Aberdeen F.C annual report - year ending 30th June 2025

A detailed analysis of Aberdeen's £2.1m loss after revenue falls & expenses rise. On the plus side, the Dons generated £20m+ for just the second time in history - even without European football

Click here for all other financial analysis articles, however at the start of each 2025 article I will link directly to the financial analysis of other clubs:
Rangers, Celtic, Dundee United F.C, Queen of the South, Premiership Radars (2024) , Celtic’s player trading strategy, The SFA, The SPFL (prizemoney), Motherwell F.C (2024), Hibernian(2024), Aberdeen (2024), Hearts (2024), Rangers (2024), SPFL (2024)

REVENUE

Revenue reported since 2016 by each of the clubs vying to become the “third force” - Hibs are yet to report their 24/25 figures.

Aberdeen have recorded £21.7m in revenue, breaking the £20m mark for only the second time in their history. Excluding the Old Firm, only Aberdeen (twice) and Hearts (three times) have ever recorded that level of revenue in Scotland. Alan Burrows was appointed Aberdeen CEO in February 2023 and so to achieve this revenue growth in his two full seasons at the helm is an impressive achievement.

Aberdeen’s revenue has grown substantially over the past two years.

Of course in Burrows’ first year, part of the growth can be explained by the £5m+ in additional revenue guaranteed by Conference League group stage qualification, a sharp rise from the £331,000 in UEFA solidarity payments received the year before (22/23).

However, given the financial year in question (24/25) had no European football, it means that Aberdeen’s non-European revenue actually rose by £3.5m. This is a very impressive increase in Scottish football terms, and we can also expect that next year’s turnover - which will contain a return to Conference League phase football - will rise to a new record high.

Although their 5th place Scottish Premiership finish was ultimately a disappointment, it was actually an improvement on the previous season’s disastrous campaign in which the Dons finished 7th. A higher league finish means more prize money from the SPFL, and so Aberdeen earned an estimated £2.4m for finishing 5th compared to the £1.9m they’d have earned for finishing 7th a year prior.

Last season’s expected SPFL prize money distribution for all 42 clubs. Aberdeen earned an estimated £2.4m from the SPFL; less than half the £5m they can expect as a result of Conference League qualification.

The growth in non-European revenue mainly came from commercial gains - with Aberdeen growing their official partnerships by 20% year on year.