LONDON, June 1 (Reuters) - Players' wages in the English Premier
League fell for the first time in the 2004/05 season, according to
consultants Deloitte.
The Deloitte Annual Review of Football Finance, released on
Thursday, found that Premiership wage costs fell three percent
after rising by 20 percent each year on average in the past
decade.
"Our latest analysis further supports the improving balance between
revenue and costs, not just in England but also across Europe,"
said Deloitte partner Dan Jones.
"The need to 'save clubs from themselves' with a salary cap now
seems far less important than it did five years ago."
Premier League clubs remained by far the biggest earners in world
soccer and were the most profitable in Europe, generating more than
1.3 billion pounds ($2.44 billion) in revenue.
The big five leagues in England, Italy, Spain, Germany and France
generated revenues of 6.3 billion euros ($8.11 billion), a growth
of eight percent over the previous year.
However, only clubs in the Premier League (240 million euros) and
the Bundesliga (65 million euros) posted operating profits in
2004/5.
Big-spending champions Chelsea, bankrolled by Russian billionaire
Roman Abramovich, and Fulham were the only clubs to report
operating losses in England's top flight.
"Clubs are adopting a much more realistic attitude in terms of
wages, much more flexible wage bill, the use of loan players,
increased performance-dependent elements," Deloitte's senior
consultant Alan Switzer told Reuters.
"There's been an increasing polarisation in terms of the top
players earning more and commanding higher transfer fees, and the
majority of players who are getting smaller transfer fees and
potentially lower wages."
Manchester United reported English football's highest operating
profits although they fell from a record 52 million pounds in
2003/04 to 33 million. Liverpool's 2005 Champions League success
boosted their profits to 25 million pounds.
The average Premier League club generated revenue of 67 million
pounds, up from 66 million in 2003/04 and compared to just 13
million for first division clubs.
"If you strip out Chelsea, the 20 Premiership clubs on aggregate
are estimated to be breaking even at a pretax profit level and that
is first time they have done that since 1988-89," said Switzer. The
Premier League was established in 1992.
The 'Big Five' leagues accounted for 54 percent of the revenues in
the 7.8 billion pound European market, with Italy generating 0.9
billion, Germany 0.8, Spain 0.7 and France 0.5.
Deloitte warned that, for many leagues, a significant percentage of
revenue was generated by a handful of wealthy clubs which was also
reflected in on-field performance.
Switzer said Barcelona and Real Madrid contributed 47 percent of
the Spanish league's revenues.
"European football's stakeholders need to monitor the competitive
balance, both within leagues and between leagues, in order to
ensure that interest in competitions is maintained going forward,"
the review said.