IF money talked Ipswich Town would be winning most games and their fans would be cashing in on Premier League football.

Elvin King

IF money talked Ipswich Town would be winning most games and their fans would be cashing in on Premier League football.

But it doesn't and despite having the wealthiest manager in British club football the Blues are floundering at the foot of the Coca-Cola Championship still begging for their first win of the season.

Roy Keane's wealth is given as �27million in a British football managers' rich list published by FourFourTwo magazine putting him ahead of Manchester United's Sir Alex Ferguson (�22m) and Chelsea's Carlo Ancelotti (�17m), and one place behind England manager Fabio Capello, who tops the list (�30m).

And Ipswich's money bags image does not end there with owner Marcus Evans' business empire wealth having doubled over the last 12 months to see him rise from 30th to 19th in the overall British football 'Rich List' with assets valued at �400m.

Keane's wealth stems from his time playing for Manchester United when he became what many believe to be the best ever Premier League player.

Having signed for United for a British record �3.75m, Keane's salary eventual broke the �100,000-a-week barrier.

In addition to the accumulation of his monthly Manchester United pay cheques, a �1m advance on the hardback and paperback editions of his autobiography was also money well spent with both becoming bestsellers.

He later earned �35,000 a week for a farewell six-month spell with Celtic, before moving into management with a three-year �6m package at Sunderland.

And Ipswich will be paying him well for the extent of his two-year contract at Portman Road.

Queens Park Rangers' part owner Lakshmi Mittal is the wealthiest man in British football (�18.4bn) followed by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan (Manchester City, �17bn) and Roman Abramovich (Chelsea, �7.8bn).

Reclusive tycoon Evans made his fortune from conference organising, and he purchased an 87.5% stake in Ipswich Town in December 1987, taking over the club's �32m debt and giving then manager �12million to spend.

Evans is said to see his investment as a business opportunity after first hitting the headlines in 2005 when he made an audacious but unsuccessful �800m takeover approach for the Daily Mirror titles.

Revenues at his Marcus Evans Group were put at around �175m. The business is worth around �200m in the current climate.

But his outlay on Ipswich suggested a fortune in excess of the �200m valuation last year. Another �200m for property and other assets has since been added to take Evans to �400m.

David Beckham is the wealthiest player in the rich list valued at (�125m) with Michael Owen second at �38m.

British football rich list

1 Lakshmi Mittal (QPR, �18.4bn), 2 Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan (Manchester City, �17bn), 3 Roman Abramovich (Chelsea, �7.8bn), 4 Joe Lewis (Tottenham, �2.5bn), 5 Stan Kroenke (Arsenal, �2.079bn). 19 Marcus Evans (Ipswich Town, �400m).

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Managers (top 10): 1. Fabio Capello (England, �30m), 2, Roy Keane (Ipswich, �27m), 3 Sir Alex Ferguson (Manchester United, �22m), 4 Carlo Ancelotti (Chelsea, �17m), 5 Arsene Wenger (Arsenal, �15m) and Sven-G�ran Eriksson (Notts County, �15m), 7 Harry Redknapp (Tottenham, �10m), 8 Martin O'Neill (Aston Villa, �9m) and Rafa Benitez (Liverpool, �9m), 10 Mark Hughes (Manchester City �8m).

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Players (top 10): 1 David Beckham, LA Galaxy, �125m), 2 Michael Owen (Manchester United, �38m), 3 Wayne Rooney (Manchester United, �37m), 4 Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United, �30m), 5 Ryan Giggs (Manchester United, �24m), 6 Michael Ballack (Chelsea, �22m), 7 Frank Lampard (Chelsea, �21m), 8 Steven Gerrard (Liverpool, �20m), 9 John Terry (Chelsea, �18m), 10 Didier Drogba (Chelsea, �16m).