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Was having a browse on the Guardian website and found this article written in 2003. are all these reasons for the gap still ringing true?
Are there any new reasons not equated for here?
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Forty factors fuelling football inflation
1 The First Division play-off game is "probably" the richest club game in the world, worth around £34m to the winners, including parachute payments if the club goes straight back down.
2 In 2001-02, 32 clubs reported operating profits - 15 from the Premiership, 17 from the Football League.
3 The Uefa Champions League is, in effect, the sixth major European League and is worth in the region of £25m to the clubs who reach the semi-finals or final.
4 Teams finishing in the top three of the Premiership and taking part in the Champions League stand to make between £44m to £55m from TV, prize money, gate receipts and other commercial spin-offs.
5 Clubs qualifying for the Uefa Cup after finishing fourth or fifth in the Premiership stand to make around £24m.
6 Premiership clubs who do not compete in Europe and finish outside the top six receive an average of £14m from the BSkyB/ITV broadcasting deal.
7 Over the 10 years of the Premiership, Manchester United registered the highest cumulative profits at £229m, with Tottenham Hotspur in second place with £74m.
8 Premiership clubs have spent around £1bn on stadium redevelopment since the league formed in 1991-92.
9 League match attendances in all four divisions approached 27.8m, the highest for 30 years.
10 FA Cup attendances in 2001-02 were up by 8.5 % and Football League Cup gates increased by 12.2%.
11 The Premiership is the strongest league in revenue terms. England's total income rose 21% to reach €1.748bn (£1.2bn) and the Premiership receives more revenue than France and Germany put together.
12 Clubs in the Premiership reported operating profits of £84m, the highest since 1997-98, with 83% of clubs reporting an operating profit.
13 The five Premiership clubs with the biggest pre-tax losses were Fulham (£40m), Leeds United (£34m), Arsenal (£22m), Chelsea (£17m) and Middlesbrough (£16m).
14 In 2001-02, Manchester United reported the highest operating profit at £34m, followed by Newcastle United at £15m.
15 Promotion from the First Division to the Premiership at the end of the 2001-02 season was worth around £16m in extra income for the successful clubs.
16 The average income for a Premiership club was £56.6m. However only seven of the 20 clubs achieved this figure - Manchester United, Liverpool, Tottenham, Newcastle United, Chelsea, Leeds United and Arsenal.
17 These seven clubs apart, the average income for the rest of the Premiership dropped to £37m, indicating that a "league within a league" has been formed.
18 The average Premiership club has an income four times greater than its First Division counterpart, which earns around £12.4m. This is likely to increase to six times greater over the next few years.
19 The average income for a Second Division club was £4.3m, and £2.7m for a Third Division club.
20 The cost of relegation from the Premiership to the First Division is around £12m in reduced income.
21 League position and wage bills are closely related. The top five payers in the Premiership also finished in the top five.
22 Average wages for players have increased 700% during the Premiership's existence.
23 In 1992-93 the average wage for a Premiership player was £75,000 per year. In 2001-02 the average wage for a Premiership player was £600,000.
24 In 1992-93 the average wage for a First Division player was £50,000 while in 2001-02 it was £200,000. Over the same period, the Second Division average wage went from £20,000 to £70,000 and the Division Three average wage increased from £15,000 in 1992-93 to £42,000 in 2001-02.
25 The biggest spenders in the transfer market over the past six season have been Manchester United, followed by Leeds United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur.
26 South-west London saw the greatest activity in the transfer market in the 2001-02 season with Fulham and their neighbours Chelsea spending a total of £59m between them.
27 Spending between Premiership clubs on transfers stood at £93.5m in 2002-03 with an average of £3.2m per transfer.
28 The amount of money filtering down from the Premiership to the Football League via transfers was only £18m.
29 Large amounts of cash continue to leave the English game with clubs buying players from abroad. A net outflow of £190m was recorded, consisting of £159m from the Premiership and £31m from the Football League.
30 The average crowd capacity at a Premiership club's stadium is 37,000.
31 The average price of a ticket for a Premiership game is £25.
32 Football League attendances in 2001-02 stood at 14.7m, up 8.5% on the previous season.
33 The average Premiership attendance was 34,324. Total Premiership match attendances broke through the 13m barrier in 2001-02.
34 Average First Division attendance was 15,000 in 2001-02 and the Second Division average was 7,200. The Third Division average attendance was 4,345.
35 Manchester United topped the table of most valuable players on their books, recording their players worth at £82.2m in 2001-02. They were followed by Leeds United, who had player assests valued at £66.5m. Homegrown players do not feature on clubs' balance sheets.
36 In total, the 92 clubs in the Premiership and Football League recorded a pre-tax loss of £204m.
37 The Premiership is the best attended top division in European football. Its average crowd is 11% above its nearest rival, the German Bundesliga.
38 Income from merchandising represents 27% of total commerical income for Premiership clubs. Broadcasting revenue has become the largest single source of income for Premiership clubs, overtaking matchday income.
39 The average Premiership club earns £50m more revenue than the average First Division club - more than £1bn in total difference between the two divisions.
