By Nigel Adderley BBC Sport

FOOTBALL FINANCES REPORT News: Wages hit five-year low Analysis: Why Premiership clubs still fail in Europe Opinion: Wealth gap gets wider

The detailed breakdown of the 2001-02 season paints a picture of a game flush with the millions of pounds generated by the new television deals.

Turnover and profits were up and the gap between rich and small was decreasing.

Of course, we now know that the Football League's deal with ITV Digital collapsed and most of the money promised never materialised.

The introduction of transfer windows has also despressed the market and prevented money flowing throughout the game all year.

As a result, Deloitte and Touche was predicting that the average Premiership club which reported a profit of �0.7m in 2001-02 will now have to face losses of up to �3.3m.

Pre-tax losses in the Football League are expected to soar to over 200% as First Division clubs cope with a drop in revenue of almost a third caused by ITV Digital's collapse.

Such figures seem inconceivable when you consider the Premier League has a turnover of over �1bn which has increased seven-fold over the past decade.

But it is no suprise to learn that the big clubs post the best results. Manchester United's operating profits of �33.9m are twice as much as their nearest rivals Newcastle (�14.8m) and Liverpool (�14.5m).

Leeds suffer from vulture culture

All speculated in the transfer market to accumulate the riches of the Champions League but the plight of Leeds United is a warning to others.

They suffered losses of nearly �8m and their failure to make the competition contributed to mounting problems and the asset-stripping of their expensively-assembled squad.

The relatively low prices Leeds got for their big names is reflected in the drop in transfer spending from over �400m to �150m.

Many clubs simply have not got the money they had before and the availability of big names on Bosman free transfers has denied many clubs income they were guaranteed in the past.

The income gap between clubs in the Premier League and the rest is likely to grow to 600% meaning that only the select few can plan ahead with any certainty.

A depressing, yet familiar tale.