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Real Madrid have retained their place as the world’s biggest football club based on revenue, according to the Football Money League from Deloitte.

Real are closesly followed by arch-rials Barcelona, who have has seen a transformation in revenues since 2002/03. 

Dan Jones, Partner in the Sports Business Group at Deloitte, commented: “Spain reign in the Money League this year, with Real Madrid keeping their number one spot and Barcelona moving up to four places to number two.”

“The two clubs have had contrasting strategies, with Real focussing on driving commercial revenue from recruiting its Galactico players and Barcelona having a more balanced revenue profile. With both the Spanish giants predicting revenues of over €300m in 2006/07 we may well see the same two clubs at the top of the Money League in 2006/07.”

The total revenue of the Top 20 clubs was over €3.3 billion in 2005/06. 

“Football remains a growth sport, especially at the highest level,” Jones added. “The continued high level of public and commercial interest is reflected by another year of strong growth.  The global market has become increasingly important for more European clubs.”

The global Top 20 is populated by European clubs, with English clubs occupying eight of the positions, Italian clubs four positions, three from Germany, two from Spain, and one club from each of Scotland, France and Portugal. 

England’s highest representative is Manchester United, who slip from second to fourth place this year. 

Deloitte’s Paul Rawnsley commented “Manchester United may be in fourth position this year, but with the completion of their stadium development we can expect them to move back up the list in 2006/07. It is also notable that United remain the most profitable club football operation in the world.”

Position (prior year position)   Club    Revenue (£m)    Revenue (€m)
1 (1)   Real Madrid     202.0   292.2  
2 (6)   Barcelona       179.1   259.1  
3 (4)   Juventus        173.7   251.2  
4 (2)   Manchester United       167.8   242.6  
5 (3)   Milan        165.0   238.7  
6 (5)   Chelsea 152.8   221.0  
7 (9)   Internazionale  142.8   206.6  
8 (7)   Bayern Munich   141.5   204.7  
9 (10)  Arsenal 133.0   192.4  
10 (8)  Liverpool       121.7   176.0  
11 (15) Lyon     88.3    127.7  
12 (11) Roma 87.8    127.0  
13 (12) Newcastle United        85.9    124.3  
14 (14) Schalke 04      84.9    122.9  
15 (13) Tottenham Hotspur      74.1    107.2  
16 (n/a) Hamburg      70.4    101.8  
17 (17) Manchester City 61.8    89.4   
18 (n/a) Rangers 61.2    88.5   
19 (n/a) West Ham United 60.1    86.9   
20 (n/a) Benfica 58.8    85.1   

Source: Deloitte Football Money League


Man Utd maintained their 6 point lead at the top of the Premiership by beating Spurs 4-0. Click here for latest Premiership odds!