LONDON (Bloomberg) — Manchester United almost doubled profit as it regained its Premier League soccer title last year. Revenue surged 21 percent for the club to lag behind only Real Madrid in team sales.

Net income rose to £42.3 million ($83 million) in the year ended June 30 from 21.6 million the previous year, the club said. Sales rose to a record £245 million from £202 million, boosted by matchday receipts and media revenue.

"This is a remarkable record set of results," chief executive officer David Gill said, adding that they position the club "as a true leader in world sports."

Revenue at United, bought by the US Glazer family in 2005, was boosted by winning the league for the ninth time in 15 seasons, advancing to the semi-final of the Champions League, and reaching the FA Cup final. United also established its lead in England over Arsenal, who had sales of £200.8 million in the fiscal year ended May 31 after moving to the 60,000-capacity Emirates Stadium.

United's media revenue rose 35 percent to £61.5 million. Gill said he expects this element to increase further, with the Premier League's broadcast rights almost doubling to £2.7 billion over three years starting this season.

United for the first time included sales from Nike Inc. merchandise and the club's TV channel, MUTV, in its total revenue. Excluding those items, sales rose 27 percent to £210 million from £165 million.

Nick Marshall, a London-based sports lawyer who has worked on corporate soccer issues, said that media rights sales from outside the UK are becoming an increasingly significant part of English soccer clubs' profits.

"Obviously the headline figure is good news, given the amount of debt the club has to support," he said in a telephone interview.

Malcolm Glazer's family, which also controls the Tampa Bay Buccaneers NFL team, acquired United in a $1.4 billion takeover. The publicly traded company on the London stock market was then taken private.

Following the takeover, the club carries £660 million of bonds and loans, though detail of the interest repayments on this debt, estimated in media reports at around £60 million a year, was absent from the figures published yesterday.