Aston Villa bank £73.1m jackpot as UEFA announce record payouts
UEFA have revealed that Aston Villa have banked £73.1million for their 2024-25 Champions League campaign.
As reported by football finance expert Kieran Maguire via X on Thursday, Aston Villa were the third-highest paid out English club in European football last season.
Arsenal claimed the most prize money with £101m for reaching the Champions League semi-final, whilst Liverpool collected £85m for reaching the Round of 16.
However, Aston Villa claimed £73.1m despite reaching the quarter-finals of the Champions League, where they were eventually knocked out by Paris Saint-Germain 5-4 on aggregate.
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Why did Liverpool receive more money than Aston Villa?
So, many Aston Villa fans will be questioning why Liverpool were rewarded more handsomely by UEFA despite the fact they didn’t progress as far in the competition as Unai Emery’s side last season.
But, the answer to that question is a fairly simple one, as teams were awarded a bonus of £1.76m for each win in the league phase, with Liverpool winning seven that year to take that total to £12.32m.
And, because Liverpool finished first in the league phase of the Champions League, that saw them awarded an extra £8.3m, as well as a further £1.69m for finishing in the top eight and £9.22m for qualifying for the last 16.
Aston Villa, on the other hand, finished eighth in the league phase table, winning five games.
On top of that, Villa were also not rewarded as much due to their lower UEFA ranking, having made their return to the Champions League last season for the first time in 41 years.
Villa’s total league phase prize money last season came to £9.44m.
Importance of Villa hanging on to Champions League place shown
It goes without saying, but playing Champions League football is a highly rewarding experience, both for the players, coaches and supporters, but also the financial coffers.
In comparison, Tottenham were awarded £35.7m for winning the Europa League, with Man United taking him just over £31m for reaching the final.
That’s a huge difference in prize money just for reaching the Champions League knockout phases, and highlights the importance of Villa qualifying for the competition for next season.
They can, of course, do that either through finishing in the top four of the Premier League, of which they’re currently six-points safe inside of, or by winning the Europa League, which they are still in.