Sydney Swans Limited today announced a profit of $846,871 for the 2014 financial year.

It is the Club’s fourth successive profit and was achieved with revenue growth of just under nine per cent to $46.5m.

Sydney Swans Chairman Andrew Pridham said by virtually all measures the Club had a great year both on and off the field.

“Whilst we didn’t achieve the ultimate success we finished the home and away season with the most wins in a season ever for this club, we were minor premiers, and we played in two home finals,” he said.

“We exceeded 40,000 members for the first time and we had average crowds of 38,716 watch our home games and a gross TV audience of over 23 million.

“The financial result was pleasing given the Club’s continuing investment in fully resourced football operations and the continuing investment in the QBE Sydney Swans Academy.

“We would not have achieved this without the continuing support of Principal Partner, QBE, and Major Partners, Citi and Volkswagen.

“We continue to provide a fully resourced Academy overseen by head coach Michael O’Loughlin, with a team of 60 coaches in the community and with over 570 boys aged nine to 13 in various Academy programs in four metropolitan and five regional locations.

“This investment returned a dividend this year with three Academy boys being drafted on to our primary list and one on to our rookie list – an amazing achievement for this non-traditional AFL state.

“Looking ahead, the Club has signed an historic 30-year agreement to play all home games at the SCG from the 2017 season. This is something our members have been telling us they want and it has been pleasing to be able to reach agreement with the SCG Trust.

“I would like to pay tribute to CEO Andrew Ireland and all of our staff for their dedication and hard work in 2014,” Pridham said.