Taylor Swift’s sway could not win a US presidential election nor save Scottish rugby from a ruinous financial year that paints a bleak picture of the future for the game in this country.

The cash injection provided by three days of Swifties piling into Murrayfield in mid-summer did help boost the Scottish Rugby Union’s (SRU) revenue up to a record £73.9m, but anyone involved in business knows the maxim “turnover is vanity, profit is sanity.”

On that basis, the SRU continues to fail and many within the organisation paid the price with compulsory job losses over the past year.

Losses soared to £11.3 million to June 2024, exacerbated by the change to a 13-month financial year to bring the SRU in line with the other home nations. That extra month’s costs at a time of little income for the organisation saw losses rise an extra £3.3m compared to a like-for-like 12-month accounting period.

Following on from a £10.5 million loss the previous year, the SRU have recognised they cannot continue to burn through the funding provided by the sale of stakes in the Six Nations and United Rugby Championship (URC) to private equity firm CVC.

A financial rest programme has been put in place which saw 35 posts targeted for redundancies to bring down costs.

“It has been recognised that the level of financial losses incurred by the business in consecutive years is not sustainable and presents a threat to the business’s long-term viability,” read one stark section of the directors’ report in the annual 2023/24 accounts.

“Whilst this does not impact on the Group as a going concern in the short-term, management has recognised the requirement to reduce the cost base of the organisation to ensure it becomes financially self-sufficient.”

Amid such a bleak set of results, the staggering sum paid to outgoing CEO Mark Dodson of £887,000, up over 25 per cent from his already bountiful £676,000 the year before, jumps off the page and no doubt down the craw of those who have lost their jobs within the organisation.

Alex Williamson, a former head of the House of Fraser group, will assume his role as the new CEO in the new year, nearly 12 months on from when Dodson announced he would be moving on.

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Williamson inherits a tough ship to turn around, even based on optimistic projections. Losses are expected to continue in the current financial year but reduced to the region of £3.8m for the next set of accounts, with the hope for a break-even position in the financial year 2025/26 and a return to profit in the following year.

That long road back to the black seems far off at the moment and ignores a series of other issues that will impact the SRU’s coffers, such as Murrayfield’s desperate need for rejuvenation and the worrying signs that the next generation of players will struggle to match even the current standards at club and international level.

A mixed bag when it comes to on-pitch performance is reflected in the numbers. The national team failed to progress from the group stages for a second consecutive World Cup, albeit that was in part due to a devilishly difficult draw alongside Ireland and eventual champions South Africa.

More disappointing was a return of just two wins and a fourth-place finish in the Six Nations, even if a fourth consecutive Calcutta Cup win over England for the first time since 1896 did soften the blow.

The big success came in the club game as Glasgow produced a stunning run to beat South African giants the Stormers and Bulls, either side of victory away at Munster, to win the first major trophy for Scottish rugby in nearly a decade by lifting the URC.

There were encouraging signs for the women’s national team as they won the inaugural WXV2 title in 2023 and finished second only to Australia earlier this year.

Ticketing revenue slumped over £7 million (2023: £23.7m) due to only two home Six Nations fixtures and also fewer home matches for World Cup preparations.

But the fact that ticket sales still account for more than broadcast or commercial income underlines the need to maintain the money-maker that is Murrayfield and a strong enough national team to entice the sellout crowds the SRU have become reliant upon.

The player development pathway in the men’s game offers little hope for the future as the under-20s endured a winless Six Nations in 2024. Dodson himself previously accepted responsibility for the struggles of Scotland’s youth set-up having “put the overall protection of the business above the need for a sustained focus on the U20s” during the impact of the Covid pandemic.

He now leaves others to pick up the pieces on and off the field.

The SRU outlined in their financial reset plan in July for “significant funds” to be invested into Murrayfield over the next two years to “cover essential remedial and customer improvement works and also to create additional revenue streams through an enhanced hospitality offer.”

As operational losses continue to mount, the only source for that investment is likely to come from further diluting the funds that came from mortgaging the future by selling off stakes in the Six Nations and the URC.

The CVC pot of gold had been reduced to £18.9 million by the end of June, down from the £29 million the SRU have so far received for the sale of its share of the 14 per cent sale of the Six Nations.

Cash in the bank has also dwindled from £20.5 million to £16.8 million over the past financial year. That will barely scratch the surface of the investment required to make the major changes Murrayfield requires to re-establish its status as a world-class sporting facility.

The SRU has been quick to quash rumours it could sell the lucrative land upon which the nation’s home of rugby sits in the heart of Edinburgh to fund a new stadium on the outskirts of the city.

If that is not the answer, even more tough decisions lie ahead of a newly assembled board to clear up the fine mess left behind by their predecessors.