Are late accounts another cause for concern?

Last updated : 09 August 2020 By C. Morris

2018-19 period not yet filed

Sheffield Wednesday Football Club are late in filing their official 2018-19 financial accounts, as per the Companies House website. The accounts were due to be filed as of July 31st 2020 but a notice on Companies House states that these are listed as overdue, which could potentially lead to a small fine.

The club were late in filing the 2017-18 accounts last year, a period which included the sale of the Hillsborough stadium that was subsequently investigated under an EFL charge, leading to a 12-point deduction which will be applied next season for failing to adhere to EFL Profit and Sustainability regulations.

The EFL case was only concluded at the end of July and although this should not really have an impact on filing the following set of accounts with Companies House, the conjecture over this could have had an impact and the impact on COVID-19 in terms of evaluating current and future impact may also have caused a delay to the completion of the financial reporting.

It has been reported that the club are in dialogue with the EFL over this matter and at this time it is not a concern for them – late filing of accounts can lead to a transfer embargo being put in place until the accounts are submitted but it is not thought that this has been the case in this instance as yet due to the extenuating circumstances.