Source: Northern_Echo
Magpies retain spot in soccer's rich list
NEWCASTLE United has kept its place on football's rich list despite being relegated from the Premier League.[LNB] The Magpies appear in 20th place in the latest Football Money League, published by business advisors Deloitte.[LNB] The league is based on figures from 2008/09 - the season which saw the club dropping out of the countrys top tier after finishing 18th.[LNB] In this year, Newcastle had a revenue of £86m.[LNB] The club remained on the list of the worlds 20 richest clubs despite its income falling more than £13m from the previous year, when it was three places higher in 17th place.[LNB] Mark Roberts, senior manager with Deloitte, said: "This was the year Newcastle were relegated, but two factors still stand out.[LNB] "The first is that attendances were still around 50,000.[LNB] "In European terms that's a huge audience - obviously coming from that is a huge match day revenue."[LNB] According to Mr Roberts, Newcastle's revenue from games was the tenth highest in the world.[LNB] He added: "The second factor is the broadcasts. They were featured in 20 lives games - the third highest in the Premier League.[LNB] "This earned the club £38m."[LNB] All of this years top 20 clubs were from the five major European leagues with Germany contributing five clubs, Italy four, and France and Spain represented by two clubs each.[LNB] Real Madrid remained at the head of the league.[LNB] Barcelona moved into second as Manchester United slipped to third.[LNB] Six other English clubs made the top 20 - Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Tottenham, Manchester City and Newcastle.[LNB] However, relegation means the North-East club is unlikely to appear on next year's list.[LNB] "The parachute payments will not make up for the lost broadcast revenue and fall in attendances," said Mr Roberts.[LNB] Although the club still regularly appears live on BBC and Sky, he said the income from these games was not in the same "quantum" as Premier League clubs receive for television appearances.[LNB] Last summer, Newcastle owner Mike Ashley put the club up for sale with an asking price of £100m.[LNB] The club was later taken off the market when no buyer was found.[LNB]
