CLUB REVENUES: ARSENAL HAVE overtaken Chelsea in the “rich list” of European clubs, while Manchester United have dropped to third place behind Real Madrid and Barcelona.

The Deloitte Football Money League sees the two Spanish clubs secure the top spots but mainly due to the continuing decline of the pound against the euro.

The most notable change in the list, based on clubs’ revenue excluding transfer fees, sees Arsenal leapfrog Chelsea with the Gunners recording a seven per cent rise in revenue to €263 million compared to their London rivals’ €242.3 million – a three per cent fall in revenue.

Real Madrid have topped the rich list for the last five years but Barcelona’s unprecedented success last season, when they won five trophies, has seen them overtake Manchester United despite a nine per cent rise in income at Old Trafford.

Dan Jones, partner in the sports business group at Deloitte, said: “Chelsea’s revenue has dropped because last season was a bit worse than usual on the pitch, they had frozen season ticket prices and there was not a lot going on in big new commercial developments.

“Arsenal have the advantage in match-day income with a new 60,000-seater stadium and they made the semi-finals of both the Champions League and the FA Cup.

“All the English clubs were impacted by the continuing depreciation of the pound against the euro and the scale of this is shown by the fact that if exchange rates remained at their June 2007 level, United would be top of the money league table.”

Liverpool, who enjoyed an 11 per cent revenue increase, rose a place to seventh above AC Milan. There are seven English sides in the top 20 in Europe – Tottenham are 15th, Manchester City 19th and Newcastle 20th.

The two Spanish giants have one significant advantage in revenue terms in that they negotiate their own individual television rights, while the Premier League have a collective deal which is shared much more equally among all 20 clubs.

Arsenal players, manager and fans seem to have joined forces in wanting to win the Premiership title for Aaron Ramsey, who suffered a horrible injury last Saturday, at the Britannia Stadium, against Stoke City. The 19-year old is sure to miss the remaining of the season and it is no surprise that Arsene Wenger echoed the wish of all Arsenal supporters in asking his players to keep on fighting until the end and lift the Premiership title for the youngster.

Speaking to the club’s official website, Wenger added how amazing last weekend’s win was, especially when you consider the average age of his young Arsenal team.

He said:

Quote:

It will be tight until the end. But this group is so strong mentally and have a unity so this will give us one more reason to fight until the end and do it for him. We had some other problems two years ago. But on Saturday we had a midfield of Nasri, Fabregas, Ramsey, Song and Eboue. They have an average of 20 or 21-years-old. Up front, Bendtner is 21-years-old. At their age, to handle the game like they did is absolutely remarkable.