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LONDON. — English Premiership clubs lost a staggering £618 million (about US$848.3m) during the 2019-2020 season due to the impact of Covid-19.

Manchester United were hit the hardest by the pandemic.

New financial figures show United saw a massive £118m (about US$162m) drop in revenue when football was brought to a standstill last year.

Football was stopped for three months as the UK was plunged into lockdown to combat the rising cases of coronavirus.

When football finally returned in July, supporters were not able to attend and the majority of games in the 2020-2021 campaign also took place behind closed doors.

United usually see crowds of 75,000 at Old Trafford but saw their lucrative match day revenue disappear with fans kept away from stadiums.

Each club, aside from the three teams who had been promoted to the top flight for the 2019-2020 season, saw a drop in revenue.

The 17 teams lost £618m combined.

Aston Villa, Sheffield United and Norwich, who all benefitted from new lucrative TV deals, were excluded.

They recorded respective profits of £59m (about US$81m), £85m (about US$116.6m) and £122m (about US$153.7m).

Bournemouth and Watford, who were both relegated from the Premier League at the end of the 2019-2020 season also reported heavy losses.

The Cherries lost £36m (about US$49.4m) while the Hornets lost £28m (US$38.4m).

Watford are now back in the Premier League after topping the Championship last season while Bournemouth were defeated in the semi-finals of the play-offs.

According to Swiss Ramble, United were hit the hardest by the pandemic, closely followed by Tottenham, Man City, Arsenal and West Ham.

Spurs reportedly lost £69m (about US$94.7m), City lost £57m (about US$78m), Arsenal lost £52m (about US$71.3m) and West Ham lost £51m (about US$70m).

Liverpool were next on the list with losses of £43m (about US$59m), followed by Chelsea – who lost £40m (about US$59m).

Everton managed to avoid a big drop, with losses of just £2m (about US$2.7m) while Burnley only dropped £4m (about US$4m).

Crystal Palace and Brighton also managed to escape with smaller losses.

Palace saw a drop of £13m (about US$13m) while the Seagulls lost £15m (about US$20.5m).

Supporters have now returned to football grounds following the lifting of restrictions in the UK.

Several Premier League clubs have seen sell-out crowds, with United playing Leeds in front of 75 000 fans at Old Trafford.

Premier League 2019-2020 Covid-19 losses

Manchester United — £118m

Tottenham — £69m

Man City — £57m

Arsenal — £52m

West Ham — £51m

Liverpool — £43m

Chelsea — £40m

Wolves — £39m

Bournemouth — £36m

Leicester — £28m

Watford — £28m

Southampton — £23m

Brighton — £15m

Crystal Palace — £13m

Burnley — £4m

Everton — £2m — Mailonline