John Achterberg Questions Man City’s Commercial Revenue: ‘It Made No Sense’
The former Liverpool goalkeeping coach questioned City's commercial income as he recalled a banner covering seats at Wembley.
Former Liverpool goalkeeping coach John Achterberg has questioned Manchester City’s commercial revenues, contrasting their income with his recollection of a banner covering seats at Wembley.
Achterberg compared the clubs’ supporter bases as he recalled facing City during his time on Liverpool’s coaching staff.
In comments attributed to an interview with The Athletic’s James Pearce and reproduced by This Is Anfield, he said:
“I remember we played them at Wembley and there was a big banner covering thousands of seats as they couldn’t sell out their allocation.
“Their fanbase is nowhere near as big as Liverpool’s, but their commercial revenues were higher. It made no sense.”
What the Wembley reporting showed
Achterberg spent 15 years at Liverpool before leaving in 2024, having initially joined the club’s backroom staff in 2009.
The photograph accompanying This Is Anfield’s report shows a large City banner covering seats before the FA Cup semi-final against Liverpool at Wembley on 16 April 2022. Achterberg’s quoted comments do not specify the match date.
Contemporary reporting supports the presence of the banner, although it differs from his recollection on the scale and explanation.
Sporting News described it as covering hundreds of seats and said it was unclear whether City had failed to sell their allocation.
Supporters also faced significant travel disruption that weekend. Network Rail warned that engineering works meant there were no direct trains from Liverpool or Manchester to London Euston, with both clubs’ fans advised to avoid travelling by rail.
That provides relevant context, without establishing why the seats beneath the banner were empty.
How the commercial revenues compared
Published accounts provide a historical example of City reporting more commercial income than Liverpool.
For 2020–21, City recorded commercial revenue of £271.7m. Liverpool reported £217.6m for its financial year ending 31 May 2021 — a difference of £54.1m.
Those figures had been publicly reported before the Wembley semi-final. However, Achterberg did not identify an accounting year in the quoted passage, so they cannot be presented as the specific figures he meant.
His comparison expresses his view of the clubs’ relative support and income. The accounts establish the revenue difference; the Wembley banner alone does not explain it.
