Wanderers were the fifth biggest money-making club in the North West in the last 12 months.

Bolton’s revenue was £59.3million in the 2008/09 season — up £8.3m from the year before — and £8.2m more than sixth-placed Blackburn.

Wanderers, who revealed losses of £13.2m in November, were also ahead of Lancashire neighbours Wigan and Burnley.

The region’s eight Premier League clubs, who also include Manchester United, Liverpool Manchester City and Everton, made £798.6m according to Deloitte’s Football Money League, with Manchester United leading the way with £278.5m.

But United have slipped one place to third in the list of the world’s largest revenue-generating clubs.

The English champions have been eclipsed by Barcelona following the Spanish giant’s success on the pitch, winning a domestic double and the Champions League, while Real Madrid top the table for a fifth successive year.

Madrid made £341.9m — £30.2m more than La Liga rivals Barca — while Arsenal climbed to fifth as seven English clubs feature in the top 20.

Dan Jones, Partner in the Sports Business Group at Deloitte, said: “United, like other English clubs, were impacted by the continuing depreciation of the Pound Sterling against the Euro. The scale of this is shown by the fact that if exchange rates remained at their June 2007 level, United would be top of the Money League table.”

He added: “The North West has a proud position in both the historical development and current success of English football.

“Four clubs from the North West were amongst the world’s top 30 revenue generating clubs for 2008/09 — Manchester United (3rd), Liverpool (7th), Manchester City (19th) and Everton (27th).

“This strength is further highlighted by the region having eight Premier League clubs in the 2009/10 season, all of which are in the top 75 revenue generating clubs in Europe.”

Overall revenues, which exclude transfer fees, for the top 20 clubs increased in 2008-09 despite the economic downturn.

Arsenal returned to the top five after a one-year absence, climbing one place to replace London rivals Chelsea, with a seven per cent increase in revenue to £224m. Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City and Newcastle United complete the seven English clubs in this year’s Money League.