The day before Leeds` crucial CVA meeting, research suggests that Premier League players will be earning a collective wage that will hit the £1bn mark for the first time in history. It is likely that player wages will go up due to the new television deal, further alienating the countries top division from the Football League.
The Deloitte Sports Business Group have shown that wages for Premiership footballers has risen 9% to £854million in the 2005/2006 season, and with Red Rom financing a number of highly paid flops (Shevchenko, just the four goals so far!) coupled with the introduction of foreign investment from Aston Villa`s Randy, Liverpool`s North American Duo and West Ham`s egg this is likely to continue to rise.
Leeds United have been no strangers to this themselves, having paid Seth Johnson a reported £30,000 a week for what was a completely dismal time that led to the club losing a cool £7million, and that was 6 years ago! When you consider the performances turned in for The Whites, it`s somewhat depressing that he was earning such a large amount of money per week, in 2002 The Office Of National Statistics had calculated that the average UK wage was £23,600 a year.
Deloitte believe that transfer activity during the summer window will exceed £300m alone, and a staggering £50m during the 05/06 season went to player`s agents! The promised land of the Premiership provides a massive financial boosts for the clubs that make it, it was Deloitte who created the phrase coined by many in the media in stating that promotion to the Premiership would be worth £60m for promoted clubs.
The money men in football will soon struggle to keep the ordinary fan interested. If you support Fulham, you may have noticed on the official website that they are delighted to point out that “Adult Season Tickets Start At £299.” So that`s 300 quid to watch a team that slumped its way through the season that ended in a pathetic escape from relegation. For the Leeds United regulars on here I dare say your not particularly shocked, with season ticket prices for League One starting at a staggering £350. You can thank Uncle Ken for that.
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