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Dundee FC: Inside look at finances of the Dark Blues

We will take an in-depth look at three indicators to examine Dundee's financial health.

Dens Park
Dens Park, the current home of Dundee FC. Image: Mark Scates/SNS

Dundee FC are the city’s oldest club, but they have had to survive some financial battles to still be alive today.

The Dark Blues enjoyed an illustrious history – with the highs of their European Cup exploits in the 1960s – before the lows of administration in the 2000s.

There were fears Dee could go bust as debts topped £20 million.

But, backed by supporters, Dundee made it through.

And they have been under the ownership of Tim Keyes and John Nelms since 2013.

Football Partners Scotland LP, owned by the Keyes family, acquired a 75% majority stake in 2019 and plays a crucial role in covering Dee’s costs.

Like every football club covered by The Courier, Dundee’s fiscal health is of huge interest to their supporters.

That is why our data, football and business teams have joined forces to track three key financial performance indicators at Dens Park.

Has the club recorded a net profit or loss?

Dundee have only recorded a profit after tax once over the last decade.

That was for the year ending May 2021 when the Dark Blues posted a net profit of £74,279, despite the impact the Covid pandemic had on football across the globe.

Dundee FC attributed the finance boost to “prudent business decisions” and an insurance plan for if their business was ever interrupted.

However, it was immediately followed by a loss after tax the following season even though they were back in the top flight.

A return to the Championship in the 2022/23 season saw the largest annual loss since 2014/15.

Another loss followed in the year ending 2024, with the club citing an increase in investment, including in staffing.

What is turnover like?

Turnover shows how much money is coming into the football club.

However, Dundee FC have not consistently made this figure public.

The club only files accounts for a small company which require less information to be published.

Companies can file these abridged accounts if they meet two of three conditions. Since April 2025, those are a turnover of under £15 million, £7.5 million or less on the balance sheet, or have under 50 employees.

Up until this year, turnover needed to be under £10.2m and the balance sheet total under £5.1m.

Yet, some clubs still published their latest accounts in full despite meeting two of those conditions like St Johnstone.

Others, like Aberdeen FC, exceed the turnover limit, while Dundee United have more than £5.1m on their balance sheet.

Prior to 2019/20, the Dark Blues published the full financial statements.

When The Courier approached the club for the missing turnover information, a spokesperson said all publicly available financial information is published on their site.

We were therefore unable to find figures on turnover for the financial years ending 2020, 2021 and 2024.

Of the years where turnover is publicly available, the highest recorded figure was £4.9m in 2021/22.

Revenue dropped by £1.7m the following year when Dundee recorded their largest loss in the past decade.

At the time, Dundee FC said this result was expected due to “a Premiership budget with a Championship income”.

Wages-to-turnover ratio

The Dee explanation above is reflected in the wages-to-turnover ratio for that year.

This metric is a key way of monitoring financial health and shows what percentage of revenue is used for staff costs.

It soared to 108% in the year ending 2023 – up from 73% in the year ending 2022.

Staff costs dropped by £117,447 during the club’s triumphant 2022/23 campaign in the Championship.

But competing in the lower division meant a drop in turnover and the ratio rose significantly.

The wages-to-turnover ratio also spiked in the year running up to May 2019.

Turnover fell year-on-year in those accounts by more than half a million.

That was compounded by staff costs rising by nearly the same amount as the club tried, and failed, to avoid relegation from the Scottish Premiership during the 2018/19 season.

As a result staff costs ended up surpassing the amount of money brought into the club.

But the £3.9m spent on staff that season was not the highest annual expense in the data available.

In the latest accounts, for 2023/24, the staff costs increased by more than a million to £4.5m.

Keyes and Nelms set up a separate company, Dark Blue Property Holdings, for the club’s new stadium project at Camperdown Park.


This article will be updated each year when Dundee FC publish their financial statements.

Please let us know your thoughts on the format in the comments – we welcome your feedback.

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