40 The average Premiership club pays £35.3m in wages, up from £28.1m in 2000-01.
Are there any new reasons not equated for here?
========================================
Forty factors fuelling football inflation
1 The First Division play-off game is "probably" the richest club game in the world, worth around £34m to the winners, including parachute payments if the club goes straight back down.
2 In 2001-02, 32 clubs reported operating profits - 15 from the Premiership, 17 from the Football League.
3 The Uefa Champions League is, in effect, the sixth major European League and is worth in the region of £25m to the clubs who reach the semi-finals or final.
4 Teams finishing in the top three of the Premiership and taking part in the Champions League stand to make between £44m to £55m from TV, prize money, gate receipts and other commercial spin-offs.
5 Clubs qualifying for the Uefa Cup after finishing fourth or fifth in the Premiership stand to make around £24m.
6 Premiership clubs who do not compete in Europe and finish outside the top six receive an average of £14m from the BSkyB/ITV broadcasting deal.
7 Over the 10 years of the Premiership, Manchester United registered the highest cumulative profits at £229m, with Tottenham Hotspur in second place with £74m.
8 Premiership clubs have spent around £1bn on stadium redevelopment since the league formed in 1991-92.
9 League match attendances in all four divisions approached 27.8m, the highest for 30 years.
10 FA Cup attendances in 2001-02 were up by 8.5 % and Football League Cup gates increased by 12.2%.
11 The Premiership is the strongest league in revenue terms. England's total income rose 21% to reach €1.748bn (£1.2bn) and the Premiership receives more revenue than France and Germany put together.
12 Clubs in the Premiership reported operating profits of £84m, the highest since 1997-98, with 83% of clubs reporting an operating profit.
13 The five Premiership clubs with the biggest pre-tax losses were Fulham (£40m), Leeds United (£34m), Arsenal (£22m), Chelsea (£17m) and Middlesbrough (£16m).
14 In 2001-02, Manchester United reported the highest operating profit at £34m, followed by Newcastle United at £15m.
15 Promotion from the First Division to the Premiership at the end of the 2001-02 season was worth around £16m in extra income for the successful clubs.
16 The average income for a Premiership club was £56.6m. However only seven of the 20 clubs achieved this figure - Manchester United, Liverpool, Tottenham, Newcastle United, Chelsea, Leeds United and Arsenal.
17 These seven clubs apart, the average income for the rest of the Premiership dropped to £37m, indicating that a "league within a league" has been formed.
18 The average Premiership club has an income four times greater than its First Division counterpart, which earns around £12.4m. This is likely to increase to six times greater over the next few years.
19 The average income for a Second Division club was £4.3m, and £2.7m for a Third Division club.
20 The cost of relegation from the Premiership to the First Division is around £12m in reduced income.
21 League position and wage bills are closely related. The top five payers in the Premiership also finished in the top five.
22 Average wages for players have increased 700% during the Premiership's existence.
23 In 1992-93 the average wage for a Premiership player was £75,000 per year. In 2001-02 the average wage for a Premiership player was £600,000.
24 In 1992-93 the average wage for a First Division player was £50,000 while in 2001-02 it was £200,000. Over the same period, the Second Division average wage went from £20,000 to £70,000 and the Division Three average wage increased from £15,000 in 1992-93 to £42,000 in 2001-02.
25 The biggest spenders in the transfer market over the past six season have been Manchester United, followed by Leeds United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur.
26 South-west London saw the greatest activity in the transfer market in the 2001-02 season with Fulham and their neighbours Chelsea spending a total of £59m between them.
27 Spending between Premiership clubs on transfers stood at £93.5m in 2002-03 with an average of £3.2m per transfer.
28 The amount of money filtering down from the Premiership to the Football League via transfers was only £18m.
29 Large amounts of cash continue to leave the English game with clubs buying players from abroad. A net outflow of £190m was recorded, consisting of £159m from the Premiership and £31m from the Football League.
30 The average crowd capacity at a Premiership club's stadium is 37,000.
31 The average price of a ticket for a Premiership game is £25.
32 Football League attendances in 2001-02 stood at 14.7m, up 8.5% on the previous season.
33 The average Premiership attendance was 34,324. Total Premiership match attendances broke through the 13m barrier in 2001-02.
34 Average First Division attendance was 15,000 in 2001-02 and the Second Division average was 7,200. The Third Division average attendance was 4,345.
35 Manchester United topped the table of most valuable players on their books, recording their players worth at £82.2m in 2001-02. They were followed by Leeds United, who had player assests valued at £66.5m. Homegrown players do not feature on clubs' balance sheets.
36 In total, the 92 clubs in the Premiership and Football League recorded a pre-tax loss of £204m.
37 The Premiership is the best attended top division in European football. Its average crowd is 11% above its nearest rival, the German Bundesliga.
38 Income from merchandising represents 27% of total commerical income for Premiership clubs. Broadcasting revenue has become the largest single source of income for Premiership clubs, overtaking matchday income.
39 The average Premiership club earns £50m more revenue than the average First Division club - more than £1bn in total difference between the two divisions.
40 The average Premiership club pays £35.3m in wages, up from £28.1m in 2000-01.
