City slip out of football rich list

The annual Deloitte Football Money League was revealed this week, and figures for the 2006/07 season show that we had slipped out of the top 20 after spending the previous couple of seasons amongst the big earners.

The report, based on generated revenue - match day, commercial and broadcast (as this graphic illustrates), as opposed to transfer sales, once again demonstrates the impact of TV rights, illustrates the power the Premier League clubs and Champions League qualifiers wield - and why we were an attractive proposition for Thaksin to acquire. In the top 20 there are six Premier League sides - the 'big four' plus Tottenham and Newcastle, and next seasons report predicts there could be half of the top 20 represented by the Premier League.

Although we have slipped out this year, no surprise given our lower broadcast and match day revenues from 2006/07, this year we are set to top the £100 million mark and it would be a major surprise if we did not 're-enter' close to the top ten, as the progress made on the field clearly translates into generating revenue.

The full report is definitely worth a look and is fantastically in-depth, and is downloadable from Deloitte here, and there is more over at Football Rants.