We're in the money

[Huckerbys right foot]

A leading football analyst today said Norwich City's promotion to the Premiership could pocket £25 million — and stressed immediate relegation would not be the end of the world.

Based on this season's pay-outs, if Norwich finished bottom of the Premiership they would get £545,000 — plus £7 million over the next two years in "parachute" payments.

For each position above that, they would pocket an extra £545,000, with the champions awarded £10.9 million.

But the real money would flood in from television rights and football analyst Vinay Bedi, of Wise Speke, said the Premiership adventure could earn the Carrow Road club as much as £25 million.

He said: "You are looking at the Holy Grail of TV revenue, where you would be looking at around £15 to £20 million.

"It would be disappointing if it was a lot less than that and it could even be more.

"There are a number of factors involved, including how high you finish and how attractive a team you are as to how often you get on television and whether you have a cup run.

"But gate receipts should go up and there's extra money from merchandising which could push it up to £25 million."

Mr Bedi warned Norwich fans hoping for a long stay in the top flight that they could be disappointed — but added that might not be a bad thing.

He said: "Recent history has shown when you go into the Premiership you may as well accept you are going to be relegated and not buy lots of expensive players.

"It is better to suffer relegation and keep the squad together and come back up stronger in the future.

"That is the way West Brom have gone about it and I think that is a very sensible approach.

"It is wise to use the Premiership revenue to get rid of the debts and not put the club in peril by doing a Bradford and spending a lot on players.

"It is a hard thing for fans to deal with, after all the joy and jubilation of promotion, to expect relegation, but it is sensible.

"But it is not a bad policy, financially and footballing wise, if the management is focused on what it wants to do in the long-term.

"It is not nice to go down but in reality, you probably will, so accept you will and look towards coming back stronger and in a better position to aim for five or six years in the Premiership. Bolton are a good example of how it should be done."

While many pundits predict the Canaries would simply tumble straight back down into Division One, other unfashionable clubs without tremendous transfer kitties have proved it is possible to compete with the big boys.

Among them are Charlton, who could stand to pick up £7.1 million if they finish in their current position of eighth.

The most the London team has ever spent on a player was the £4.75 million they splashed out for striker Jason Euell, but this summer manager Alan Curbishley is reported to have up to £16 million to play with in the transfer market.

The windfall is thanks to the Premiership performance bonus, the £10 million Charlton made from selling one-time Norwich City loan player Scott Parker to Chelsea and the £800,000 sell-on clause from former Addick Jermain Defoe's switch from West Ham to Tottenham.

Another team traditionally pegged as underdogs who have turned into Premiership survivors reaping the dividends are Bolton Wanderers.

The Trotters are on course to deliver a windfall of up to £3 million in extra prize money for a mid-table finish that has given chairman Phil Gartside the confidence to sanction a "more adventurous" investment in players.

The Reebok chairman has revealed that the club had conservatively budgeted to finish 17th in the Premier League in this, their third year in the top flight.

That would have earned them a £2 million bonus from the league's prize fund, on top of television revenues of around £18 million.

But if they manage to cling to 12th place, they would bank an extra £2.5 million.

Mr Gartside said: "If we finish 12th or 13th, it would be worth a lot of money to us.

"A couple of million would make a lot of difference to our planning for next season.

"The TV monies are not going to be quite as much next year — we don't know the precise figures yet but it could be as much as £1 million or so — and if we can make up that shortfall by finishing a couple of places higher, we can look forward with a lot more confidence.

"Having planned to finish 17th this season, we might be planning to finish a bit further up the table and that will mean us putting more into what we call the 'gamble pot'.

"We have to be a bit more adventurous. We'll try and bring players in on the basis we have done in the past but, if we can't, we'll look out there to see if there are players we can afford to buy."

But even in the heady world of the Premiership, football club finances are not always rosy and away from the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea many clubs struggle to post a profit.

Promotion is inevitably accompanied by higher wages for players and cash-strapped clubs such as Ipswich Town, Bradford City and Derby County have found themselves in dire straits after wage bills spiralled and they kissed the Premiership goodbye.