Rugby League's Biggest Employer Posted Its Heaviest Loss and Missed the Play-off Semis

In the 2024 Super League season covered by these accounts, St Helens finished 6th on 30 points and were eliminated from the play-offs in the eliminator round, beaten by Warrington in golden-point extra time after a 22–22 draw. For a club that dominated Super League only a couple of seasons earlier, a finish outside the top five and an early play-off exit marked a clear step back on the field.

The accounts tell a matching story off it. Turnover of around £9m was down roughly 5.6% on the year, the steepest disclosed revenue fall in this dataset, while staff costs of about £6m amounted to roughly two-thirds of everything the club brought in. The result was a loss before tax of around £3.5m, the heaviest disclosed loss anywhere in this data.

Net assets came in at only around £0.5m, an exceptionally thin buffer for a club of St Helens' size, and by far the biggest outlier in the numbers is the workforce: 565 employees, more than three times the next largest club in this data. That is likely to include a broad base of matchday, community and commercial staff rather than just the playing squad, but it still makes St Helens the largest employer in the competition by a wide margin.

A shrinking top line, a heavy loss and a wafer-thin net asset position, at a club still carrying the biggest headcount in the league, is a combination worth watching closely in next year's filing.

Turnover vs wages vs bottom line

Two-thirds of turnover went on wages, and the club still posted the heaviest loss in this dataset.