Revealed: North West football clubs pull in £1.4bn revenue

Despite having some of the highest wage bills in English football, the North West’s Premier League teams trump those based in other parts of the country when it comes to profitability.

According to the 25th Annual Review of Football Finance, Manchester United and Manchester City paid out £204m and £194m in wages during the 2014/15 year, behind only Chelsea at £217m. Liverpool, meanwhile, were the division’s fifth highest spenders with a wage bill of £167m.

Despite the lavish spending, Manchester United’s operating profit, at £109m, was the highest in the Premier League, followed by rivals Manchester City with £74m. Liverpool, with an operating profit of £62m, and Burnley at £41m also ranked highly, coming in third and fifth respectively.

In total the North West’s five Premier League clubs, which between them employ more than 4,000 people full time, accounted for 55% of the division’s overall operating profit.

Looking at the bigger picture, the 19 Premier League and Football League clubs based across the North West generated a combined revenue of around £1.4bn in the 2014/15 year.

The report, published by professional service giant Deloitte’s Sports Business Group, found that the region’s clubs accounted for more than a third of the £4.1bn total generated by English football’s top 92 clubs.

According to Sports Business Group, the North West’s five Premier League clubs hit a combined revenue of £1.25bn, which is 37% of the division’s total, and paid out £671m in wages. Of those, four featured in the top 10 for revenue – Manchester United in first place, with £395m; Manchester City in second place, with £353m; Liverpool fifth with £298m; and Everton eighth with £126m.

Burnley, meanwhile, generated a revenue of £79m in the 2014/15 year and ranked 20th.