They are the first to be attacked for their money, but from the nonsense you see on the internet, down to actual grown men appearing every summer pretending to have insight into football dealings, gives you an indication on how much they matter in many people’s lives. They deserve the money they get.
Footballer salaries...
- Thread starter Rozay
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik and Imran hold a long overdue conversation about United's awful league form with 1 win in 7. They discuss a disappointing draw at Bournemouth, a not so disappointing draw against Liverpool and a crushing defeat at Chelsea - Is time nearly over for Erik Ten Hag?
Then in a special second half of the pod, Nik welcomes Natalie ( https://twitter.com/natalie_17) to discuss the fortunes of Manchester United Women as they booked a place in the FA Cup Final after a historic first ever win vs. Chelsea.
The entertainment factor from men's football in Europe and increasing commercialization of it lead to footballer's salaries to be in high demands.
Entertainment element is hugely important in people's lives.
Sensibly many of them (and clubs) also use the big money for charities and good philanthropic activities. Good causes so it balances out.. sort of.
Not all footballers get to get the high salaries though, only among the top teams, high-mid teams and generous rich clubs for certain players.
Entertainment element is hugely important in people's lives.
Sensibly many of them (and clubs) also use the big money for charities and good philanthropic activities. Good causes so it balances out.. sort of.
Not all footballers get to get the high salaries though, only among the top teams, high-mid teams and generous rich clubs for certain players.
I like your threads but why do you always have ellipsis..
...need to capped asap.
That would just lead to even more bloated transfer fees and/or more money in the pocket of the owners. The clubs won't stop the hunt for additional income, whether it's through increased matchday revenue, broadcasting fees or commercial deals.
You have a lot more employees than just the players. Though admittedly that's a huge figure
Aron Einar Gunnarsson played only 2 seasons in the PL and a total of 9 seasons in the Championship with Coventry and Cardiff. By Icelandic standards he's rich and our wages are higher on average unless you're Norway.
The Championship is also a top 10 league in the world so the average player there is set for life by living modestly and is in a position to retire after quitting football. If you are playing in Greece, Netherlands, Turkey, Denmark, Belgium you're making a good living. Football is a highly lucrative job, especially considering that whilst working the players mostly don't have any expenses.
The only way that figure makes sense is if the salaries we see are net not gross. Which would make sense as at it keeps in line with how we spend 50% of our revenue on wages. I can't come up with a better explanation than that.
I first did it a few years ago as I felt it made sense as it was just the start of a conversation which was to be expanded on. Seemed very normal at the time, although a few people pointed out that it was ofd back then. That said, seems to be all the rage around here now, so I must have been on to something!
I have always wondered one thing, Every time a players is signed on a supposed big contract you hear 'oh no player x is going to want more money now that player Z is being paid more than him'.
Do players actually know what each other gets without asking directly?
Do agents give that sort of information up?
Why would an agent or player state their salary knowing that it could cause an issue?
Do players actually know what each other gets without asking directly?
Do agents give that sort of information up?
Why would an agent or player state their salary knowing that it could cause an issue?
I thinks it's more likely their agents are the ones who keep an eye on such.
I've always found those sort of reports saying we have the highest wage bills in Europe etc very dodgy. Just looking at individual player's salaries, it never adds up and usually its not even close.
If the players weren't getting the wages the money would just be going into the pockets of The Glazers, Kroenke, Roman and City's owners.
Is that what you all want? For a bunch of corrupt billionaires to increase their wealth even more while the people that generate that wealth make a pittance from it? (relative to the money they generate for their clubs).
We're all to blame for it anyway. Sky subscriptions, merchandise, season tickets. If we want footballers to be paid less, then we have to stop contributing to the revenue that the clubs make.
I think everyone is underpaid and should be earning more. How much did the company you work for make this year?
Is that what you all want? For a bunch of corrupt billionaires to increase their wealth even more while the people that generate that wealth make a pittance from it? (relative to the money they generate for their clubs).
