Back in January, Deloitte published its annual Football Money League table to showcase the 20 highest earning football clubs in the world based on turnover for the 2018-19 season. At the top was Barcelona with revenues of over $1 billion. Revenue growth amongst the world’s wealthiest clubs has been exponential over the last decade, a fact that’s verified by Barça’s 1997-98 turnover of $63.5 million — the sixth-highest number on the planet at the time.
Looking at the Deloitte Money League from the 1997-98 season is a fascinating exercise that shows just how far the business of football has come since the inception of the Premier League and restructuring of the Champions League in 1992.
Here’s the United Kingdom rich list from over 20 years ago.
1. Manchester United $115m
2. Newcastle $64m
3. Chelsea $62m
4. Liverpool $60m
5. Arsenal $53m
6. Rangers $43m
7. Aston Villa $42m
8. Tottenham $41m
9. Leeds United $37m
10. Celtic $36m
11. West Ham $31m
12. Everton $30m
13. Derby County $26m
14. Wimbledon $26m
15. Blackburn $25m
16. Leicester City $25m
17. Sunderland $25m
18. Middlesbrough $24m
19. Coventry City $23m
20. Sheffield Wednesday $21m
Things have changed. Manchester City has gone from not even being in the U.K.’s top 20 to being the sixth-richest club in the world. Newcastle has experienced a dramatic fall, but not nearly as much as Scotland’s Rangers (administration in 2011-12), Wimbledon FC (moved to Milton Keynes), Sunderland (third division) and the Championship quintet of Derby, Blackburn, Middlesbrough, Coventry and Sheffield Wednesday.
Here’s the world rich list from 1997-98.
1. Manchester United $115m
2. Real Madrid $94m
3. Bayern Munich $85m
4. Juventus $72m
5. Newcastle $64m
6. Barcelona $64m
7. AC Milan $64m
8. Inter $63m
9. Chelsea $62m
10. Liverpool $60m
11. Borussia Dortmund $54m
12. Lazio $54m
13. Arsenal $53m
14. Parma $44m
15. PSG $43m
16. Rangers $43m
17. Aston Villa $42m
18. Tottenham $41m
19. Roma $40m
20. Leeds United $37m
Again, Newcastle’s gone from being richer than Barcelona to not playing in the Champions League since 2003. Parma is another interesting story. The Italian side went from winning three Coppa Italias, two UEFA Cups and the European Super Cup in the 90s and early 00s to going bankrupt in 2004.
While Manchester United, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Juventus continue to sit near the top of the Money League, both PSG and Manchester City have crashed the party under new ownership while the likes of Atlético Madrid, Napoli and Lyon have established themselves as regulars on Europe’s biggest stage.
Football rich list for 2018-19
1. Barcelona $1.1 billion
2. Real Madrid $991m
3. Manchester United $931m
4. Bayern Munich $864m
5. PSG $832m
6. Manchester City $799m
7. Liverpool $791m
8. Tottenham $682m
9. Chelsea $671m
10. Juventus $602m
11. Arsenal $583m
12. Borussia Dortmund $493m
13. Atlético Madrid $481m
14. Inter $477m
15. Schalke 04 $425m
16. Roma $302m
17. Lyon $289m
18. West Ham $283m
19. Everton $279m
20. Napoli $271m
