Insider Media Limited

Aston Villa have dropped out of Deloitte's newest Football Money League, highlighting the world's highest earning football teams, after scoring 20th position last year.

The club returned to the top 20 a year ago after a five-year absence with revenue of £89.6m following Wembley appearances in both domestic cup competitions in 2009/10.

Four English clubs feature in Deloitte's league table.

Manchester United remain in third place with a 2010/11 revenue of £331.4m. Liverpool are ranked ninth with £183.6m in revenue for 2010/11 - placed one spot lower than the previous year after the club's failure to qualify for the Champions League.

Two London teams are also in the top ten - Arsenal remain in fifth place with a revenue of £226.8m, while Chelsea stay in sixth place with a £225.6m revenue figure.

Real Madrid remain the world's richest club with a revenue of £433m, followed by Barcelona, which have revenue of £407m. Deloitte said Barcelona and Real Madrid's ability to secure their own TV rights has helped give them an advantage over English clubs which are tied into a collective Premier League TV agreement.

Other teams making up the top ten include: Bayern Munich (fourth with £290.3m revenue), AC Milan (seventh, £212.3m), Inter Milan (eighth, £190.9m) and German side Schalke 04 (tenth, £182.8m).

Outside of the top ten, Tottenham Hotspur have overtaken Manchester City following their recent success in the Champions League to be ranked 11th with revenue of £163.5m. Twelfth-placed City reported revenue of £153.2m.

They are then followed by Juventus (13th, £139m), Marseille (14th, £135.8m), AS Roma (15th, £129.6m), Borussia Dortmund (16th, £125.1m), Lyon (17th, 119.9m), Hamburg (18th, £116.3m), Valencia (19th, £105.5m) and Napoli (20th, £103.8m).

Aston Villa dropped out of the top 20 this year along with Atlético Madrid and Stuttgart.

Deloitte said the top 20 'Money League' clubs generated combined revenues of £4bn in 2010/11, more than a quarter of the European football market.

Real Madrid have now held on to the top spot since 2004/05 having overtaken Manchester United's early dominance in the league table, which launched in 1996/97.

Dan Jones, partner in the sports business group at Deloitte, said: "Continued growth of the top 20 clubs during 2010/11 emphasises the strength of football's top clubs, especially in these tough economic times.

"Whilst revenue growth has slowed from 8 per cent in 2009/10 to 3 per cent in 2010/11, their large and loyal supporter bases, ability to drive strong broadcast audiences and continuing attraction to corporate partners has made them relatively resilient to the economic downturn."