We're all to blame for it anyway. Sky subscriptions, merchandise, season tickets. If we want footballers to be paid less, then we have to stop contributing to the revenue that the clubs make.
I think everyone is underpaid and should be earning more. How much did the company you work for make this year?
Nobody deserves millions of pounds a year to play a game they love playing.
They are clearly paid too much, we all know this. But it’s supply and demand. People act like it’s easy to become a footballer but there is a reason only a few thousand people in the world play at the elite level. These are the guys that are paid ridiculous salaries.
What needs to be stopped is the agents benefiting so much from transfer deals. They are the ones creating price hikes. And they do absolutely nothing but create barriers between a player and a club trying to sign a player.
What needs to be stopped is the agents benefiting so much from transfer deals. They are the ones creating price hikes. And they do absolutely nothing but create barriers between a player and a club trying to sign a player.
We’re the ones who decided football was sooo great that we’d pay to go to games, and pay to watch it on telly, and pay for the merchandise, and buy a Kohler fridge and a horrible, tacky Chevrolet. You can’t spend your time on a football forum and then complain when the superstars you’re watching and typing about are compensated accordingly. I mean, who can begrudge Phil Jones a £4m a year salary?!
I don't see why this is brought up that much in comparison to singers and actors for example.
I also don't understand why money ending in the hands of Glazers, Abramovich, UAE Sheikhs is better than in the hands of De Gea, Kante and Aguero. Which is what happens if the players are paid less (or some salary cap is put on).
I also don't understand why money ending in the hands of Glazers, Abramovich, UAE Sheikhs is better than in the hands of De Gea, Kante and Aguero. Which is what happens if the players are paid less (or some salary cap is put on).
If you look at the profit they are generating, their salaries are actually abysmal - look how much money we made this year and how much of it goes to salaries and you will see that actually footballers (and managers, staff, etc) should be making most of it and not it going to finance the owners.
Also no one is even talking about the sacrifice they have to make in becoming almost solely dedicated to becoming good enough to entertain us while wasting the best part of their lives for this, they had no crazy parties, they almost never skip work just because and most importantly they sacrifice their body for it you can see examples like Batistuta that has to walk with crutches for the last years for a job he didn't even liked (his words).
Also no one is even talking about the sacrifice they have to make in becoming almost solely dedicated to becoming good enough to entertain us while wasting the best part of their lives for this, they had no crazy parties, they almost never skip work just because and most importantly they sacrifice their body for it you can see examples like Batistuta that has to walk with crutches for the last years for a job he didn't even liked (his words).
Footballers careers start from a very young age if you want to make it to the very top. You are basically training from the ages 4-16 unpaid for your career. People will say 'they do it for enjoyment at that point' which yes is true but still all that training is necessary to make it as a pro. Plus in the Academies the football is less enjoyable. It's too regimented.
I had to give up playing with my School team as Liverpool blocked me for playing for them in case I got injured. That was from years 7-10 in school. They won the County Cup and had loads of great times playing in tournaments and travelling a way. I then got released and was allowed to play the last year (11) for my school and I loved it, but also felt I missed out on all the other years. I had to travel 30-40 mins to training 3x a week. You have to sacrifice quite a lot that you don't even realise.
Then if you make it as a pro, which is very very tough, you don't get paid much for the first year or two unless you're a Greenwood. At most clubs, you are on a youth contract that pays pennies. Then if you are fortunate to make it pro, but not quite good enough for PL or Championship, an you end up just an average L1/L2 player, you are on anything from £400-£1200 a week. Not bad money if you are the upper end but when you consider this money is going to reduce as you hit 30, whilst in most careers your wage rises as you get older, and stop completely when you hit 35 then it's quite worrying.
