Spurs report big rise in profit

Spurs have yet to benefit from Champions League football

Tottenham Hotspur has announced a profit of £4.4m for the second half of 2005, up from £1m the year before.

Turnover for the period was £36.3m, 10% up on the same period in 2004.

Player sales boosted profits, helping to offset the club's early exit from the Carling Cup and the consequent £1m fall in gate receipts compared to 2004.

The north London team warned that losing to Leicester in the third round of the FA Cup last January would have an impact on its next set of figures.

It said it would continue its policy of investing in young talent.

"A lot of investment continues to be focused on academy recruits, with scouting taking place throughout the world looking for, and competing for, stars of the future," said chairman Daniel Levy.

According to the latest football rich list from consultants Deloitte, Tottenham Hotspur is the thirteenth richest club in Europe, and the only one not to have earned revenues from the continent's premier cup competition, the Champions League.