José Castro
The Club

JOSÉ CASTRO: "THE 20/21 SEASON WAS ONE OF SUCCESS AND SPORTING GROWTH"

26/10/2021
"If we have been able to move forward with the enormous handicap of a pandemic, we can only be optimistic about the future"

The President of Sevilla FC, José Castro, opened the AGM with the first item on the agenda, the report about the social and sporting management of the 20/21 season:

"We are here today to look back on the 20/21 season, arguably the most unusual campaign we have experienced in over 100 years of our history. As we all know, football finds its greatest meaning in the passion of the fans and in the season we are analysing today, the stands were empty. I believe that this must be the starting point, therefore, for analysing the 20/21 financial year. It was very hard to play in our Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán without the encouragement of our fans. It was very hard to listen to the Himno del Centenario without it resounding in our stands. This absence of the feeling of our fans at home, and also away, was a major handicap that we had to deal with throughout the campaign, both emotionally and financially.

Despite all this, we felt the affection and excitement of our fans. In a different way, but our fans were always there. And that is something I want to thank publicly today in this forum. They were there, and always with the utmost respect for the rules and restrictions we have had to live with in order to control the pandemic. For that, to our fans, a big THANK YOU in capital letters. But the difficulty of the campaign was not only the lack of fans. The squad barely had two weeks' holiday and our international players didn't even have that, because they had to play for their national teams... Despite this, we were ambitious once again, and we were committed to reinforcing the squad with top players. A legend like Ivan Rakitic returned home, and Oscar Rodriguez, Marcos Acuna, Karim Rekik and Ousama Idrissi also arrived.

We prioritised maintaining the squad in the face of the difficult sporting situation that was on the horizon. And time has shown us that we were right, achieving the main sporting objective set at the beginning of the season: qualifying for the Champions League for another year. We achieved our objective, and we did it brilliantly, achieving our record number of points and our record number of victories in the First Division. In other words, the season we are analysing today has been the best in our history in terms of points. In fact, at times we looked like candidates for the top prize of winning LaLiga. Although we did not achieve it in the end, those weeks in April when for a moment we dreamed of the feat were truly magical.

Equally impressive were our performances in the Champions League and the Copa del Rey. In the Champions League, we again qualified for the last 16, this time after just four games played in the group stage. The first half against Borussia in our stadium was lethal, but Sevilla gave their all and fought until the very last breath for a place in the quarter-finals. We must be doing something right when in the last five seasons we have reached the last 16 of the Champions League three times. In the Copa del Rey, finally, we came close to qualifying for another final, which ended up slipping away thanks to a goal from FC Barcelona in stoppage time. The team's performance, therefore, was remarkable on all fronts, so the sporting assessment can only be satisfactory. Our coach Julen Lopetegui and his coaching staff have a lot to do with that. Lopetegui has become a fundamental part of our club. In order to underpin our sporting project, in January we managed to extend Julen's contract until 2024. Sevilla FC is fortunate to have one of the most prepared and prestigious coaches in the world and this is something that we must all value. Many times in recent months I have been asked when Sevilla will really fight for a league title. My answer is that we are on the right track.

In my eight years in office, in addition to four titles, eight European qualifications have been achieved, five of them for the Champions League. That is the path to follow: to consolidate our position in the Champions League. If we are able to play in the elite European competition for five or six seasons in a row, our budget will be consolidated at a higher level and that is when we will really have options to aspire to greater heights. Don't expect me to blow smoke and mirrors, because I never have and never will. I don't like grand headlines that lead to nothing but frustration. One step at a time is the way forward. The challenge is and must be to establish Sevilla FC's base camp in the Champions League places. We are achieving this, but we need to achieve greater continuity. Let no one be in any doubt that all levels of the club are working to achieve this.

I do not want to end this sporting review without referring to Sevilla Atlético and Sevilla FC Women. In a tremendously complex campaign in which the Second Division B was disappearing, our reserve team managed to get promoted to the RFEF First Division. It was very important to remain in the third tier of Spanish football so that our reserve team could perform in a highly competitive environment, and this was achieved. In this 21/22 season we are finding it difficult to get off to a good start, but together we will manage to stabilise the team. I am convinced of that. As for Sevilla FC Women, they managed to stay in the top flight for another year. And it was done without suffering, but with great effort. The consolidation of our team in the top-flight is a fact. That is the first step to aspire to greater goals. Great work by Cristian Toro and his girls.

Now that the sporting assessment is complete, it is time for the financial one. For the first time since I have been president, I am presenting a year with a deficit, in this case of 41.3 million euros before taxes. In the 20/21 season, LaLiga clubs made a loss of 733 million euros. It is obvious that the financial health of Sevilla FC, like the rest of the LaLiga clubs, has been seriously affected by the negative effects of the pandemic. The fact that we have had no income from season ticket holders and members has been an unprecedented negative conditioning factor. We also suffered a downward adjustment of the budgeted television revenue, European competitions and marketing. However, the few movements in the last transfer windows have also been key, as well as reluctance during the windows, which can be explained by the significant drop in income from potential buyers.

