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The latest football rich list places Liverpool as the eighth most valuable club in Europe.

The London School of Marketing valued the Reds at £624m in a list which ranked five clubs as being worth more than £1billion.

Liverpool moved considerably up the table when it came to fans though with 580m “active” fans, second only to Manchester United’s 660m.

In the rich list itself, Spanish giant Real Madrid was named Europe’s most valuable football club with an estimated worth of £2.070bn, just ahead of United’s £2.050.

The others on billionaire’s row are Barcelona at £2.007bn, new club on the block, Manchester City, valued at £2bn (up by 94% in five years) and Bayern Munich at £1.492bn.

There is then a considerable drop to Chelsea’s £870m, Arsenal at £832m and Liverpool at £624m.

The revenue earned from the top five clubs has increased from £500m in 2000/2001 season to £2bn for the season 2013/14.

Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle United and West Ham United were the other Premier League clubs to feature in the top 20.

The fan analysis looked at the active fan bases of the clubs in Europe with Liverpool in second ahead of the likes of Real Madrid, Chelsea and Barcelona.

Jacques de Cock from London School of Marketing, who led the research, called European football a global marketing phenomenon.

He said: “Name and brand recognition is so important for the greatest clubs and the UK and Spanish teams dominate this market.

“Football clubs offer unique marketing opportunities as they represent five different promotional tangents that can be exploited.

“Being associated with any of these top 20 clubs is one the most highly valued marketing opportunities on offer. Hence why competition is so fierce.

“This is such a golden opportunity for brands as the target audience of footballers represents a very diverse and extensive range of joint interests that need to be satisfied.

“From kit suppliers to having the shirt logo side by side with your brand, the iconicity and pure visibility of these endorsements proves that it is one of the best marketing opportunities money can buy.

“Interestingly, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich are owned and controlled by their fans. Despite or maybe because of this they seem to be able to compete, if not outcompete other competitors who are owned by bigger faceless conglomerates.

“Football remains the only real global sport with a passionate and faithful following. The European football clubs travel much better than US sports and the largest clubs have supporters in over 80 countries, making targeted campaigns in various regions a real possibility.

“Despite the recent events at FIFA the football brand itself has not been tarnished.”

Value of top 20 European football clubs in £m

1. Real Madrid – £2,070

2. Manchester United - £2,050

3. Barcelona - £2,007

4. Manchester City - £2,000

5. Bayern Munich - £1,492

6. Chelsea - £870

7. Arsenal - £832

8. Liverpool - £624

9. Juventus - £531

(Image: Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)

10. AC Milan - £492

11. Borussia Dortmund - £445

12. Paris St Germain - £403

13. Tottenham Hotspur - £381

14. FC Schalke - £363

15. Inter Milan - £279

16. Atletico de Madrid - £277

17. Napoli - £224

18. Newcastle United - £222

19. West Ham United - £196

20. Galatasaray - £187