h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Outside of Chelsea naturally.

I read today that Liverpool have signed a Brazillian dude who used to play for Benitez in Spain. His reported wages (according to Sporting Life) are a mere £25,000 a week.

Surely this is paupers money compared to some at Anfield and he's not even a teenager, he's 26.

I wonder if the trend for mega-wages is coming to an end at clubs not possessing a Russion Zillionaire as an owner. Can't be a bad thing if true. £25,000 a week is still pretty lush wages and lower wage bills will surely relieve the financial pressure on a lot of clubs.

Well - this seems to be the answer.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/4898392.stm

Well I didn't really mean since 2000 more so just in the last year or so.

Surely they can't keep rising. It's just poor business for the clubs to put themselves up against the wall. Even the top clubs (bar Chelski) make huge losses if they fail to qualify for Europe and this is largely down to player wages.

£195,750 for a Championship player? Hmm, it seems that Sheffield United really are a bunch of skinflints in the old salary stakes. As far as I know - and this is only rumour, so I suppose I could be way off the mark - there are only 3 players at the club who earn more than that.

And doing not bad nevertheless.

I think you probably have to look at those recently relegated from the Premiership still hanging on to players and hoping for a quick repromotion to up the average.

Without looking at the article linked to above (ie. by memory from when it was on the news the other day) weren't even league 2 players averaging £50,000 a year. Not a bad living even down there.

£49,600 in league two.

Now is it just me or does this seem excessive to anyone else ? No wonder football clubs are going to the wall, that cannot be supportable on their gates.

And lets be realistic here - I'm in charge of 7 staff and run critical applications that affect business, and government services, and they don't pay me that as a basic salary. On top of that, they get win bonuses and performance enhancements.

Can I suggest that the average lad in a pub team would swap his job to play for his local club for £500 a week - with the knowledge that if he was any good he could move up the leagues and earn serious money. The local garage usually bung in a motor, and other local suppliers provide stuff. I might even suggest that many of them would be happy with £500 a week, and playing for their club.

I'm sure Jon Nic suggested nearly the exact same thing in his column on football365 yesterday...

The barstud's always pinching my ideas - but assuming thats that northern bloke on SkySports - I don't actually read his stuff regularly.

Hmmm, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/5032978.stm

the insight must just come naturally