In the 18/19 season, we collected 13 million from season tickets... In 20/21, barely 155,000 euros. But even more significant is the drop in income from transfers. 56 million in 16/17, 61 in 17/18, 53.9 in 18/19 and 65.4 in 19/20... However, in 20/21 this item was reduced to 16.9 million euros. The explanation for this one-off deficit can be found in the significant drop in these items. The loss of income, in any case, is not due to decision-making, but due to an extremely adverse context that has devalued the market, in general, and left us without fans. Fortunately, the context for 21/22 is completely different. We are going to recover ticketing revenues and with the consequent improvement of the market, it will return to its natural course.

Because one thing must be clear. The Sevilla FC model is and will continue to be that of selling to grow, as this formula has made us what we are today, a big player in LaLiga and in Europe. It is what we know how to do and we will continue to do it. But when we have talked about selling our assets, we have always tried to do so by accepting the offers we have considered appropriate. In the 20/21 financial year we received significant offers for some of our players, but none of them were at an optimum market value that was really worthwhile enough to destabilise the sporting performance of our squad, bearing in mind that there was less than a month between the end of one season and the start of the next. Nobody here is non-transferable, but the departures of our stars have a minimum price that is not subject to negotiation. In other words, if the offer we receive is not considered to be out of the market, we have no hesitation in saying no to any team that comes in for one of our stars. The financial health of our club, in any case, is not compromised. Sevilla is one of the clubs that has best resisted the pandemic, to the point that our ordinary income grew by 35 million in 20/21 compared to 19/20.

Our turnover, mind you, is 170 million euros... I can boast that, during my mandate, it has more than tripled, as well as increasing our net worth by 30 million euros, which now stands at 56 million euros. It is true that there has been a reduction in the net worth compared to the previous season due to the deficit of the 20/21 season, but thanks to the good work done in my previous seven years in office, even with this deficit, we still have an enviable net worth. In this regard, I would like to remind you that before this season, my management resulted in seven surpluses amounting to 80.8 million euros. This one-off deficit, I insist, produced by the effects of the pandemic and not by bad decisions, has been a hard blow which, nevertheless, we have been able to overcome thanks to the good work carried out in previous years. And so much so that we can boast of having a squad with a market value of more than 400 million euros... In this aspect, as in ordinary income and net worth, we have also grown considerably, because in my first season the value of our squad was less than 140 million.

As President, when I say that we are ambitious, that we always want more and that what I like to do is put the money on the pitch, I say it because of things like this. We have a top-level squad, the fourth most valuable in LaLiga. Is it a coincidence? No, not at all... In my first season the investment in the first team was 51.9 million... In the season we are analysing today it is 115.3 million. That for me means ambition. Shareholders, I therefore ask you for peace of mind and confidence in the management of a Board of Directors that has more than demonstrated its ability to make our Sevilla FC grow at all levels. Our economic situation continues to be privileged and with the return to normality we can only hope for economic and, therefore, sporting growth. And I'm not saying that. LaLiga says so, because look how good our economic situation is, Sevilla FC is the second team with the highest salary limit allowed by LaLiga for the current season, only surpassed by Real Madrid and ahead of Atlético de Madrid and FC Barcelona.  Our salary limit, in fact, has increased by 20 million for this season compared to the 20/21 season that we are analysing today. In the 21/22 season, our excitement remains intact, and the objectives are once again ambitious. Qualifying for the Champions League for the third time in a row through LaLiga is a real challenge, and it is our main objective.

Our commitment to infrastructures is also exciting. Sevilla FC has been an example during the past year of this pandemic because, despite the disastrous consequences of COVID, the club has not stopped and has continued to invest in the improvement of our facilities. As you know, since I became President, one of my main objectives has been to develop our infrastructures, both at the stadium and at the Ciudad Deportiva. I believe that in the 20/21 season we have once again set an example of this investment policy, even overcoming the complex situation of the pandemic.

In addition to many other things, we have completed the comprehensive refurbishment of the offices, hospitality and interior of the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán, which, as you all know, will host the UEFA Europa League final on 18 May. The fact that a European final will be played at the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán is an outstanding success that undoubtedly enhances the commitment to modernising our facilities, as well as the prestige and weight that Sevilla FC has within UEFA. It will be a huge event for the city of Seville and we are very proud to have achieved this historic milestone. For months now, a working committee has been working closely with UEFA to make this the best UEFA Europa League final in history. And we will achieve it, because there can be no better setting for it. After all, nowhere in the world are there as many UEFA Europa League trophies as at our home. But as I said, events as important as bringing a UEFA Europa League Final to Nervión do not happen by chance...

