PA Sport today released its estimates for how much money clubs made in participating in the English Premier League, European Competition (Champions League and UEFA Cup), and in domestic cup competitions. It does not paint a very bright picture.

Club           Prem   Europe Cups   Total (04/05)
Chelsea        28.6   17.7   1.2    47.5   (48.2)
Man Utd        29.1    9.8   0.9    39.8   (41.8)
Liverpool      28.1   12.7   2.4**  43.2   (46.8)
Arsenal        27.2   25.1*  0.4    52.7   (47.1)
Tottenham      25.9          0.3    26.2   (22.6)
Blackburn      23.4          0.2    23.6   (20.3)
Newcastle      23.2          0.8    24.0   (25.4)
Bolton         22.0    1.0   0.7    23.7   (24.6)
West Ham       22.3          2.1**  24.4    n/a
Wigan          22.7          0.2    22.9    n/a
Everton        22.2          0.2    22.4   (25.7)
Fulham         20.1          0.2    20.3   (20.0)
Charlton       20.1          0.9    21.0   (20.9)
Middlesbrough  19.3    4.0   1.0    24.3   (23.9)
Man City       19.7          0.9    20.6   (23.0)
Aston Villa    18.9          0.7    19.6   (21.4)
Portsmouth     17.7          0.3    18.0   (18.5)
Birmingham     18.6          0.8    19.4   (20.2)
West Brom      16.7          0.2    16.9   (18.4)
Sunderland     15.9          0.2    16.1    n/a
* £2 million more for victory in Champions League Final
** £1 million more for victory in FA Cup Final

First, eight of the twenty clubs in this year's league lost money compared to last season. This is due to the loss in income due to a drop in league position.

Middlesbrough needed to make a run to the UEFA Cup final to make more money than last year, and Everton saw no additional benefit from playing in Europe this season. In comparison, Manchester United's run to fourth place in their Champions League group saw them make over twice as much as Boro.

What this serves to show is an emerging gap between the haves and the have nots of the Premier League. The situation could be changed if UEFA put more money into their second tier competition, but that is highly unlikely. There is really little incentive to be in the UEFA Cup.