Finding the balance between being successful on the pitch and on the balance sheet has long been a difficult task for many football clubs. Football, despite being one of the most popular sports on the planet, has in the past decades recorded some of the most astonishing losses for such a money-driven industry. In 2001, only 18 of the 92 English professional football clubs made a profit, with the majority of the rest racking up heavy losses.

The reason for the squeeze upon almost all of these clubs is not exactly a secret with stories in newspapers telling us every day which star players have just signed multimillion pound contracts earning them ten of thousands of pounds per week. In the same year as above, the wage bills of a third of the top division clubs exceeded their revenues - a balance sheet which few other companies would dare present to their accountants. Football players themselves could be regarded as the culprits for this wage spiral and also show that even in a modern society, F.W. Taylor's theory of motivation may even still exist with the only thing that can motivate a player being money, with the standardised job of winning every week.

But is this problem for the stakeholders of these clubs? The lure of promotion or winning a cup often allows a club to incur such debts in a way most other companies wouldn't even dream of. The wild inflation of players' wages in football has surpassed any attempts of bringing money in. However, if clubs want the best players, want the best trophies and want to make money, then there has to be a degree of leeway upon expenditure. Nevertheless, there is a fine line between 'spending and succeeding' and 'spending and failing'. Take Chelsea as an example. At the end of the 03/04 season the club spent nearly £150 million over 12 months in order for the rights (intangible fixed assets) for some of the world's most famous players, but had absolutely nothing to show for it. This example may be treated almost as an anomaly though, as the club is owned by one of the world's richest men - Roman Abramovich, but it still shows the harsh reality of football. The Chelsea example is nevertheless a vision into the future of the game as more and more clubs are being bought privately by wealthy bored businessmen looking for a fashionable luxury that can do them proud on the pitch rather than positive accounts in the short run.

It would be naive to assume that success and profit are intertwined. Many football clubs have had one or the other and only a select few are lucky enough to achieve both. Manchester United may be placed into this category. Chelsea has, from the example above, managed to improve over the years, with what many consider to be unlimited financial backing. The following season, Chelsea won the English Premier League. But to what cost? The club recorded a pre-tax loss of over £130 million. Obviously to the clubs owner(s), success on the pitch is more important than the club's financial welfare.

But where do these losses come from? Well one thing that can be certain is that football clubs have no problem when it comes to revenue. Match-day ticket sales, merchandising, sponsorship deals and broadcasting all turn in millions, but the drive for success means that these factors are overwhelmed by wages and transfer budgets.

One intriguing case of a club fulfilling only one of the two duties mentioned above (profit and trophies) is that of what could be regarded as the biggest club in the world - Real Madrid. Real Madrid has long had a policy of each year bringing in a top class player not only to win trophies, but as a commercial tool. Undoubtedly, the best example is David Beckham. David Beckham was signed by Real Madrid for £25 million in 2003. Real Madrid have won only one major trophy since. But this is not the end of the story. The transfer fee was not only recouped within six months but the marketing revenue solely from the player has been estimated at £300 million over four years, catapulting the club to the top of the table when it comes to revenue (above). However, such an example is merely a 'one-off' but shows the value of a brand name in the industry. 'Brand Beckham' has become one of the most well known on the planet.

The day when a football club tops the league table and the rich list simultaneously may never come, but there can be no doubt that in this global industry there will always be clubs which spend excessively until they find the apparently unfeasible equilibrium for a successful club, on and off the field, meaning that one day football shares might not be bought by fans who value their share certificate in the same sort of way as their team's scarf!