For years, Sevilla FC has been consolidating its position as a permanent member of the main football organisations. We are ordinary members of the European Club Association, we participate at executive level in the UEFA Club Competitions Committee and in the FIFA Football Tribunal, in the LaLiga Delegate Committee, in the Board of Directors of the RFEF, in the audiovisual management body of the RFEF... We are, in short, where we have to be, to work for the benefit of the national and continental football community. Speaking of the specific weight of Sevilla FC on the football scene, I would like to highlight the presence of Sevilla FC at the UEFA Congress held last April, coinciding with the announcement of the so-called European Super League. At that forum, Sevilla FC, in direct conversations with the president of UEFA, Aleksander Ceferin, made clear its total opposition to this elitist and selfish project, which clashes head-on with meritocracy and the spirit of self-improvement that prevails in sport. Success and recognition must be earned on the field and not in the offices. And anything less is neither sport nor football.

At this point I would like to make a reflection. That Sevilla FC has achieved in recent years this historic economic growth for our club, that Sevilla FC has managed to have our stadium host a UEFA Europa League Final or that UEFA has chosen our stadium for Champions League matches, as happened last year in the quarter-final between FC Porto and Chelsea FC... That Sevilla FC, in short, has managed to be represented in the major national and international football bodies... All of this, shareholders, is no coincidence either. All this is due to the exceptional work of the professionals, executives and non-executives, who make up our club. I emphasise this idea because, as President, one could not feel more proud of the employees of this club who give their best every day to make Sevilla a greater club. And I would like to make a special mention to Domingo Pérez and Conrado Rodríguez, who, after a lifetime of dedication to Sevilla FC, are leaving us this season to enjoy their well-deserved retirement. To them, for their services and their support for this club, I ask for a big round of applause.

Returning to infrastructure, we have made a major investment in our Ciudad Deportiva to create an area for the exclusive use of the first team, with three football pitches and a high performance centre among other facilities. If all goes according to plan, the new first team area in the Ciudad Deportiva will be fully operational in the 22/23 season. Further proof that our level of investment in facilities has not let up despite the negative side effects of the pandemic. This project is one of the ones I am most proud of because we will finally make use of land in our Ciudad Deportiva that has not been exploited for more than half a century. And the investments are not going to stop, neither at the stadium nor at the Ciudad Deportiva. For some time now, we have been working on the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán of the future, studying various formulas for expansion or even the construction of a possible new stadium, always on the current site of the Sánchez-Pizjuán, and using adequate financing that does not compromise the viability of the club for the Sevillistas. We also have in mind the acquisition of new land to expand our Ciudad Deportiva. All these future challenges have been slowed down by the pandemic, but let no one doubt that we are working on them, without haste, but without pause. This level of investment has also been maintained in terms of employment, and we are also strengthening departments that place us at the forefront of national football, fundamentally for two reasons.

On the one hand, the use and processing of data for the development of all our projects: sporting and non-sporting. On the other hand, the implementation of a research and development department with which we intend to always be at the forefront in a football context such as the current one, where changes are constant and difficult to foresee in many cases. All this that I am talking about corresponds to the development of our strategic plan, which had to be revised due to the pandemic, but whose main lines remain the same: improvement of infrastructures, complete digitalisation of the entity, sustainable management, corporate social responsibility and internationalisation of our brand. And note, when I talk about internationalisation, I am talking about the presence of the Sevilla FC brand in the world. In the 20/21 season, the amount of news about our club has doubled compared to the previous year, when we were Europa League champions. Of all the news about Sevilla FC, only 21 per cent of it was published in Spain. In other words, 79 per cent of the information about Sevilla FC comes from abroad. And there is more: almost 15 per cent were published in the United States, Mexico and Brazil, and more than 10 per cent in China, India and Indonesia. All these countries are strategic objectives for the club. Our growth will undoubtedly come from establishing ourselves in countries with large populations where football has emerged as a mass sport. And the studies we are handling show us that we are on the right track.

I will conclude by summarising. The 20/21 season was one of success and sporting growth, in which we more than overcame the pandemic, even breaking records in LaLiga, although economically we suffered the terrible consequences of COVID. The path towards a greater and more recognised Sevilla is mapped out because, if we have been able to move forward with the enormous handicap of a pandemic, we can only be optimistic about the future. We have a non-negotiable roadmap, basing our sporting growth on the idea of a modern and dynamic club, at the forefront of technology and methodology... All of this with the firm objective of consolidating ourselves as a Champions League team in order to make that new sporting leap forward that we all aspire to. Because we Sevillistas know better than anyone that, although we have achieved many important things, our success story in the 21st century cannot end here. There are still chapters of glory to be written. And we will write them, let nobody doubt that.

Thank you very much, and long live Sevilla!