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Arsenal enjoy £200m boost
Wayne Veysey, Evening Standard17 Sep 2007
Arsenal's total turnover has rocketed to nearly £200million to leave them trailing only Real Madrid for the title of the world's richest club.
The Gunners' move to Emirates Stadium has helped them generate an astonishing 50 per cent increase in business to leapfrog above Manchester United and Chelsea in terms of income.
The financial figures, which will be revealed a week today in the club's annual results, will show that Arsenal's turnover has shot up to around £190m for the year ending 31 May 2007.
This makes them the second richest club in the world behind Real, whose turnover was £202m for the 2005-06 season.
United's turnover for the same period was £167.8m and Chelsea's was £152.8m.
By comparison, Arsenal's income for their final season at Highbury in 2005-06, which was boosted by their money-spinning progress to the Champions League Final, was £132m.
The main reason for the massive leap in turnover is the increased gate revenue at the 60,000 capacity Emirates Stadium, which earns around Arsenal £3.45m per match.
The Premier League table-toppers hosted 26 games at their new home last season to increase matchday revenue by nearly a third to over £90m.
The figures, which do not take into account Thierry Henry's £16million transfer to Barcelona or Jose Reyes' £8m switch to Real Madrid, provides strong support for the board's hostile stance to a foreign takeover.
Former Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein, who has joined forces with Uzbekistan billionaire Alisher Usmanov to try and gain control of the club, claimed that without new investors, the Gunners "might not be able to compete successfully at the very top".
Arsenal are equally buoyant on the field after they surged to the top of the Premier League and increased the pressure on Tottenham manager Martin Jol with a 3-1 derby win at White Hart Lane on Saturday.
An Emmanuel Adebayor double and Cesc Fabregas goal earned them the win.
