Scottish powerbrokers earn lofty positions on UK football rich list

SCOTTISH football is strongly represented in a newly published football rich list with Celtic majority shareholder Dermot Desmond and Rangers owner David Murray featuring in third and eighth place respectively.

Hearts majority shareholder Vladimir Romanov has also made inroads into the world of football's money-men and is ranked in joint 20th place. The controversial Russian-born banker's fortune is estimated at 200 million, 80m more than the Hibs owner Sir Tom Farmer across the city.

Desmond is estimated to be worth 1.25 billion while Murray comes in at 650 million.

But all are eclipsed by Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich, who is comfortably top of a list compiled by FourFourTwo magazine. He is bank-rolling Chelsea backed by a staggering fortune of 10.8bn, and is way out in front of a league where the nearest rival is Rangers investor Joe Lewis, now also part-owner in Spurs.

The London-born Lewis is worth 2.1bn and bucks the trend of foreign big-money investors ear-marking English football clubs for acquisitions, although he is currently based in the Bahamas as an offshore tax exile.

The Football Rich List reveals the extent of foreign influence in the English Premiership, with Liverpool just the latest club preparing to hand over the keys in return for the type of major investment that will allow them to challenge Chelsea.

Lawyers and accountants working for Dubai International Capital - a firm owned by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the billionaire ruler of the emirate of Dubai and fifth richest man in the world - were today beginning to look at Liverpool's accounts in the build-up to making an offer for the club.

Foreign investors in the Premiership are currently worth a staggering total of more than 13bn, and six clubs are now wholly owned by foreign businessmen.

Icelandic Eggert Magnusson's deal to seize West Ham United for 85m boosted foreign control to unprecedented levels. The club now joins Manchester United, Chelsea, Fulham, Aston Villa and Portsmouth with boardrooms headed by overseas figures, with Liverpool seemingly certain to follow suit.

Manchester United's American owner, Malcolm Glazer, aged 78, weighs in at No 4 with a hefty wallet of 1.05bn, and Aston Villa's new investor, US businessman Randy Lerner, 44, is close behind in seventh place on 789m.

Harrods and Fulham owner, Mohamed al-Fayed, aged 73, is just outside the Top Ten in 13th position with a 426m fortune.

The man who made Plant Hollywood famous, Robert Earl, aged 55, is No 19 as a result of his 23 per cent stake in Everton after buying out Paul Gregg for 15m. His overall wealth is estimated at 210m.

The youngest foreigner to make the list is Portsmouth's Alexandre Gaydamak, aged 30. The French-born businessman and ex-Israeli sniper, who has invested over 30m, is joint 31st in the list with an estimated bank balance of 100m.

The magazine has also published a players' rich list, and inevitably David Beckham leads the way with takings that have been calculated at 87m. Michael Owen and Robbie Fowler are next, on 32m and 28m respectively.

Michael Ballack, signed by Chelsea in the summer, is the poorest of the big hitters in tenth place. The German international midfielder hit the headlines at the start of the season when he complained of not being able to afford to buy a house in London because house prices were too high. Ballack is reckoned to be worth a measly 18m.

• FourFourTwo magazine, featuring the Football Rich List 2007, is on sale now.

RICH LIST

Top Ten

1) Roman Abramovich Chelsea, 10.8bn

2) Joe Lewis Tottenham Hotspur 2.1bn

3) Dermot Desmond Celtic 1.25bn

4) Malcolm Glazer Manchester Utd 1.05bn

5) Trevor Hemmings Charlton and Preston 900m

6) Sir Alan Sugar Tottenham Hotspur 790m

7) Randy Lerner Aston Villa 789m

8) David Murray Rangers 650m

9) Simon Keswick & family Cheltenham Town 644m

10) David Sullivan Birmingham City 595m