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Chief in salary cap warning
FA chairman Lord Triesman has warned a salary cap may need to be enforced in English football.
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Comments (63)
Shaun Craig (Manchester United fan) says...
If EPL clubs are forced into implementing a salary cap, kiss goodbye to the best players, all-English Champions League finals, and the best league in the world. Whilst I agree that clubs should not be allowed to be bankrolled by billionaire playboys, they do still need to compete against Serie A, Primera Liga etc.
Posted 13:57 8th October 2008
Julie Bell says...
Premiership footballers get paid far far too much, what with the credit crunch and what's happening with the banks and everything, I think they all need a big major wage cut especially lampard and terry, although saying that they should get a proper job, they shouldnt be paid for kicking a ball round for a job one or twice a week, its not right, greedy *****. Bang out of order, something needs to be done. Gordon Brown should doing something about it.
Posted 13:51 8th October 2008
Brian H (Arsenal fan) says...
We do have salary cap over here for the NFL, but not for the monetary reasons you would think. The primary motivation is to level the playing field. We over here appreciate that smaller market teams (Indianapolis) can win the Superbowl because the salary cap prevents bigger market clubs from artificially inflating the price. Its not a perfect system, yes the Dallas', New York's tend to field good teams year in and year out, but teams like San Diego also field good teams as well (definitely a smaller market club. If you want to break up the monopoly of Man U, Chelsea, and Arsenal, Salary cap is the way. But it has to be done at the UEFA level, or players will follow the money elsewhere.
Posted 13:51 8th October 2008
Neil H (Bolton Wanderers fan) says...
I think its long overdue that footballers have a salary cap. Why should footballers be exempt from the current credit crunch. £60k a week is obscene, when the folk watching are struggling to even pay the Gas and Electric to keep there children warm. Footballers are greedy. Yes they have a short Career but lets not forget how much spare time they have to get themselves educated so they can progress in other Careers when they finish. I refuse to watch a Premiership football match just to 'line' the pockets of greedy footballers.
Posted 13:40 8th October 2008
Alun Dennis (Arsenal fan) says...
I think the wage cap is a good idea, for years people have said money is ruining football and looks like they were right. As for previous comments, yes we may loose foreign imports, but we will find out the foreign players that truely DO want to play in the PM and the players that want to play in the PM for money. Another factor is that with the loss of players in persuit of higher wages, will create space for English players to come through.
Posted 13:40 8th October 2008
Mark Gilmartin (Sheffield United fan) says...
Alex Ferguson once said, the way European law is structured, any form of salary cap would be seen as a restrictment of trade and challenged again and again in brussels.
Posted 13:38 8th October 2008
Gary North (Leeds United fan) says...
This is a great idea and one that should be put into force as soon as possible! Not only will this make football clubs run on a sound financial footing it may also free up money for other issues i.e. the massive ticket prices that are needed to pay these wages! I am paying nearly 25 pounds to watch leeds play leyton orient! I say cut the players wages followed by the ticket prices and make football a game for everyone - like it used to be!
Posted 13:35 8th October 2008
James Scotcher (Peterborough United fan) says...
Yes. it should be 10 grand a week. Don't get why they are paid so much. Most football fans would put there strip on and play for there club for free and with pride. I can't sit back and watch players kissing there badges and worth 100000 a week or more. it makes me sick. Football is loosing its fans cus of the money.
Posted 11:30 8th October 2008
Jason Dukinfield (Manchester United fan) says...
Most of the major sporting leagues in Australia and USA have a salary cap to ensure the viability of the respective sports, so a salary cap in English Football and Football in Europe should be enforced, if need be.
Posted 11:19 8th October 2008
Mohamed Al kooheji (Arsenal fan) says...
Hah! now you know what Wenger is on about. Arsene Wenger is an accountant and not a stingy person like everyone else thinks. The whole adebayor "triple my wages or I leave" escapade has been somewhat seen by many as Arsenal being cheap. But Wenger has already explained that there is no difference in wages between Arsenal and Man u, plus Arsenal pay higher wages than liverpool (by miles). Only Chelsea are in a league of their own. On top of that we are in a 318 million pound debt because of our stadium. That is why the players at Arsenal have to respect the club's wage structure. And now with the Global Financial crisis going on, a lot of clubs are going to struggle. Hats off to Wenger, he might not predict what will happen to the market but he is very cautious on his spending and wage structure.
Posted 11:18 8th October 2008
Michael Cooper says...
I agree about a salary cap, it's getting out of hand how much footballers get paid. £151.000 per week? and we are being told to tighten our belts
Posted 11:17 8th October 2008
Tim Earl (Newcastle United fan) says...
Clearly the rampant wage inflation that exists in our game can not last. Funded in part by the huge levels of debt that hang over many British clubs, it is surely only a matter of time before the effects of the credit crunch hit home and clubs finances start to falter. If a club, particularly a major club, goes bankrupt, it will have a knock-on effect on all other clubs. Think of the chaos to the fixture schedule if clubs start to go under; the loss of gate receipts; the dilution of competition? Will Sky continue to inject vast amounts of money to televise live football if clubs financial positions are in jeopardy? Football is not immune to the events taking place in the wider economy. Middle Eastern & Russian dollars have contributed to the problem, and are not the cure. The whole house of cards could unravel quickly in the way that is happening in the global financial system if business models are not brought back to more sustainable levels. It is thus the responsibility of both the authorities and the clubs to address the situation now and to introduce urgent measures such as salary caps, which have been proven to work elsewhere. The alternative is to stick their heads in the sand, pretend it wont happen to them, and wait until it is too late and there's nothing left to play for.
