Football looks crisis proof, shows a recent report from the analysts at Deloitte. The world's 20 richest clubs saw an average 3 percent growth in revenues over the 2010/2011 football season. All the top 20 clubs are European, and their economic results contrast sharply with the economic backdrop.

All teams in the top 20 money league generated more than EUR 100 million revenues in 2010/2011. At the top, both Real Madrid and Barcelona posted revenues over EUR 400 million, around EUR 480 and 451 million respectively. Both saw big increases in revenue on 2009/2010 – Real Madrid up more than EUR 40 million and FC Barcelona up over EUR 50 million.

“Continued growth of the top 20 clubs during 2010/11 emphasizes the strength of football’s top clubs, especially in these tough economic times,” said Dan Jones, Partner in the Sports Business Group at Deloitte. All clubs in the top 20 come from the so called big five football leagues – England, Spain, Italy, Germany and France. There was little movement in the money league, but Deloitte credits Champion's League performances as the main driving force for clubs climbing or dropping in the rankings.

The top six clubs remained the same – Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, Manchester United, Bayern Munich, Arsenal and Chelsea, with positions unchanged for the third successive year. Manchester United, which topped the football money charts for eight years, retains third position, but failure to reach the knock out stage in the 2011/2012 Champion's League will widen the gap with first and second placed Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. German club Schalke 04 was the biggest climber, gaining a top ten spot on the back of reaching the semi-finals in the Champion's League. However, according to Deloitte, Schalke look set to slip after poor performances in the German league and failure to qualify for the Champion's League.

The results for 2010/2011 did show a slowdown on 2009/2010, when growth in the top 20 clubs was 8 percent, but still grew at around double the rate of the economies of the countries represented in the money league. Deloitte's Dan Jones said, “Whilst revenue growth has slowed from 8 percent in 2009/10 to 3 percent in 2010/11, their large and loyal supporter bases, ability to drive strong broadcast audiences and continuing attraction to corporate partners has made them relatively resilient to the economic downturn.”

Liam Lever. liam@romania-insider.com

(photo source: photoxpress.com)