Lower League Wages

[Stig]

Wages for Shrewsbury Town's top few wage earners.

1st £327,600
2nd £234,000
5th £202,800
10th £150,800

Wages for Birmingham City top few wage earners

1st £1,040,000
2nd £1,040,000
5th £780,000
10th £624,000

Birmingham City are second in League One and Shrewsbury Town are bottom of League One

For the year ended June 2023 Birmingham City made a loss of £25 million, £24 million for the previous year.

For the year end June 2023 Shrewsbury Town lost £3 million. It seems that the previous 3 seasons they averaged a loss of £1 million each year.

My observations are that the wages seem very high for third tier football in organizations that are losing money.

It just seems to be a race to see who can pay most and lose most. Surely they would all be better off if they adjusted their wages to match their income.

 

[T00lsh3d]

Wages for Shrewsbury Town's top few wage earners.

1st £327,600
2nd £234,000
5th £202,800
10th £150,800

Wages for Birmingham City top few wage earners

1st £1,040,000
2nd £1,040,000
5th £780,000
10th £624,000

Birmingham City are second in League One and Shrewsbury Town are bottom of League One

For the year ended June 2023 Birmingham City made a loss of £25 million, £24 million for the previous year.

For the year end June 2023 Shrewsbury Town lost £3 million. It seems that the previous 3 seasons they averaged a loss of £1 million each year.

My observations are that the wages seem very high for third tier football in organizations that are losing money.

It just seems to be a race to see who can pay most and lose most. Surely they would all be better off if they adjusted their wages to match their income.

I would have thought that, for the owners of Birmingham City, it’s a bit like investing in a problem child…..that might become a star.

Potentially (and historically) big club, big fan base, could rise again and be worth a lot more.

feck knows with Shrewsbury though. I think a lot of non-top-tier sports clubs are run at a loss by their fan-owners, it seems to be the norm in rugby in all tiers.

 

[Trequarista10]

Is this base salary or final earnings from last season or expected earnings for this season? Bonuses will make a big difference, signing on fees etc. Is it cash or benefits (accommodation, car, kid's school fees).

Shrewsbury paying £3-4k a week doesn't strike me as unusual for League One, if its total earnings. If its base salary and thats topped up substantially with bonus payements then yeah. £1m loss is nothing in the grand scheme of things. One decent cup run or transfer covers that.

I assume football clubs also spend on purchasing/improving assets for tax purposes. Would need much more detailed records to really understand their financial position.

 

[Chipper]

Shrewsbury paying £3-4k a week doesn't strike me as unusual for League One, if its total earnings. If its base salary and thats topped up substantially with bonus payements then yeah. £1m loss is nothing in the grand scheme of things. One decent cup run or transfer covers that.

Yes, a lot in that I feel. Can potentially make that money back up.

Also, while it's not every club that is operating a loss, for those who are it's a question of who stops first?

You can cut your wage bill to break even point and get relegated if the other clubs don't. That in turn reduces your sponsorships and crowd numbers which means you'll likely havet have to cut again. Another relegation?

If everyone cut their spending at once it's fine if not then it's a lot more difficult.

 

[Rodgerzzz]

Hasn't this been an issue for a while with clubs like Derby nearly going bust by overspending to reach the honey pot of the Premier League? Maybe on teams like Shrewsbury's case, this is a knock on effect of that with clubs having to pay more for players of relative quality to remain somewhat competitive with teams gambling on their finances to reach the Premier League.

 

[Chipper]

They do have their own version of Financial Fair play/ PSR down there too so you can't go completely wild and spend whatever you want. Can't remember what it's called, some other acronym.

The League one and League Two versions are all about wages as a percentage of turnover from what I remember. The Championship is different, there's a figure that you're not allowed to lose more than and it's substantial.