Real Madrid remained the world's richest club and
English clubs were hit by the declining value of the pound,
according to an annual survey by accountancy firm Deloitte released
on Thursday.
Manchester United may be champions of Europe and about to
reveal record profits - but they still lag behind Real Madrid in
the list of the world's richest clubs.
The strength of the euro against the pound has helped Real
Madrid maintain their position at the top, despite a 21% increase
in revenue for United, according to the Deloitte Football Money
League.
Barcelona are third in the list, while Bayern Munich have
climbed above Chelsea (fifth) and Arsenal (sixth) to be fourth.
United are due to announce their figures shortly, but Deloitte
are predicting the club will reveal revenue of £257million in
2007/08 compared to £210million in the previous 12 months.
Dan Jones, partner in the Sports Business Group at Deloitte,
said: "Real Madrid's 4% revenue growth is more modest than recent
years, but the club have doubled their revenues since 2002 and have
a lead of £32.5m over Manchester United.
"Manchester United's success in winning the Premier League and
Champions League has contributed to significantly-increased revenue
in 2007/08, but the depreciation of the pound against the euro
means they remain in second position."
All the English clubs suffered from the currency issue -
Barcelona's revenue increased by only 6%, while Chelsea and Arsenal
enjoyed rises of 11.5% and 18% respectively yet both Premier
Leagues sides saw themselves fall a place. Liverpool, however, have
gone up a place to seventh with a 25% rise in turnover.
Jones added: "If the value of the pound had not depreciated,
there would have been nine, rather than seven English clubs in the
top 20 - and Manchester United would have topped the Money League
ahead of Real Madrid."
Fenerbahce became the first Turkish club to feature in the
ranking since its creation in 1996-97. Bayern Munich, whose
revenues were boosted by the club acquiring the entire ownership of
its home ground, climbed three places to fourth, reaching the top
places for the first time in five years.
English clubs should continue to feature heavily in the list in
future years following last week's announcement by the Premier
League of a slight increase in domestic broadcast rights to
£1.78billion for 2010-2013. Overseas rights are expected to
increase even further.
Celtic, Valencia and Werder Bremen however, have
dropped out of the top 20 clubs in the Money League - and
Manchester City have come in.
Deloitte Football Money League (2007/08
revenue)
1 (last year - 1) Real Madrid £289.6m
2 (2) Manchester United £257.1m
3 (3) FC Barcelona £244.4m
4 (7) Bayern Munich £233.8m
5 (4) Chelsea £212.9m
6 (5) Arsenal £209.3m
7 (8) Liverpool £167.0m
8 (6) AC Milan £165.8m
9 (11) AS Roma £138.9m
10 (9) Internazionale £136.9m
11 (12) Juventus £132.6m
12 (13) Lyon £123.3m
13 (16) Schalke 04 £117.5m
14 (10) Tottenham £114.8m
15 (15) Hamburg £101.3m
16 (19) Marseille £100.4m
17 (14) Newcastle £99.4m
18 (-) Stuttgart £88.3m
19 (-) Fenerbahce £88.1m
20 (-) Manchester City £82.3m
