The eighteen football clubs in the Netherlands premier division made a combined loss of €58.6m last season, the clubs’ umbrella company Eredivisie CV said on Thursday.

Nine clubs were responsible for the losses and the total is down 18% on the previous season, the paper said.
The loss is partly due to the collapse of the international transfer market. Salaries fell 7% while total revenues were up 2.6% at €431m.
Nevertheless, Eredivisie chief executive Fred Rutten said he was not unhappy about the results. ‘We know we need a few years to get out of the red,’ he told the Volkskrant. ‘Clubs have made multi-year contracts and they can’t be broken open just like that.’
According to the Telegraaf, the first division, known as the Jupiler League after its beer sponsor, made a profit of €5.7m, thanks largely to transfers, the paper said.