Posted 11:11 8th October 2008
Dolla Kochhar (Manchester United fan) says...
His point is very clear and understandable but i believe other countries should insert a salary cap in thier football teams as this is a world dominating sport. teams in spain, italy and other countries are also on high earning wages in this sport and a salary cap should be inserted on the sport in total.
Posted 11:07 8th October 2008
Phil Morgan (Manchester United fan) says...
Great idea. But would have to be worldwide. It has worked brilliantly in Rugby League to shrink the gap between the best and the rest - it has taken over 10 years for this to slowly happen though. Clubs can only spend a set % of their income on players wages and so one club cannot have all the stars like Wigan used to. I find it very irritating that these 'politicians' are now complaining about debt and foreign ownership now - as Man Utd fans we said this several years ago when the Glazer bratz put a national institution into huge debt and jeopardised the jobs of many staff in a previously profitable organisation.
Posted 10:59 8th October 2008
Mark Hepburn (Chelsea fan) says...
It's an interesting topic here. As a Chelsea fan I am fully aware of what good and bad influences money can have on a team..... as much as I love Chelsea being one of the top teams in Europe, even the world - it does come at a cost. Every other fan hates Chelsea, the press hate Chelsea, and Billionairre owners can up and leave as soon as they have arrived, and this is an experience that Man City are about to have. I have supported Chelsea for nearly 20 years now and loved it when they were a plucky team of fighters, workmenlike performances week-in week-out and won the odd FA Cup or whatever.... not it's expected to win everytime and it's bound to be a struggle to any player, never mind fan. The salary cap issue is a difficult one - some teams make bucket loads of money from their players via sponsorships, shirt sales, etc. and it's only fair that some of the remuneration is passed onto the players. However you now get the situation that mediocre players will only consider transferring to a team if the salary is sky-high..... i'd like to know the number of £50k per week players in the premiership and whether they justify their wages. It is certainly posing a problem for the money stricken clubs who have to train up, buy cheap and sell on just to survive. Players are pricing themselves out of transfers due to wage demands - if they are capped there would be a level of control left over transfers - stopping the agents making a killing at the same time..... or would it just transfer the dealings under the table?? I for one will wait patiently to see what decisions are made - i'm sure they will not be easy ones, but i'd hate to see Chelsea lose out on a great foreign or home gorwn player due to capped wages......
Posted 10:58 8th October 2008
Tony Barton (Chelsea fan) says...
Mr Triesman lives in a twilight world. Sky Sports subscribers dont pay to see the nice club facilities or the friendly club directors. They pay to see top players. Top players normally mean a higher league finish which means more tv money quite apart from the shirt and merchandising profits. Why shouldn't the people who bring in the money, i.e. the players, get a decent share of it? it's the clubs leeching off the players, not the other way round sunshine. Football didn't have to be run as 'big businesss' but your members took the shilling and now you can't have it both ways. In business, if i say to a company i can make you 10 million pounds profit but i want a million of that, they'll bite my arm off. In the same way, if Torres and Ronaldo go to Man City for huge wages, the club will make an even bigger return on their investment and that's what it's all about. Perhaps Mr Triesman would like to suggest cap on tv money going to the clubs as well so that subscriptions for the paying public can be cheaper? oh, um er that's another matter!!
Posted 10:53 8th October 2008
T Ford (Tottenham Hotspur fan) says...
There should be both a salary cap and a transfer fee cap. That way the premiership (by now surely one of the most boring and predictable leagues in the world) would be more exciting. Look at other sports who use these systems, most American sports for a start. The NRL rugby league in Australia has these same restrictions and it makes for a better league. A different team wins the competition every year. It's time to help the smaller clubs have a chance of anything but mediocrity. The english league has no become as boring as the Scottish league. You know no matter what teams spend what money, the top four will ALWAYS be the same!
Posted 10:52 8th October 2008
Kevin Donnelly (Chelsea fan) says...
A salary cap is a good idea as long as it is enforced by the authorities. Clubs that break the cap should be docked points instead of receiving fines. A set tariff should be put in place to esnure that all penalties are seen to be fair. Clubs however should be allowed to offer lucrative win bonuses to attract players hence their wages will largely be self financing.
Posted 10:42 8th October 2008
James Spalding (Arsenal fan) says...
How dare they try to dictate how much a player can earn for plying his trade. What is this? Communism?
Posted 10:33 8th October 2008
Rob Ridgwell (Arsenal fan) says...
I agree that there should be a cap on wages, the only problem that the english league will have then is one similar to that of Arsenal with Flamini he demanded high wages we made an offer within our structure which was below what he could get elsewhere in Europe so we lost him.....! This could then mean that the english league would not attracted players like Robinho etc.... so we then run risk of Premier League losing its edge!
Posted 10:20 8th October 2008