Above: Wanted criminal Abramovich

Three of football’s wealthiest people are Jewish, according to new research.

With an estimated fortune of £7.8bn, Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich, 42, heads the Jewish delegation, retaining third position in the 2009 FourFourTwo.com Rich List.

Trailing Lakshmi Mittal (£18.4bn) and Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan (£17bn), the father-of-five has reportedly made more than £600m in the past 12 months.

But the economic downturn has seen huge losses to even the biggest fortunes.

Spurs owner Joe Lewis, the Bahamas-based financier, (£2.5bn) is fourth despite losing nearly £500m on his investment in failed Wall Street bank Bear Stearns. Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy (£25m) is 82nd.

Manchester United’s Glazer family climb three places into seventh with an estimated £1.5bn.

Pentland Group owner Stephen Rubin, aged 71, comes in at No. 24 with £360m to his name.

Former bricklayer, Birmingham City chairman David Gold (£300m) has dropped seven places to 27.

At No. 30, dropping a place, is Arsenal director and diamond dealer Danny Fiszman (£225m).

Tony Bloom, the chairman of Brighton & Hove Albion, is a new entry. With £50m to his name, Bloom, 39, has injected £80m to fund the new Falmer stadium.

Football Rich List (top 10)

1. Lakshmi Mittal (QPR) £18.4billion

2. Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nayan (Man City) £17bn

3. Roman Abramovich (Chelsea) £7.8bn

4. Joe Lewis (Spurs) £2.5bn

5. Stan Kroenke (Arsenal) £2.079bn

6. Denis O'Brien (Celtic) £1.73bn

7. Malcolm Glazer and family (Man Utd) £1.5bn

8. Bernie Ecclestone (QPR) £1.466bn

9. Alisher Usmanov (Arsenal) £1.3bn

10. Lord Grantchester and family (Everton) £1.2bn

Selected others:

24. Stephen Rubin (Watford) £360m

27. David Gold (Birmingham) £300m

30. Danny Fiszman (Arsenal) £225m

55. Tony Bloom (Brighton) £50

82. David Levy (Spurs) £25m

From the Jewish Chronicle