Forbes 2021 most valuable clubs – No Newcastle but look in 2007 when Mike Ashley bought NUFC

Forbes have now released their 2021 list of the top 20 most valuable football clubs in the World.

This is completely separate to the Deloitte annual report of the ‘richest’ clubs in the World, their (Deloitte’s) top 20 is based purely on highest revenue each season.

When the 2020 Deloitte report came out in January 2020 (covering revenues from the 2018/19) season, Newcastle United were missing altogether from even the top 30. Mike Ashley for the first time had refused to supply the figures to Deloitte ahead of the club’s accounts made public and when the NUFC 2018/19 accounts were eventually published, they showed Newcastle United would have been 24th highest in the Deloitte top revenues report if Ashley had allowed the figures to be provided.

The 2021 Deloitte rich list came out in January 2021 and once again, for whatever reason, Mike Ashley refused to provide the headline financial figures for the 2019/20 season, ahead of the club’s 2019/20 accounts coming out, whenever that may be…only then will we know whether Newcastle United are still in even the Deloitte top 30, as Ashley continues to run the club into the ground with zero ambition and poor decision making.

Forbes use a number of criteria to value the clubs and interesting to see their 2021 report on the top 20 most valuable football clubs in the World published on 12 April 2021:

$4.76bn Barcelona

$4.75bn Real Madrid

$4.215bn Bayern Munich

$4.20bn Manchester United

$4.10bn   Liverpool

$4.00bn Manchester City

$3.20bn Chelsea

$2.80bn Arsenal

$2.50bn PSG

$2.30bn   Tottenham

$1.95bn   Juventus

$1.90bn   Borussia Dortmund

$1.00bn Atletico Madrid

$743m   Inter Milan

$658m Everton

$559m AC Milan

$548m AS Roma

$508m   West Ham

$455m Leicester

$413m Ajax

As you can see, the usual suspects hanging around the top end and as usual, English clubs the most numerous in the top twenty. Nine Premier League clubs BUT no Newcastle United.

Interesting, well, VERY interesting to check back on what the position was in the most recent Forbes report, before Mike Ashley bought Newcastle United in May 2007, the Forbes top 20 most valuable clubs report was published in March 2007 and showed:

$1,453m Manchester United

$1,036m Real Madrid

$915m Arsenal

$838m Bayern Munich

$824m AC Milan

$567m Juventus

$555m Inter Milan

$537m Liverpool

$503m Barcelona

$471m Schalke 04

$454m Chelsea

$343m Lyon

$260m Newcastle United

$243m Tottenham Hotspur

$224m Roma

$221m Hamburger SV

$208m Manchester City

$199m Borussia Dortmund

$196m Ajax

$185m Celtic

Forget about the actual amounts back in the 2007 report, just look at where Forbes ranked Newcastle United in terms of most valuable clubs in World football. Newcastle thirteen in the list and also very striking, only four other Premier League clubs ahead of them. At that point when Mike Ashley came in, Newcastle still ranked more valuable than the likes of Man City and Tottenham, never mind the likes of Everton, West Ham and Leicester who all feature in this 2021 top twenty, which automatically makes them above NUFC who don’t make the new list.