Murray and Charlton face uneven playing field head on

The pitch at The Valley, strewn with weeds and rubbish a decade ago, is a source of pride these days to Charlton Athletic's award-winning groundsman and former winger Colin "Paddy" Powell. He will understand, though, if anyone turning up for this afternoon's match against Manchester United asks whether the teams are competing on a level playing field.

As the figures (see panel) illustrate, United's income from European competition alone, which might once have been regarded as a nice little extra, is greater than Charlton's entire annual turnover – even though the latter figure doubled when the London club clinched promotion to the Premiership two seasons ago.

United's television income is almost double that of today's opponents, and Vodafone pay seven times as much to have their name on the red shirts worn by David Beckham and friends as all:sports do for Richard Rufus's boys. There is, however, another story to be told, namely that the Addicks (don't ask, it's a long and much disputed tale) are one of the best-run clubs in the country.

Among the mass of financial information to be found in Deloitte and Touche's Annual Football Review is the fact that, on the most recently available figures, Charlton were one of a tiny group of clubs to make any sort of profit, and to have money in the bank rather than debt round their neck. Much of the credit for that goes to Richard Murray, 52, chairman of Charlton Athletic plc and the sort of man who does not leave his business acumen behind on entering the stadium gates.

That acumen is reflected in his role as founder and deputy chairman of Avesco, whose programme "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" was being watched, at the last count, in 105 countries.

At the end of a week in which Leeds United broke Fulham's record by losing £34m in a year, Manchester City took on a 24-year, £30m loan and Derby County failed to pay for a player they signed three years ago, the normally mild-mannered Murray was blunt. "As a club we're concerned about this uneven playing field and the debts some clubs have," he said.

"Is it right that Chelsea should run up debts of up to £100m? That's what's created the inflation in football. It distorts things, and fans like ours say 'We want to compete with them'. The attitude seems to be blow tomorrow, borrow as much as you can today, and then spend it on players. And suddenly you're paying £4m a year interest for the next 25 years. If you build a stadium with it, fine, but Leeds haven't built a stadium."

Unlike his Chelsea counterpart, Murray does not commandeer a page of the club programme every fortnight to vent his views (and spleen) but did so recently to explain to supporters the thinking behind a decision that caused rare dissension among them – the sale of their highly popular captain and Ireland international Mark Kinsella to Aston Villa for a modest £1m.

Headed "Difficult times, hard decisions" the article said: "Football is currently undergoing a massive reality check. Relegation to the First Division is now so damaging that it threatens the very existence of clubs. Derby, Bradford, Sheffield Wednesday, Barnsley, Coventry, Ipswich and Leicester are all facing an uphill battle. Many are burdened with levels of debt that are simply not sustainable in the long term...you need to have the strength to stick to your principles."

Those principles served Charlton well when, after being promoted following their epic play-off victory against Sunderland in 1998, they immediately went back down. There was no question of sacking the manager, Alan Curbishley, who merely sold one player (Danny Mills), invested much of that fee with his usual acumen, and took a much stronger squad back to the Premiership as champions the following season. Murray then took the decision that after two years of capacity crowds and Premiership television money, it was reasonable to speculate on players, at the same time as increasing the ground capacity by 6,000. The result was the club's highest position (ninth) for 47 years and biggest average attendances for almost as long.

It is still mighty hard in the big league. Last season came a crop of injuries and the team, seventh in March, finished 14th. This season, after strictly limiting expenditure, Kinsella was sold and Murphy's Law kicked in. The next day his replacement as captain, Graham Stuart, was put out of the game for six months; a work permit for the Japanese World Cup player Alex was refused; Scott Parker, and the England Under-21 midfielder due to take Kinsella's role, has not played all season because of injury.

Suddenly Curbishley was four midfield players down, with the transfer window closing and the fixture list having thrown up Chelsea, Tottenham, Arsenal and United as The Valley's first four visiting teams. The London trio all made the short journey home victorious, so that last Saturday's game at Southampton became a cliched six-pointer, in which one point from a dreary goalless draw was a blessing. "There are 10 clubs who know that getting relegated from the Premiership is almost like putting a gun to your head, and I don't think it helps the quality of football," Murray said.

"Even this early in the season we went to Southampton thinking 'We mustn't lose this game'. In Division One, even with the parachute payments, television income reduces by about £13m.

"Add to that maybe reduced sponsorship and gates, and when you lose the parachute payments after three years, the differential is probably £20m. And you can't suddenly reduce your wage bill from £20m to £5m when people are on long-term contracts. With the collapse of the transfer market now, the normal way of getting out of financial trouble is no longer there."

If the worst came to the very worst, Charlton, you feel, would be seen waving rather than drowning. Their supporters, while more aware than most of financial reality – ten years ago they were playing in front of 4,000 crowds on a borrowed ground – might also claim that the most relevant figures at 3pm today will be 0-0 and 3-3, the results of two of the team's most recent games against United. Up in the directors' box, however, they might just be craning their necks a little, convinced the pitch is on a slope.