Manchester United yesterday emphasised their position as the world's most financially successful football club, announcing results that further highlight the growing disparity between elite Premiership clubs.

In a week that has seen Leeds and Chelsea announce alarming half-year losses, United's chief executive Peter Kenyon could boast of a 32% increase in profits before player disposals to '31.1m in the six months to January 31.

Turnover at United has risen 13% to '92.6m. But the club's overall pre-tax profits of '20.3m represented a 34% fall on the previous year, when the club made '16.3m from the sales of Jaap Stam and Andy Cole. At Elland Road, in contrast, six-month headline losses of '17.2m were reported; Chelsea revealed a half-year loss of '11.3m.

While the majority of professional football clubs grapple with financial crises, football analysts put the case that United's success is down to a combination of fortune and foresight.

The success can be traced back to the 1990s, when the club enjoyed dominance on the field and were able to cash in on the game's boom period, when football increased in popularity both home and abroad and attracted massive commercial and television revenue.

Whereas clubs such as Chelsea have spent the past few years concentrating on building alternative revenue streams, United have remained focused on developing their core fan base. The author Simon Banks, whose book Going Down: Football in Crisis examines the state of the game, said: "The biggest difference between Manchester United and other clubs has always been the size of the club's gate.

"During the 1990s when other clubs were looking to build hotels and conference centres at their stadiums, United just concentrated on developing Old Trafford. The board believed at the time that if they wanted to make United one of the world's biggest clubs then they had to have one of the world's biggest stadiums.

"United's success is built on the income that the club generates through gate money. The money from attendances was the core to building up the club and was used to redevelop Old Trafford, buy players, fund the youth policy which in turn made the team successful and helped attract more fans and sponsorship."

Despite being the most televised team in England, United have not relied on television money or borrowed against it, unlike many other Premiership clubs. On average, United generate '1.5m per match through gate money alone.

United's management team, which is made up of Kenyon, the managing director David Gill and finance director Nick Humby, have been credited with being the driving force behind the club's success.

Kenyon, who joined United in 1997 from the sports clothing manufacturer Umbro, set about trying to build the club brand both home and abroad and has been instrumental in attracting such high-profile sponsors as Nike and Vodafone.

A former financial consultant to United, who did not wish to be named, said: "Kenyon and his team are great visionaries. They first came up with the idea of United as a brand and how it should be spread around the world and also saw fans as customers whom the club needed to hold on to as the base for its success.

"Quite simply, the club has not spent money that it did not have. It recognised the areas that it was good at and concentrated on these and they did not expand beyond their expertise, which is what a lot of other clubs such as Leeds and Chelsea have tried to do but failed."

With an estimated global fan base of more than 50 million United are now giving more time to generating income from their supporters around the world, working hard to establish links in America, the Far East and parts of Africa.

Many football analysts believe that this could become a crucial source of revenue over the coming years, cementing United's position as the most successful, and envied, football club in the world.

Guardian Unlimited ' Guardian Newspapers Limited 2001

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