Deloitte’s Dan Jones blames mismanagement on the financial woes of some of England’s biggest football clubs.

Real Madrid has held on to the number one position for the fifth year in a row in a list compiled by Deloitte’s Sports Division which looks at the largest revenue-generating football clubs.

Spanish football giant Real Madrid has also become the first team in any sport to record revenues in excess of €400 million (£340m) in a single year. Deloitte’s analysis of clubs’ relative financial performance covers the 2008/9 season.

Partner in the Sports Business Group, Dan Jones, said that the club has profited from an increase in broadcast revenue, which for the year stood at €161m, greater than the total revenue of all the clubs outside of the top ten. Without this, it would have been in a far lower position ,given that the club experienced a relatively disappointing season.

The Deloitte Football Money League Top 10:

1. Real Madrid £341.9m
2. FC Barcelona £311.7m
3. Manchester United £278.5m
4. Bayern Munich £246.6m
5. Arsenal £224.0m
6. Chelsea £206.4m
7. Liverpool £184.8
8. Juventus £173.1m
9. Internazionale £167.4m
10. AC Milan £167.4m

Other UK teams in the top 20 included Tottenham, Manchester City and Newcastle United.

Alan Switzer, Director of the Sports Business Group, said: “Real Madrid and FC Barcelona have created a clear revenue gap between themselves and their European competitors, and look set to contest the top two positions in the Money League for the foreseeable future, particularly if the pound doesn’t strengthen against the Euro.”

Manchester United will be disappointed to have dropped to third position behind FC Barcelona which experienced “unprecedented on-pitch success” for the season, winning a domestic double and taking the Champions League title.

Rumours have been rife this week over a possible buyout of the UK’s Premier League team by a consortium of financiers – dubbed the “Red Knights” as supporters continue to become disgruntled with the club’s high level of debt under the Glazer’s ownership.

According to news reports, the group, which includes Goldman Sachs economist Jim O’Neill, lawyer Mark Rawlinson and financier Keith Harris, met to discuss a billion-pound takeover of the club, which has today been rebuffed by the Glazer family.

Dan Jones said that it was this sort of off-pitch news which was unsettling some of the English football teams’ finances. “Whilst there has been much recent comment on the finances of English football clubs, we believe the fundamentals of football remain strong.”

He concluded: “Financial problems experienced at the very highest level are far more likely to be a result of mismanagement, weak cost control or a lack of available credit than any problems with revenue generation.”