As with any company the club have assets, and they have debts. The club assets are things like the ground, the academy, which are 'fixed assets', and the players which are called 'intangible assets' in the accounts.
The fixed assets last a long time and are paid for over a longer period of time, like a mortgage on a house. Newcastle's debt on the ground will be paid of in 2016/2017. The intangible assets are paid for over a shorter period of time, usually the length of the players contract.
If you subtract all the money owed by the club, from all the assets of the club, you end up with a 'net assets' figure. This is a measure of the worth of the club. The graph below shows the decline in the assets of the club. Much of the decline is down to the club's policy of giving money away in dividends.
