Club football has come a long way since the first domestic club tournament was contested in England in 1871. A sport that was mostly amateur in its early years is now worth hundreds of billions of dollars, and every year the top clubs in world football generate staggering sums of money from broadcasting rights, ticket sales, prize money and merchandising.

In fact, many of the top football clubs in the world are corporate giants in their own right, and make a significant contribution to their local economies. In recent years accounting and auditing firm Deloitte has been tasked with keeping track of the fortunes of the world’s biggest football clubs, and the firm produces an annual listing of the richest clubs in football.

10. AS Roma

Rome-based AS Roma is the first of three Italian clubs in the world’s ten richest football clubs. While the Romans are some way off being Italy’s most successful club, being situated in one of their country’s most populous cities has done their fortunes no harm with over $150 million Euros pouring into club coffers annually.

9. Inter Milan

Inter Milan’s position on the wealthiest clubs ranking is impressive, given the fact that they share their city with another European super-club. Having the largest stadium in Italy, the 82,955-seater Stadio Guiseppe Meazza, packed to the rafters for many of their games, probably goes a long way towards accounting for the $190 million in revenue earned by the club every year.

8. Liverpool

The Reds are the first of the English clubs to make the top money earners list. With a worldwide fan base, and the knack of performing well in some of Europe’s biggest tournaments, Liverpool is able to rake in the millions and their income is estimated at around $200 million per annum.

7. Bayern Munich

Bayern Munich is the only German club to make it into the Deloitte top ten. While Germany boasts the third best-attended league in Europe, few of their clubs have true international appeal. Bayern’s financial success is therefore based on fanatical home support, and an ability to achieve consistently in both domestic and European football. The German giants are reported to collect over $220 million per year.

6. AC Milan

Italy’s most successful club makes it to number six on the Deloitte ranking. One of the most famous football clubs in the world, the Rossoneri has a knack for extracting brilliant football from local talent. Despite facing financial competition from Inter Milan, the club pulls in well over $227 million in revenue each season.

5. Arsenal

Throughout most of the 1990s Arsenal was easily the richest club in English football. However, the emergence of Chelsea as a title winning club appears to have had a measurable impact on Arsenal’s fortunes, and the Gunners have slid gently down the rankings to 5th place in the Deloitte rankings, where they net over $260 million per year.

4. Chelsea

Chelsea’s oligarch owner, Roman Abramovich, can take the credit for lifting the Blues out of obscurity. Since its purchase in 2003, Chelsea has rocketed through the rankings in the Premier League, and is now easily one of the most formidable clubs in the world. Instant success bred an instant international fan base. These fans supplement Abramovich’s golden handouts in contributing towards the $280 million in revenue per year.

3. Barcelona

Besides being an incredibly successful Spanish football club, Barcelona is also a potent symbol of Catalan nationalism, with a sizeable portion of this Mediterranean nation regularly turning out for their club’s games at the 98,000-capacity Camp Nou stadium. Barcelona also enjoys extensive support in other regions of Spain as well as in Latin America, and all these fans fatten the club’s wallet to the tune of $290 million every season.

2. Manchester United

Manchester United is football’s perfect package. The Red Devils regularly wins major regional and domestic competitions, attract some of the finest players in the world, and are therefore followed by an international army of red shirted supporters who invest millions in club merchandise every year. With a $310 million turnover, Manchester United is 10% wealthier than its closest English rival, Chelsea.

1. Real Madrid

Real Madrid is the undisputed king of club football, earning more than double what the teams ranked 10th to 8th in the Deloitte rankings cumulatively pull in during a season. Despite being frequently criticised for under-performing, the club seems to inspire almost religious adoration in its supporters, who can be found in every corner of the globe. Real Madrid pulls in approximately $390 million in revenue a year, making it the wealthiest football club on the planet.

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