage to reach the Sky Bet League One play-offs.

The U’s are currently sixth in the third tier, and two points clear of Lincoln City, ahead of a crunch week which sees Des Buckingham’s side welcome fellow promotion hopefuls Peterborough United, Lincoln and Stevenage to Grenoble Road across a six-day period.

At the end of March, the club’s annual report and unaudited financial statements for the year ending June 30, 2023, were published on Companies House.

The documents showed that United made a loss of more than £6 million for the 2022/23 financial year, with the £6.18m loss an increase of more than £2m compared to the previous financial year, when it stood at £4.13m.

READ AGAIN: Oxford United report loss of more than £6m for financial year

Football finance expert Kieran Maguire told this newspaper: “For every £100 the U’s generated from matchday, TV and broadcast income in 2022/23, the club spent £200 on wages and overheads.

“It’s good to see revenue nudging up over £7m but that is still modest by the standards of some of the big hitters we have seen in League One in recent years, such as Sheffield Wednesday [£19m] and Derby County [£20m].

“If the club wants to compete at the top end of the table, then player costs are going to be key, and it is almost impossible for a club such as the U’s to match the other budgets.

“The club appears therefore to give the coach a mid-tier budget and try then to overperform to get into the play-offs.”

Oxford Mail:

Asked about the £6m loss for the most recent financial year, and how it compares to other sides in the third tier, Maguire responded: “We have seen some big losses recorded in League One for last season, with Shrewsbury Town at £3m, Derby £10m, and Sheffield Wednesday £6m.

“Even so, losing over £100,000 a week is concerning as the circumstances of the owner may change or the desire to cover the losses may cease, as we seen at clubs as diverse as Chelsea, Scunthorpe United, Bury, Derby and Everton.

“The U’s have done well with player sales to reduce the losses a wee bit, which is impressive by League One standards, with player sale profits of over £1.5m in each of the last four seasons.

“Even so the overall losses have crept up to over £31m and the club is reliant on owners funding those losses through loans.

“It’s good to see the loans are interest-free, and £2m of loans were effectively written off by being converted into shares at the end of last season.”

Maguire, who lectures at the University of Liverpool, co-hosts The Price of Football podcast alongside comedian Kevin Day.