Watford FC shareholder Lord Ashcroft has finished above the owners of Manchester United and several other Premiership teams after being judged one of the ten richest men in football.

The Conservative Party deputy chairman sneaked into the top ten most wealthy investors after he was judged to be the tenth richest person in British football.

The Tory peer, who is a major shareholder at the Vicarage Road club, has an estimated fortune of £1.1 billion.

Lord Ashcroft currently owns 37 per cent of Watford FC.

The list is topped by Sheik Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan a member of the royal family of Abu Dhabi and owner of Manchester City, who has a personal fortune of £15 billion, according to FourFourTwo magazine.

Russian oil magnate and owner of Chelsea, Roman Abramovich, topped last year's list with his estimated £7 billion fortune, but found himself in third place this year.

The Russian has also been overtaken by Lakshmi Mittal, a 58-year-old Indian industrialist worth £12.5 billion, who owns part of Queen's Park Rangers FC.