Tim Bridge, a director in the firm’s sports business group, said: ‘The financial position of European football appears healthier than it has been for a long time, reflecting the global popularity of the game, the professionalism of leading clubs and the strength of the regulatory environment in which they operate. Whilst the Premier League is the clear market leader, we expect to see continued growth and interest across Europe’s leagues in the years to come.’

The 20 Premier League clubs generated record revenues of £4.5bn, 25% higher than in the previous season, and there was also record revenue for the 72 Football League clubs of almost £1bn. In revenue terms, the Premier League is 86% larger than its nearest competitor, Spain’s La Liga.

In previous years, any increase in revenue would have been expected to lead to a proportional increase in wages but Deloitte calculates wage costs rose only 9% to £2.5bn.

Whilst this is still a record high, the Premier League’s wages/revenue ratio fell to just 55%, its lowest level since 1997/98 (52%). Most notably, no Premier League club reported an operating loss, the first time that this has ever happened. Following their title-winning season, Leicester City’s Champions League campaign helped them deliver the highest-ever pre-tax profit for a Premier League club of £92m.

Dan Jones, partner in the sports business group at Deloitte, explains: ‘The financial results of the class of 2016/17 are the most impressive we have ever seen. Just a decade ago, 60% of Premier League clubs were making an operating loss whereas in the 2016/17 season, all clubs were profitable. In addition, and for the first time ever, Premier League clubs’ revenues have grown at a faster rate than wages over a ten-year period.’

In the Championship, revenues grew 30% to a record £720m in 2016/17. However, the trend for almost all of any revenue growth to be spent on wages has continued, with the Championship’s wages/revenue ratio of 99%, albeit down from 100% last year.

The three newly relegated clubs generated almost one-third of this total revenue, as Newcastle United, Aston Villa and Norwich received £41m each, which in itself was more than the total revenue of all bar one of their competitor clubs in the Championship.

Deloitte estimates the 92 Premier League and Football League clubs contributed £1.9bn in taxes in 2016/17 (2015/16: £1.6bn), while Premier League clubs spent a record £395m on capital projects, an increase of £160m (68%) compared with 2015/16.

The report states it is now over five years since an English football club entered insolvency proceedings, which it says reflects better financial discipline and the positive impact of regulation.

Report by Pat Sweet