Premier League clubs hit the net with record £3.6bn revenues

English football’s top clubs took in a record £3.6bn in revenues during the 2015/16 season, according to research from accountancy firm Deloitte.

That figure constitutes a 9% rise from the previous season for Premier League clubs, with additional revenue generated from Uefa TV income pushing it higher.

Despite the huge revenue increases in recent years associated with broadcast rights, sky-high wage costs have seen operating profits maintained at £0.5bn, excluding transfer fees, interest charges and contract amortisations.

Manchester United and neighbours Manchester City were responsible for over half of the annual increase.

Dan Jones, partner and head of the Sports Business Group at Deloitte, said: "Manchester United’s participation in the 2015/16 UEFA Champions League, coupled with continued strong commercial revenue growth, resulted in a 30% increase in revenue to £515m.

"Increased distributions to clubs competing in Europe, under the new UEFA broadcast rights cycle – notably Manchester City, who reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League – also contributed to Premier League clubs’ revenue growth," he added.

Premier League clubs returned to a collective pre-tax loss after a brief foray into pre-tax profit, but Jones said that was a result of one-off exceptional costs.

"It is worth noting that this is due to a small number of one-off “exceptional” costs, and we fully expect that the Premier League’s new three-year broadcast rights deal will see a return to record levels of profitability in the 2016/17 season."