The ever widening chasm between England and Scottish football was laid bare yesterday when the astonishing final prize-money for the Premier League was revealed.
Premier League runners-up Liverpool topped the eye-watering table with Brendan Rodgers’s side raking in an impressive £97.544million in total, £42.7million more than they made last season.
The Reds earned £23.5million for finishing second and ££21.9million for having 25 of their matches shown live on television. They also added another £52.2million which each Premier League club received as part of their share of the new £5.5billion television deal which kicked-in this season.
Champions Manchester City ran the Anfield side close as they made £96.578million this season, an increase of £38.5million on last year.
Even Cardiff City, who finished bottom of the division and were relegated to the Championship, enjoyed the fruits of the money tree in English football as they return to the second tier with £62.082million from their solitary campaign in the top tier.
Clubs received £750,000 for every live televised game they played in and every club received a minimum of £7.5million in broadcast revenue, effectively a 10-game broadcast fee irrespective of whether they were involved in 10 live games or not.
Manchester United made £60.8million in total for winning the league a year ago.
Football finance expert Peter Sharkey labelled the figures as obscene, but believes the gravy train will continue to roll along for the foreseeable future.
He said: “The figures are obscene and it’s staggering to think Cardiff City will go down having earned more than the champions of England earned this time last year.
“As a Liverpool supporter I’d have given it all away to see the club win the title on Sunday, but there’s no denying the riches on offer are incredible in the Premier League.
“Can it last? Television companies paid £5.5billion in the last round of bidding so I’d suggest the answer is yes. As long as the demand is there domestically and internationally, and sponsors want to be part of it, the product value will continue to increase.”
For all the income the Premier League generates, the Champions League remains another lucrative hunting ground for the elite.
The money for British teams will increase there as well from the start of season 2015-16 when BT Sport’s £897million three-year deal for exclusive rights for all European football begins.
No doubt the desire to be there will ensure this season’s money generated will be spent in audacious and outrageous fashion this summer before the fun begins again in August.
With Luis Suarez reportedly earning £10million a year at Liverpool and Wayne Rooney’s new deal with Manchester United banking him £300,000 a week, the need to be among the big boys of Europe remains strong, but in Scotland clubs can only look on with envy.
Celtic’s march towards the title was rewarded by £2.34million this season while third placed Aberdeen earned £1.44million after losing £240,000 due to their defeat to Motherwell on Sunday.
Fifth placed Caley Thistle made £1.18million while their Highland neighbours Ross County took home £1million for the honour of being best of the rest in the bottom six.
Hearts, whose fate was sealed last month, go down to the Scottish Championship with just £790,000 banked after finishing bottom of the pile.