Newcastle United 20th in rich list league

Mar 3 2010 by Iain Laing, The Journal

NEWCASTLE United have been named the twentieth richest club in Europe.

United fell three places from 17th, based on data relating to the 2008/9 season but despite that, it remains one of only seven English clubs on the list published by accountants Deloitte.

Figures reveal the Magpies’ revenue grew by £12.3m to £99.4m but because of the pound’s poor exchange rate, that amounted to a decrease when measured in euros.

Describing United’s position in the football money league, a Deloitte spokesman said: “Average league attendances in 2007/08 still exceeded 50,000 but uncertainty about the future ownership of the club and disappointing on-pitch displays have seen the average league match attendances for the first half of 2008/9 dip below 48,000.

“Newcastle’s long-standing partnership with Adidas and its shirt sponsorship with Northern Rock contributed to commercial revenue of £25.9. This too is down on the previous season.

“In May 2008, Northern Rock announced that it would honour its contract with the club, despite the bank being taken under Government ownership.

“2008/09 is the fifth consecutive season in which there has been a change of manager at Newcastle with Joe Kinnear having taken over following Kevin Keegan’s departure in September 2008. Mike Ashley has now taken the club off the market and it will be hoped that stability, on and off the pitch, will improve the club’s football and financial results.”

The Toon are likely to drop out of the top 20 next year, with the Northern Rock sponsorship deal worth £10m over the next four years.

Television income will also have fallen as a result of demotion to the second tier of English football. But, the Magpies were one of only three clubs to make the top 20, despite not playing in Europe. The main reason for that is its strong matchday income, even with average attendances falling below 50,000 for the first time in years.

However, early exits in both cup competitions, meant just 21 home fixtures were played and matchday revenue actually fell to £32.4m.

The rich list is topped by Real Madrid, with revenue of £341.9m, followed by their arch-rivals Barcelona, with £311.7m. Arsenal have overtaken Chelsea in the league table, which relates only to European clubs, while Manchester United fell to third.

The Gunners saw a 7% rise in revenue, explained by their move to the Emirates stadium. Don Jones, of 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 matchday income with a new 60,000-seater stadium and they made the Champions League and FA Cup semi-finals.”

The spokesman added: “All English clubs were impacted by the continuing depreciation of the pound against the Euro. If exchange rates remained at their June 2007 level, Manchester United would be top of the money league table.”