West Ham United recorded the fifth-lowest wages-to-turnover ratio in the Premier League last season.
An analysis of Premier League club finances by David Conn for the Guardian revealed that West Ham and Liverpool both reported a figure of 55 per cent - the proportion of club income spent on wages - in their 2013/14 annual accounts.That represents good news for the long-term future of the Hammers, who only four years ago spent a dangerously-high 70 per cent of club income on wages - a figure considered at the time to be the uppermost safety limit.
However the news was not quite so good with regards to Premier League club's annual turnover, where West Ham slipped from 8th highest in 2012/13 to 10th in the most-recently published accounts. United's £115m income for 2013/14 was narrowly topped by Aston Villa (£117m) and Everton (£121m), who rose above the Hammers in the table.
Meanwhile Southampton increased their income by a third in their second season in the Premier League, rising above Sunderland in the table and closing the gap on West Ham considerably.
Largely responsible for the improvement in the financial state of Premier League clubs - and the subsequent reduction in the ratio of income spent on wages - are UEFA's Financial Fair Play rules, which have imposed spending limits on all member clubs.
You may read more about how FFP works here.
Proportion of Income Spent on Wages
1. Manchester Utd (50%)
2. Hull City; Crystal Palace (51%)
4. Tottenham; Arsenal (55%)
6. West Ham Utd; Liverpool (56%)
8. Norwich City; Everton (57%)
10. Manchester City; Southampton; Aston Villa; Chelsea (59%)
14. Newcastle Utd (60%)
15. Stoke City (62%)
16. Swansea City; Cardiff City (64%)
18. Sunderland (67%)
19. West Brom (75%)
20. Fulham (76%)
Turnover
Last season's position in brackets.
1. (1) Manchester Utd (£433m)
2. (3) Manchester City (£347m)
3. (4) Chelsea (£324m)
4. (2) Arsenal (£304m)
5. (5) Liverpool (£256m)
6. (6) Tottenham (£181m)
7. (7) Newcastle Utd (£130m)
8. (9) Everton (£121m)
9. (10) Aston Villa (£117m)
10. (8) West Ham Utd (£115m)
11. (14) Southampton (£106m)
12. (11) Sunderland (£104m)
13. (16) Stoke City; Swansea City (£98m)
15. (12) Norwich City (£94m)
16. (13) Fulham (£91m)
17. (-) Crystal Palace (£90m)
18. (15)West Brom (£87m)
19. (-) Hull City (£84m)
20. (-) Cardiff City (£83m)
* Something to say about this story? Please visit the KUMB Forum to leave a comment.