FOOTBALL finances in England's top flight are continuing to grow at record levels, a new report reveals.

Accountants Deloitte & Touche's annual review of football finance which examines club's accounts in 2000/1 shows the Premiership's turnover grew 21 per cent to £937m.

Salaries also leapt season-on-season by 17.6 per cent to a whopping £562m.

And spending on transfers increased to a record level of some £364m.

North-East Premiership clubs were among those cashing in on the football boom.

Sunderland's operating profit before player transfers jumped to £8.9m in 2000/1 from £1m the previous season.

Bitter rivals Newcastle recorded an operating profit of £5.1m having only made £370,000 in 1999/2000.

Overall Premiership operating profits increased by 51 per cent to £81m.

Both North-East clubs saw their turnover grow, in Newcastle's case up to £54m from £45m and Sunderland up to £46m from £37m.

The Deloitte & Touche analysis showed that millions was continuing to be lavished on players' and staff wages.

In 2000/1 Newcastle spent £26m on wages and salaries and Sunderland £23m. They lagged behind Chelsea who spent the most in the league, paying out more than £50m in wages.

No figures for 2000/1 were available for the North-East's third Premiership club Middlesbrough. This was because the club had not filed its accounts in time to be included in the report, said Deloitte & Touche.

Meanwhile, Manchester United remain the financial giants of the English top flight making three times more profit than their nearest rivals Liverpool.

Other successes for the Premier League included a seven per cent rise in average attendances to 32,821.

Gerry Boon, head of Deloitte & Touche Sport, said: "The English Premiership clubs are the undoubted financial champions of Europe - generating the highest income and making the highest operating profits.