For me, if you do manage to make it to the very top level in the PL you deserve the money you get. You pay huge taxes and it goes back into the economy, you get abused with death threats to you and your family, racist abuse, difficult to go out in public without being harrassed sometimes, everything is under the microscopic lens with regards to your public life and you are judged massively. What other job would you turn up to work and have 30,000 people calling you a 'c***' etc. Plus the pressure that comes with playing and the realisation that you career ends at 35 and you have no skills.
I had to give up playing with my School team as Liverpool blocked me for playing for them in case I got injured. That was from years 7-10 in school. They won the County Cup and had loads of great times playing in tournaments and travelling a way. I then got released and was allowed to play the last year (11) for my school and I loved it, but also felt I missed out on all the other years. I had to travel 30-40 mins to training 3x a week. You have to sacrifice quite a lot that you don't even realise.
Then if you make it as a pro, which is very very tough, you don't get paid much for the first year or two unless you're a Greenwood. At most clubs, you are on a youth contract that pays pennies. Then if you are fortunate to make it pro, but not quite good enough for PL or Championship, an you end up just an average L1/L2 player, you are on anything from £400-£1200 a week. Not bad money if you are the upper end but when you consider this money is going to reduce as you hit 30, whilst in most careers your wage rises as you get older, and stop completely when you hit 35 then it's quite worrying.
For me, if you do manage to make it to the very top level in the PL you deserve the money you get. You pay huge taxes and it goes back into the economy, you get abused with death threats to you and your family, racist abuse, difficult to go out in public without being harrassed sometimes, everything is under the microscopic lens with regards to your public life and you are judged massively. What other job would you turn up to work and have 30,000 people calling you a 'c***' etc. Plus the pressure that comes with playing and the realisation that you career ends at 35 and you have no skills.
What a shame, you really were onto something there
Very good summary, of course a lot of people don't really know the nitty gritty of what goes into becoming a pro.
Football is an entertainment businesses, footballers are like actors and get paid relative to the revenue they generate as well as their ability to actually play the game.
The money element has seeped in to fan culture as a kind of winning as well. Which is why everyone cares so much about top 4 now, even if chances of then going on to win CL can be very low.
Personally think football ultimately goes more the way of US sports, PL , UEFA etc will try to add more competitive balance as same teams always winning going to get old pretty fast.
The money element has seeped in to fan culture as a kind of winning as well. Which is why everyone cares so much about top 4 now, even if chances of then going on to win CL can be very low.
Personally think football ultimately goes more the way of US sports, PL , UEFA etc will try to add more competitive balance as same teams always winning going to get old pretty fast.
I can just about take high wages. What I cant take is high wages for doing nothing. And also the club being stuck with the player. Like Bale and Sanchez. Not wanted. Do fk all. But get paid and are ridiculously hard to shift. So they are just a cancer at the heart of a club for 2, 3, 4 seasons. Yeah the club needs to look out for players as well but its the clubs that are shafted more than the players these days. There should be some sort of structure in place. It cant be that hard. Like 150 per week max base pay. The rest on bonus related pay. And x number of paid sick days like basically every company does. e.g. Sick days structure - Per season - 1 months full pay. 1 month 75 percent of pay. Any longer and its 50 percent of pay.
Just a suggestion of a structure but surely it can be done. But it should be forced by FIFA or the government or whoever that all players have to conform to this structure. Europe wide preferably.
Just a suggestion of a structure but surely it can be done. But it should be forced by FIFA or the government or whoever that all players have to conform to this structure. Europe wide preferably.
Footballers get paid the right amount I've had this debate many times. People pay for entertainment look at it this way.
How many people own a Netflix account, or Spotify? Look at what that means for the CEOs of those companies.
A music artists can make £30-50M off an album release followed by a tour, a film-star can be paid £30M to star in a film, and a sitcom actor can be paid £500,000 per episode.
Youtubers and Twitch streamers can make £30-40,000 a month now with the right following.
Again people pay for entertainment.
Nobody has a subscription at £5.99 to watch a surgeon live-stream heart surgery.
