Saves that could boost your team

By JUSTIN HARPER FOR MAILONLINE
Updated:

 

TODAY sees the start of the Premiership football season. For millions of loyal fans, it's time to buy the new kit and, for Manchester United fans, check for roadworks between their London homes and the Old Trafford ground.

If you have any money left after paying out for a season ticket - which can cost an incredible £1,724 for prime seats at Arsenal down to a more reasonable £450 at newly promoted Crystal Palace - then the truly dedicated fan might want to help their side out financially, too.

While football credit cards are, generally speaking, a bad deal unless you pay off your card in full - you would pay 15.9% on Manchester United's card, while you could get 8.75% on Northern Rock's base-rate tracker Visa - there are some good savings accounts linked to football teams.

And you don't have to support one of the top teams - some of the smaller clubs have the best paying accounts. Britannia Building Society runs the lion's share of affiliated savings accounts for football clubs - including Manchester United, Everton, Chelsea, Liverpool and Ipswich. The savings accounts all have the same interest rates, but the bonuses differ slightly from club to club.

For example, Liverpool FC will pay a 1% bonus if the club wins the Premiership, FA Cup or Champions League, while Manchester United pays a 1% bonus if it qualifies for the Champions League - a more likely outcome.

They all pay 1.64% after 20% savings tax (2.05% gross) on a minimum deposit of £100, which rises to 2.72% (3.4%) on £5,000. Some clubs also have a junior savings account paying 4.5%.

Manchester United Finance offers the biggest range of financial products - unsurprising, given its global presence and merchandising clout. These include loans, mortgages and car insurance. Its cash mini Isa - also run by Britannia - pays 4.25% on a minimum balance of £1. This compares with the best High Street cash mini Isa, offered by Nationwide Building Society at 4.65%.

Yorkshire Building Society runs accounts for Sheffield United (Blades), paying 2.6% (3.25%) interest on a minimum balance of £100, and Huddersfield Town (Terriers), paying 2.8% (3.5%).

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But don't be blinded by club loyalty as not all accounts pay a decent rate of interest. The paltry 0.92% (1.15%) interest Newcastle Building Society pays on its Nottingham Forest savings account looks bad when you compare it with the 2.68% (3.35%) - 2.88% (3.6%) from September 2 - you'd get with Tesco Personal Finance.

And Norwich & Peterborough Building Society - which runs accounts for Premiership club Norwich City plus Peterborough Town and Lincoln City - pays a paltry 1.6% net (2.1% gross) on its football account.

• DAISY McFAUL, three, is the proud owner of a Liverpool FC savings account which her grandparents and other relatives pay into on birthdays and at Christmas.

Her mother, Sarah, and grandfather Brian, from St Helens, Merseyside, look after the account, which has now built up to about £700.

Sarah, a 28-year-old account handler, says: 'My family are all Liverpool fans and season ticker holders and wanted to give something back to the club. And the savings account is the ideal way for us all to pay money in for Daisy for when she's older.'

The account, run by Britannia Building Society, pays back 1% of account balances to Liverpool FC's youth academy.

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