Deloittes' football figures criticised

Writing in the Sunday People, Bates disputed the firm’s figure relating to player wages of £47m, which put the club at the top of the league for wages above league champions Manchester United.

Instead, he claimed the figure should be £36m, but the firm hit back saying its figure also included employees of Chelsea Village – a recent development on the site of the clubs’ Stamford Bridge stadium, which includes a hotel and restaurants.

Bates, said: ‘Of course their (Deloitte & Touche) figures make easy headlines. And in the grand scheme of things, you may think they are harmless. They are not.’

He added: ‘Players’ agents look at the figures blasted across the pages and think that we are an easy touch for easy money – they pay the most, we can screw plenty out of them.’

But a spokeswoman for the firm objected: ‘The figures we have used are from Companies House. This issue has come up before from Chelsea. Our figure included all employees at Chelsea, not just the players, this is stated in the report. Our analysis is correct.’

According to Bates, Aston Villa FC are also incensed by the figures because chairman Doug Ellis claims the club pays more in wages than the £21.55m stated in the report.

However a spokesman for Aston Villa, said: ‘The figure is correct up until May 2000. The trouble is the report is 12 months out of date and as a benchmarking tool for us it is just old news.’

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