The 18 clubs that played in last season’s premier league are expected to book a combined loss of €34m according to the latest figures from the national football association KNVB, reports Friday’s Financieele Dagblad.

This would be the biggest loss since the 2003-2004 season when the clubs’ combined loss was €43m, the paper says.
The latest forecast is noteworthy because in the preceding season (2007-2008), the clubs booked a record profit of €64m. According to KNVB’s Ron Francis, this was because of a number of major transfers of players abroad.
Francis tells the paper that last season’s poor financial performance is the result of a stagnating transfer market.
The KNVB expects a 1.4% decrease in turnover for the 2008-2009 season to €416m following a record result in the preceding season of €421m, reports the FD.
Despite the expected downturn in revenues and the economic crisis, the clubs’ budgets for the coming season remain more or less intact, according to the paper.