THE publication of Deloitte’s annual rich list for football this week again highlighted English clubs as the big winners.

Real Madrid may top the pile as the richest club for the 10th year in a row but Manchester United are a close second while half of the top 10 are from the Premier League.

The continued rise of the English top flight, helped by billionaire owners from abroad, shows no abating and with the Premier League as a whole selling its brand far and wide, it is hard to see an end to it.

But while the richer clubs get even richer and others hang on to their coat-tails in the fields of gold of the top division there is one notable bunch of losers – the fans.

Never has the divide between some clubs and their customers – sorry fans – been as wide at the highest level and it is even affecting clubs in the lower reaches of the game in this country.

The two main issues for me where fans are completely disregarded are pricing and the shifting of kick-off times.

The FA Cup has been a prime example this season. The selection of matches for live TV coverage by BT Sport and the BBC are done in consultation with the clubs, TV companies, the FA and the police. Notice the missing party not involved.

So when those organisations decide Liverpool fans should take a day off work to travel to AFC Wimbledon on a Monday night, West Ham fans should take a day’s holiday on a Tuesday to travel to West Ham or Manchester United followers have to use a lieu day to visit Cambridge tonight, it seemingly does not matter to those in high places.

Who cares if the fan has to rearrange their lives, so long as the TV money comes flowing in?

In the last of those cases, United fans also have to pay double what Luton fans paid in the previous round because Cambridge want to cash in on their big day.

It’s not all a case of being inconsiderate to those loyal paying customers, though, and credit must go to Wanderers who are providing free coach travel for the 5,500-strong army of fans heading to Anfield tomorrow evening.

Maybe some of the so-called bigger clubs should take note.

The bubble of the Premier League may lead clubs into a false sense of security over their financial position as the TV deals keep getting bigger and more lucrative.

But they should always remember that if they disillusion the punters too much, they will have empty stadia with ghostly atmospheres. Try selling that product to the viewing public in the Far East.