West Bromwich Albion President and Sporting Director Andrew Nestor provides supporters with a club update ahead of the winter transfer window.
Dear supporters,
As we approach the end of Bilkul Football's first full year as custodians of West Bromwich Albion and look ahead to 2026, we wanted to take this opportunity to reflect on progress made since our first transfer window during Summer 2024 and share perspective on the coming months ahead.
We appreciate it’s not been easy as a Baggies fan in recent years. Following the takeover, we were aware that the club’s parent company West Bromwich Albion Group Limited was on an unchangeable path to a £37.6m loss that would impact our Profit and Sustainability (P&S) position over a three-year period, and preventing administration was just the first challenge in protecting the future of the club. Much change has been necessary on the sporting side, including the sale of players that, in our preferred approach, we would not have let go, or have had to sell sooner than we would have preferred, however, we have continued to push for the maximum value and every player we have parted with has left for the highest bid the club received.
We have tried to keep fans updated throughout this process as best that we can and have had to balance this by not disclosing anything that could damage our ability to buy and sell players in the transfer market above and beyond what was already public.
Patience has certainly been tested but also necessary due to the sacrifices we’ve needed to make to get to where we are now. This process has not just been one of player trading, but of changing the club’s strategy and culture to be positioned for a positive future.
Although we can now see light at the end of this tunnel and we are excited about the core of our squad now, it is important that we highlight our journey since February 2024:
West Bromwich Albion Group Limited losses for the 2023/24 season alone were £37.6 million. To put that into context, the EFL’s P&S loss threshold for clubs at the time was £39 million over a three-year period.
Following the 2023/24 season, the club was required to make cumulative trading gains of more than £33 million to fix its P&S position because of historical financial mismanagement. Without taking swift action, this inherited P&S deficit could have put the club on course to produce one of the largest financial breaches in EFL history. The prospect of transfer embargoes and points deductions since takeover during both summer 2024 and 2025 were genuine concerns.
It was still essential we continued to invest to evolve the playing squad into one that could take us forward in the long run. These decisions enabled the club to move back toward P&S compliance while also efficiently acquiring 11 permanent signings for fees.
The club faced a significant P&S deficit heading into summer 2024 and an even larger deficit heading into summer 2025. In each of these seasons, we have worked as close to our P&S limits as we responsibly can to both resolve P&S overruns and make investments in key players with long-term value, making each trade vital
- In just three transfer windows we have transformed a squad that was the oldest in the division based on minutes played and amongst the most expensive in terms of player costs into a younger squad with substantially higher long-term value and a growing cohesiveness that fits the style of play we are building toward, setting the club on a course for future financial stability and a platform to compete for promotion.
As a result of the decisions taken during this period, and the 2023/24 losses rolling off, it is expected that the club will be in a strong position in regard to financial regulations and compliance heading into fiscal year 2026/27, allowing the club to build and invest without compliance as a primary concern. This is significant as the club has a path to sustainability without the benefit of Premier League revenue or parachute payments for the first time since we originally ascended to the Premier League in 2001/02.
We are pleased with the players acquired over this period that will act as key building blocks for our future, utilising a global scouting approach to create the nucleus of a strong squad rooted in a defined game model under strict financial limitations. And we are focused on addressing squad depth and balance going forward without the same financial pressures that have existed up until now. Of course, we must also remain mindful of what we are spending, to ensure mistakes are never repeated.
The key to getting the club back onto a solid footing has mainly been how we have operated in the transfer market. The average age of players in our existing squad has dropped from 30 to 25.9, and squad market value has been greatly increased. This has been done whilst reducing player costs by more than 20 per cent. Furthermore, beginning in the 2026/27 season, we now have a first team and academy aligned with our overall game model and philosophy and are in a position to further address squad balance and depth.
In addition to the first team, a total of 26 young players have signed contracts ensuring a pipeline for future player development.
All of this has not come without its challenges. Unfortunately, this does mean our trading in January 2026 will again face strict P&S limitations as it is still part of the 2025/26 fiscal year. However, like in the three previous windows we will continue to work hard to examine opportunities that exist within the market, despite navigating razor thin P&S margins.
Player trading alone will never afford us the opportunity to push on from where we find ourselves now. We must ensure we are generating revenue from other sources besides player sales to prosper in an extremely competitive Championship and push for our aim of returning the club to the Premier League.
To deliver this, Bilkul Football has adopted a holistic approach to building future success and this has led us to embark on a restructure throughout the sporting and non-sporting departments.
Since summer 2025, a reorganisation and expansion of the non-sporting senior management team has occurred across finance and administration, marketing, operations and commercial. The changes and new hirings we have and will make are all focused on creating a better fan experience and deepening the connection between the club and our supporters. The appointment of a Chief Business Officer will come in Spring 2026 with a focus on enhancing the club's revenue growth and financial competitiveness relative to our peers in the Championship. While we focus on growth areas, we have also appointed a Senior Director of Football Finance focused specifically on ensuring financial compliance and best practices.
On the sporting side, we have undergone an 18-month long reorganisation and enhancement of various departments including Medical & Sports Performance, Performance Analysis, Scouting and Data as well as new coaching structures for our Men’s First Team, PL2, and U18s.
This evolution of our sporting department also includes a process that began in September 2025 to recruit a Technical Director - a newly-formed role within the club who will work alongside sporting leadership focussing on further evolution of the club's game model, squad planning and balance, academy operations and player pathways, and technology and performance analysis innovation.
The turnover in personnel for our Men’s First Team has been considerable in the past 18 months, and we believe we need to apply patience in our planning to allow the playing and coaching staff to settle. Time and consistency are important ingredients for success, particularly after periods of sweeping change.
The solutions we have implemented are with a long-term view and we hope to see greater benefits from this in the months ahead. We are not interested in change for the sake of change, and we remain committed to our process, entrusting individuals with high integrity, skill and work ethic to move us forward.
We appreciate the support we have received to get the club to where we are now and are looking forward for what is to come in 2026.
Thank you for sticking with us as we continue to embark on this journey. Your support is never taken for granted and makes a huge difference to all of us at the club.
From everyone at West Bromwich Albion, we wish you all well over the festive period and a happy and healthy new year.
