Tickets, wages, crowds: Premier League v Europe in five charts

By Kate KopczykBBC Sport

English football fans pay more. Their clubs have larger wage bills. But attendances are, on average, higher in the Premier League than anywhere in Europe.

Uefa has released its 'benchmark' report for 2016,external-link documenting everything from club revenues to agents' fees.

BBC Sport picks out the five key charts comparing English clubs to the rest of Europe:

The report, based on the 2016 financial year, shows English football fans paid at least 40% more, on average, to watch a top-flight match than supporters on the continent.

The average gate receipt from a fan attending a league or Uefa match in 2016 in England was £44.50.

That compares to £31.40 in Spain, £29.10 in Germany and £19.60 in Italy.

Scotland's average taking per supporter was £19.20, ahead of France at £17.40.

Wales sits in 30th place, with an average cost per fan of £3.30.

Uefa said: "The average yield provides a benchmark for the price of attending football matches. It reflects all types of gate receipts, including season tickets, match day tickets, membership fees (where tickets are part of that membership), premium ticketing and hospitality."

Uefa's report shows club revenues are six and a half times higher than they were 20 years ago.

English Premier League clubs saw a growth of 7% in gate receipts in 2016. Clubs generate, on average, almost four times the gate receipts of Serie A clubs in Italy and four and a half times the average taking for the French Ligue 1 clubs.

Arsenal earn the most money from each supporter, but season tickets at the Emirates do include seven FA Cup and European matches.

Six of the top 10 clubs in the list are English.

The report shows that, for the first time on record, the average wage bill of Premier League clubs was more than double that of the next highest-paying league in Europe, the Bundesliga.

The Premier League pays out, on average, £136.7m compared to £66.8m in Germany.

Club wage bills have increased steadily in recent years in line with the growth in TV revenue.

Barcelona remain top of the clubs' wage list, paying out £330m in wages.

The largest percentage increase was seen at Atletico Madrid (31%), followed by Liverpool (30%), Everton (27%) and Manchester United (21%).

Aston Villa make the top 20 for the highest-paying European clubs in 2016, the season they were relegated from the Premier League.

They spent £111m on wages, 85% of the total club revenue that year.

Tottenham (£124m), Everton (£113m) and West Ham (£101m) also feature in Uefa's list.

Uefa also looked at average match and season attendances for the top leagues across the continent.

The figures for the 2016-17 season show 11 clubs reported league attendances of over a million.

Barcelona top the list, followed by Manchester United. Liverpool, West Ham and Celtic break through the one million mark for the first time.

Arsenal and Manchester City also feature in the top 10, with Rangers moving into the top 20.

The Championship was the third most-watched league in European football, while League One was ninth on the list.

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