Peter Kenyon, Chelsea's chief executive, says the club's long term aim is still to break even, despite posting a £74.8 million loss today

However, the Premier League club also reported a record turnover for 2006/07 of £223.3m, placing them behind Manchester United (£245m) but ahead of Arsenal (£200.8m).

In contrast to both United and Arsenal, who posted pre-tax profits of £59.6m and £5.6m respectively, Chelsea are still making a loss, although it was reduced by 7% on 2005/06's figure of £80.2m

But Chelsea's losses were the lowest since Russian oil billionaire Roman Abramovich took over the club in 2003, and unlike the other two clubs, they are not saddled with significant debt.

And Kenyon insists the patronage of Abramovich, who has invested in excess of £500m in the club, will give the west London outfit an advantage over their title rivals.

"Everything we've been doing at Chelsea over the past four-and-a-half years is predicated on the owner being supportive to Chelsea - he clearly has been and he continues to be," Kenyon told the BBC.

"I would suggest there are a lot of football clubs who would like to be in our position in terms of being externally debt-free and that very much gives us a competitive advantage.

"From a business point of view, a football club point of view and a fan point of view that does give us an advantage in the long run."

Kenyon is still aiming for “operating profit break even by 2009/10" as losses have fallen from £140million in 2004/5, fuelled largely in a reduction in net expenditure on players from £126.7m in 2004/05 to £11.7m in 2006/07.

And Kenyon suggested there would be no repeat of the frantic transfer activity that heralded Abramovich's arrival

"We've always said we'll invest in players but the levels of year one were not sustainable," Kenyon said. "That's not to say that we're not going to bring players in.

"We've spent an awful lot on our academy and one of our longer-term business plans is to ensure we have this mixture of home-grown talent along with buying some of the best footballers from anywhere in the world.

"Our long-term target of operating profit break even by 2009/10 remains ambitious but we are determined to meet it or get as close as we can."

Chelsea finished runner-up in the Premier League last season, won the League and FA Cups and reached the semifinals of the Champions League which saw their football related income rise 27 per cent from £130.4m to £165.3m.

Sponsorship revenues have also increased by 89 per cent to £32m from £16.9m, signed contract with Adidas, the sportswear manufacturer.