Town made an operating profit of £5.7 million in season 2000/01, making them the seventh most profitable club in English football, according to a Deloitte and Touche report. Town's biggest rivals, Norwich City, were at the other end of the spectrum making a £3.4 million loss.

Town jumped from 64th most profitable club in 1999/00 while Manchester United were the most profitable overall with Liverpool (£10.4 million) second and Leeds (£10.1 million) third.

One surprise inclusion in the top ten is Bradford City (sixth, £7.8 million) - now in a major cash crisis - which shows how quickly financial fortunes can change within football.

Fulham made the biggest operating loss of £18.6 million with Blackburn (£10.8 million), Wimbledon (£10.8 million) and Bolton (£9 million) the next biggest financial losers.

Operating profits for the Premiership as a whole went up 51% to £81 million, ahead of the Bundesliga, the only other top league to show a profit over the same period.

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