Albion have revealed they made a profit of £24.1 million last season.

That represents a major turnaround from a loss of £50.4 million in the previous campaign.

It is the first time they have returned a profit since their opening season in the Premier League in 2017-18.

Figures are for the 2021-22 campaign, in which fans returned after Covid restrictions and cheered the club to a best-ever ninth-placed finish in the Premier League.

Chairman and club owner Tony Bloom, who has bank-rolled the club to the tune of more than £400 million, has described the results as “really encouraging”.

Player sales and the return of fans to the Amex are the key reasons for that transformation.

The numbers include big money sales of Ben White to Arsenal and Dan Burn to Newcastle as well as compensation received from Toon for technical director Dan Ashworth.

But they do NOT include sales of Marc Cucurella, Yves Bissouma, Neal Maupay or Leandro Trossard or £21.5 million received from Chelsea for Graham Potter and his coaching staff.

Albion banked an extra £14 million last season for climbing from 16th in the table to ninth.

The club have long-term goals of being established in the top ten of the men’s game and the top four of women’s football.

They are also aiming for a position where they no longer need to rely on Bloom’s generosity to make-up financial shortfalls.

Bloom said: “Overall, these accounts show a good profit for the period, and this is really encouraging that in a season where we impressed on the field, we also delivered good results off it.

“Alongside our top-ten/top-four vision; we also want to be sustainable, so this is an encouraging set of results and bodes well for the future.”

The figures showed Albion made a profit of almost £9 million on player trading compared to a deficit of £49 million the previous season.

The improved league position also led to outlay in increased bonuses.

Operational costs rose 56.5%, largely due to full crowds returning.

Investment in Albion’s women’s team increased by £600,000 to £2.8 million.

The return of fans meant Albion’s matchday income for the season was £20.6 million - or about £1 million per game - compared to just £500,000 in total the previous year.

Figures also underlined the massive importance of broadcast revenue, which rose to £126.2 million last season.

Turnover for the period was up by 19.6% to £174.5 million.