Analysis: Schalke 04 have been forced to transform the club’s financial strategy amid relegation
Alamy
Schalke 04’s relegation in the middle of the pandemic has forced the club to sell off players, make extensive cost cuts and issue new bonds.
The impact of the relegation is clearly visible in the 39 per cent fall in turnover between the first half of 2021 before relegation and the second half of the year, when the club played in the 2. Bundesliga.
Why it matters: Schalke 04 are one of the biggest clubs in German football history finishing in the top of the league and playing European football for decades, but now finding themselves relegated to the 2. Bundesliga.
The perspective: Transforming a football club from regularly playing in the top tier to playing in the second tier is a massive task.
22 March 2022 - 1:46 PM
Last year has been among the worst ever for one of the biggest clubs in German football history.
Schalke 04 were relegated to the 2. Bundesliga in 2021 after being in the Bundesliga and performing well in European competitions for the majority of the last two decades.
However, after finishing as runners up in the 2017/2018 Bundesliga, reaching the round of 16 in the 2018/2019 Champions League and Forbes ranking them as the 14th most valuable football club with a valu
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