These are pretty uptodate figures


The average basic salary of a footballer in the English Premiership is £676,000 a year, or £13,000 per week, according to an exclusive survey of professional players by The Independent. That figure typically rises by between 60 and 100 per cent when performance-related bonuses, including for actually playing, are added.

The basic pay represents an average rise in earnings of 65 per cent since 2000, the last occasion that a large-scale study was done. The average then was £409,000 a year, or almost £8,000 a week.

The average basic annual Championship salary is now £195,750, up from £128,000 six years ago, or an increase of 53 per cent. The average in League One is now £67,850 (up from £54,600, or a rise of 24 per cent), and in League Two £49,600 (up from £38,800, up 28 per cent).

The number of Premiership players with basic pay of more than £1m per year has risen to around 150, or 29.5 per cent of top-flight players over the age of 20. The single highest-earning age group is 28-year-olds, with a basic average of £1.16m a year, or £22,300 per week. The highest-earning age bracket is 27 to 28-year-olds, with an average of £899,500 per year.

Premiership footballers are often caricatured as a playboy set who demand massive wages in return for a few hours work each day. One of the survey's findings confounds the stereotype, with almost 60 per cent of all players in favour of a salary cap - or in other words, limiting the total amount any club spends on its total wage bill. The survey found that the more a player earns, the more likely he is to support a salary cap.

The players were asked the specific question: "Bearing in mind the financial problems that have affected many clubs in the past few years, would you support a rule that says that not more than 75 per cent of a club's income should be spent on its total wage bill?". Across all divisions, 58 per cent were supportive, rising to 64 per cent in the Premiership. The figure was 54 per cent in the Championship, 59 per cent in League One and 56 per cent in League Two.

The survey, done in conjunction with the players' union, the PFA, is only the second time that salaries have ever been confirmed by the players themselves. The first time was six years ago, also in response to an Independent-PFA questionnaire, seeking views on a wide range of issues from the country's professionals. A representative sample of nearly 400 players, from across all four professional divisions, have responded to the current survey on a confidential basis.

Wage data from the survey in 2000 has since been used to assist numerous players who have had their careers cut short by injury in settlement claims. The current survey shows wide disparities in earnings, dependent on age and playing position.

The average basic annual income for a 17-18 year-olds in the Premiership is £24,500 a year (£470 a week), rising to £95,000 a year for 19-20 year-olds, and £390,000 a year for 21-22 year-olds. This rises to a peak of £899,500 for 27-28 year-olds, and then falls, though not substantially, as players move into their 30s.

The 27-28 year-old age group is also the best paid in the Championship (£261,850 a year on average), although in the lower divisions, the biggest earners are slightly older. The highest earning age bracket in League One is 31-32 year-olds, on £87,000 a year, and in League Two it is the same age bracket, on £52,000 a year. This is a probably a reflection that experience counts for more in the lower divisions.

A player's position affects how much he earns, and it is no surprise that strikers come out on top. In the Premiership, the average basic salary for a striker is £806,000 a year, against £754,000 for a midfielder, £653,000 for a defender and £533,000 for a goalkeeper.

In the Championship, strikers also earn the most, on an average of £292,900, with midfielders next, followed by goalkeepers marginally ahead of defenders.

The contentious issue of salary capping seems likely to rise up the sporting and political agenda in the near future, with sports minister Richard Caborn among those who would like to see some form of capping.

As the head of the European Sports Ministers, he has undertaken a consultation process with 40 different bodies across Europe - including the Premier League, the FA and the G14 group - to assess changes that might be made to the way football is run. A report will be submitted to Uefa to consider various new rules and regulations, including on salary capping.
The PFA has traditionally resisted any such moves, with its chief executive, Gordon Taylor arguing that players face relatively short careers, and that they generate the money in the game from which their wages come. He also argues that of 600 16-year-olds who enter the game each year, 500 will have left the game by 21, and that 75 players a year have their careers suddenly curtailed by injury.

The players' own views, which are supportive of a cap in principle, will inevitably be noted by Caborn's review body. In fact a 75 per cent cap would not necessarily lead to many, if any, players being forced to take cuts in pay. A wages to turnover ratio of between 50 and 60 per cent is widely seen as a prudent level at which to operate, and an increasing number of clubs have amended their pay scales in recent years as a result of financial hardship.

League One and League Two already operate a salary cap, albeit on a voluntary basis, and the Football League insists that most clubs are happy to do so. That might be one reason why lower-league salaries have increased by less than 30 per cent in the past six years, while they have risen by much more in the top two divisions.

What The Independent's survey revealed

AVERAGE BASIC WAGE

Premiership £676,000

Championship £195,750

League One £67,850

League Two £49,600

AVERAGE BASIC WAGE BY AGE GROUP

Premiership

Age 17-18 £24,500

Age 19-20 £95,000

Age 21-22 £390,000

Age 23-24 £582,500

Age 25-26 £653,000

Age 27-28 £899,500

Age 29-30 £806,000

Age 31-32 £586,000

Age 33+ £660,500

Average* £676,000

Championship

Age 17-18 £22,500

Age 19-20 £43,700

Age 21-22 £79,000

Age 23-24 £79,200

Age 25-26 £136,000

Age 27-28 £261,850

Age 29-30 £247,000

Age 31-32 £247,000

Age 33+ £195,700

Average* £195,750

League One

Age 17-18 **

Age 19-20 £18,950

Age 21-22 £52,000

Age 23-24 £61,650

Age 25-26 £67,600

Age 27-28 £71,750

Age 29-30 £69,300

Age 31-32 £87,000

Age 33+ £72,000

Average* £67,850

League Two

Age 17-18 **

Age 19-20 £16,000

Age 21-22 £32,350

Age 23-24 £43,650

Age 25-26 £46,300

Age 27-28 £47,300

Age 29-30 £50,500

Age 31-32 £52,000

Age 33+ £45,800

Average* £49,600

*all players aged above 20. **insufficient sample pool for meaningful average.

AVERAGE BASIC WAGE BY PLAYING POSITION

Prem Championship League 1 League 2
Goalkeeper £533,000 £179,500 £53,500 £45,900
Defender £653,000 £167,000 £61,000 £44,400
Midfielder £754,000 £185,950 £79,000 £46,800
Forward £806,000 £292,900 £75,000 £67,900
Overall £676,000 £195,750