People do watch the Champions League, they pay for match day tickets which earns a cup hundreds of thousands of pounds, they buy football shirts, they pay subscriptions to SkySports/BT who buy the rights to games.
Adidas sponsor clubs at £50M a year for the rights to manufacture kits.
Clubs have to pay the best athletes the right money and its a competitive market to win trophies.
Footballers salaries, Movie stars, Singers/bands are all competitive industries and people pay for novelty and for entertainment.
Nurses don't get sponsored by Adidas, and people don't purchase merchandise of their favourite Nurses and Doctors, and they don't have 60M subscribers paying a monthly fee.
How many people own a Netflix account, or Spotify? Look at what that means for the CEOs of those companies.
A music artists can make £30-50M off an album release followed by a tour, a film-star can be paid £30M to star in a film, and a sitcom actor can be paid £500,000 per episode.
Youtubers and Twitch streamers can make £30-40,000 a month now with the right following.
Again people pay for entertainment.
Nobody has a subscription at £5.99 to watch a surgeon live-stream heart surgery.
People do watch the Champions League, they pay for match day tickets which earns a cup hundreds of thousands of pounds, they buy football shirts, they pay subscriptions to SkySports/BT who buy the rights to games.
Adidas sponsor clubs at £50M a year for the rights to manufacture kits.
Clubs have to pay the best athletes the right money and its a competitive market to win trophies.
Footballers salaries, Movie stars, Singers/bands are all competitive industries and people pay for novelty and for entertainment.
Nurses don't get sponsored by Adidas, and people don't purchase merchandise of their favourite Nurses and Doctors, and they don't have 60M subscribers paying a monthly fee.
It works both ways though, look at Grealish. Has given villa a lot when he probably could have moved when they went down but stayed and could very well be priced out of a move now and rot in their shit team.
Don't make out that footballers are fecking over clubs any more than clubs feck over footballers. If a club is dumb enough to give a player a big contract tough shit, not the players fault.
Is this even true? There are just too many fake stories about players being generous. People being obsessed with them and then making up stories how Player X donated one million, two millions etc. In my country most top athletes donate nothing or very little compared to what they earn.
Again... In my country even players from smaller teams who don't make XI regularly earn 2-3x average wage here so...
Well, a lot of movie stars can dissapear quite quickly. Make few box office bombs, make enemies by turning down certain movies, act like a diva... Josh Hartnett went from turning down $100m for playing Superman to living back with his mum in St. Paul in like two years. In football, players can act like Bendtner or Balotelli or who ever but they're still protected by their contracts and have very little responsibility.
Agree thats another problem. Players should be able to move if they want to. FIFA of whoever should do something about that as well. But two wrongs dont make a right. Back to salaries which this post is about. The issue is that its one of very few professions (cant think of any others) where the employee gets paid for doing nothing. Thats my problem. If I go to work and Im useless then Im fired. End of. And I think thats fair. Not only to the club but also to the employees. How do you think it feels being a player at United working your arse off and Sanchez swans around on 500 plus a week and does absolutely nothing for it. Its also relative to pay. If your on 75 a week and your trying to get into the first team then fine. Heck 150 a week and you are trying but cant get in then fine. But if you join as an elite top level player then you are expected to live up to that. Its like a being a CEO or top manager walking into a company with a huge reputation and asking for a big salary. They are held at a very high standard and are expected to work harder and produce for that company. They are not base level employees and if they dont perform they are gone. Why can footballers do nothing and not be held to a standard.
If sanchez hadn't done what was required under his contract he would have been fined. Footballers are obliged to train and be available for matches. He did that and thus fulfilled his contract. Again, not his fault and not comparible to your job.
That is where performance based pay comes in. If you have a big goal, assist and appearance bonus but don't do those things you miss out on them. Like a salesman who doesn't sell.
If you go to work and do your job then no, you don't get fired, even if you're useless