Owners Rather Than Players Top Rich List - 12/11/2007

The Football Rich List compiled by Four Four Two magazine reveals that only 14 players are among the 100 most wealthy people in the sport. John Terry's allegedly 'obscene' wages squeeze him into the list at 95th place. The top ten wealthiest men in football form part of the new global super rich, being worth a collective £27 billion. That is fractionally more than the estimated 2006 GDP of Estonia. Roman Abramovich, the owner of Chelsea, remains at the head of the field with an estimated £10.8 billion fortune. Second is the reclusive John Lewis, the East End entrepreneur worth £2.8 billion who has a controlling interest in Spurs. Number three is Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov who has used some of his net worth of £2.76 billion to buy a stake in Arsenal. His rival for a boardroom seat at the Emirates, American Stanley Kroenke, ranks eighth, being worth a 'mere' £1.2 billion. The fourth place is taken by Bernie Ecclestone, the commercial brains behind Formula One. Although a long-time Chelsea supporter, he has helped out another West London team by using some of his £2.5 billion fortune to rescue Queen's Park Rangers.

David Beckham is the highest-ranked player and he scrapes into the top half at No.45. Together with wife Victoria, currently reprising her role as a Spice Girl, he is worth £112m. This is three times more than Michael Owen, the second-highest footballer on the list. In any other area of business, Owen would be considered an extremely wealthy young man, building up a fortune worth £37m, but even that sum would not be enough to buy his way into most boardrooms in the Premiership. It is interesting that Robbie Fowler, currently plying his trade with Cardiff City, is the third ranked footballer on the list. He has proved astute with his money and has built up a huge property portfolio in the North West: a favourite chant with Manchester City supporters used to be 'We all live in a Robbie Fowler house' (to the tune of Yellow Submarine). It's all a long way from the days when a successful footballer might aspire to own a pub or a newsagents. Those in the licensed trade were sometimes tempted to drink the profits, which in part explains the fate of Peter Marinello who never quite fulfilled his potential on the football field and then managed to lose what money he had off it. His autobiography Fallen Idle is a salutary tale, but today's footballers have better advice available to them.