Money in football is always a hotly debated topic. The sport was once considered a working-class game, particularly in England. Factory and mine workers would wait until 3pm on a Saturday to pack out stadiums, taking their minds off hardships while enjoying some hearty sport.
As with everything, inflation and investment changed the landscape. Today, television rights to broadcast Premier League action are more expensive than ever, which means more money for clubs and, in turn, bigger wages for players each and every week.
Thanks to the experts at Salary Leaks, a breakdown of just how much football has changed financially has been revealed, with average weekly wages of players from 1885 to 2025 making for some stark reading.
1885-1919
Incredibly, 140 years ago when the records were first kept, the average earnings for a player were just between 10 and 20 shillings – a currency that is no longer even used in the country. At the time, it is claimed that the highest earners were Blackburn players who pocketed £1, but by 1888 and all the way through to 1901, this became the average wage.
There were still plenty who exceeded this, with infamous FA Cup-winning Sheffield United goalkeeper William Foulke taking home £3 in 1895, making a goalkeeper the highest earner for the second to last time in English football. Meanwhile, Liverpool players would go on to take £7 come the start of the 20th century.
1901 also saw the introduction of a maximum wage – that being £4. This would rise to £10 by the end of the First World War, where by that point, the average had also risen to £3.
Wages in British Football (1885-1919)
Year
1885
1888
1895
1900
1901
1909
1919
1945-1970
George Best shows off the 1968 European Footballer of the Year award with Bobby Charlton
There was no change in the period between the end of the First and the end of the Second World War, with the next update coming in 1945 where there was again a £1 increase in the average salary. However, it’s from here that dramatic rises began to take place. By 1960, the mean wage had gone up to £14, surpassing the maximum wage from 15 years prior.
A year later, it was up to a neat £15, but crucially, the maximum wage was abolished this year and never seen again in English football regulations. Jump another 365 days and the average had risen to a whopping £25, with then-England captain Johnny Haynes pocketing a cool £100 per week.
There was no stopping the increase from this point on, and it was claimed that despite Manchester United trying to impose an in-house salary cap of £50 on players, 1968 Ballon d’Or winner George Best was still taking home an incredible £1,000 per week. By 1970, the average stood at £71 – an increase of 1,675%.
|Wages in British Football (1945-1970)|
|Year|Average|Top earners|Max salary|
|1945|£4|N/A|£12|
|1951|£5|N/A|£14|
|1953|£5|N/A|£15|
|1957|£6|N/A|£17|
|1958|£10|N/A|£20|
|1960|£14|N/A|£25|
|1961|£15|N/A|Abolished|
|1962|£25|Johny Haynes (£100 per-week)|N/A|
|1963|£29|N/A|N/A|
|1964|£34|N/A|N/A|
|1965|£35|N/A|N/A|
|1966|£44|N/A|N/A|
|1967|£51|N/A|N/A|
|1968|£59|George Best (£1000 per-week)|N/A|
|1969|£64|N/A|N/A|
|1970|£71|N/A|N/A|
|---|
1971-1991
bryan robson man utd
Over the next two decades, the average increased so much that not only was the three-figure barrier broken, but so was the four-figure. 1974 saw the average wage jump to £100 per week for the first time, which doubled within three years.
That rate of growth continued, as between 1977–1979 the average shot from £200 to £410, and within less than ten years, the £1,000 average had been smashed too. At the time, the top earners included the likes of iconic Manchester United captain Bryan Robson, who was netting £2,700 weekly in 1981.
By 1986, Paul Gascoigne saw Robson’s figure and thought he could do better, with the future English football icon accepting £5,000 per week. By the time the Premier League was about to be founded, the average was teetering just shy of the £2,000 per week mark. Not that it would stay like that for very long when the English top flight rebranded as we know it today.
|Wages in British Football (1971-1991)|
|Year|Average|Top earners|
|1971|£77|N/A|
|1972|£85|N/A|
|1973|£92|N/A|
|1974|£100|N/A|
|1975|£115|N/A|
|1976|£140|N/A|
|1977|£200|N/A|
|1978|£300|N/A|
|1979|£410|N/A|
|1980|£550|Trevor Francis (£1,500 per-week)|
|1981|£625|Bryan Robson (£2,700 per-week)|
|1982|£720|N/A|
|1983|£840|N/A|
|1984|£900|N/A|
|1985|£1000|N/A|
|1986|£1100|Paul Gascoigne (£5,000 per-week)|
|1987|£1200|N/A|
|1988|£1300|N/A|
|1989|£1500|N/A|
|1990|£1600|N/A|
|1991|£1800|N/A|
|---|
1992-2025
erling haaland
So then we enter the Premier League era. And it's safe to say that from this point on, things were never the same.
At its inception during the 1992/93 season, the average weekly wage stood at £2,250, with John Barnes the highest earner on £10,000 per week. Every season from that point on, with the exception of the 2007/08 term, the average would continue to increase.
At the start of the new millennium, the highest earner was Roy Keane on £52,000 per week, with an average of £9,000.
Steven Gerrard became the first £100,000-per-week player during the 2005/06 season, shortly after his Istanbul heroics. At that point, the average stood at just £18,500.
Wayne Rooney would become the first £300,000-per-week player during the 2013/14 term despite no longer being at the peak of his powers. Fast-forward to now, and we have the first half-a-million-pound player in Erling Haaland following his bumper contract extension at Manchester City last season.
The Norwegian's £500,000-per-week deal no doubt plays a role in that latest average figure, which is again a new high at a whopping £60,000 per week. It begs the question: how far away is the Premier League from having an average salary worth six figures?
|Wages in British Football (1992-2025)|
|Year|Average|Top earners|
|1992/32|£2,250|John Barnes (£10,000 per week)|
|1993/94|£2,500|John Barnes (£10,000 per week)|
|1994/95|£2,750|Eric Cantona (£18,000)|
|1995/96|£3,400|Dennis Bergkamp (£25,000)|
|1996/97|£3,800|Fabrizio Ravanelli (£42,000)|
|1997/98|£5,000|Alan Shearer (£34,000)|
|1998/99|£7,000|Alan Shearer (£34,000)|
|1999/00|£9,000|Roy Keane (£52,000)|
|2000/01|£12,000|Roy Keane (£52,000)|
|2001/02|£12,900|Roy Keane (£90,000)|
|2002/03|£15,500|Roy Keane (£90,000)|
|2003/04|£18,000|Hernan Crespo (£94,000)|
|2004/05|£18,400|Frank Lampard (£98,000)|
|2005/06|£18,500|Steven Gerrard (£100,000)|
|2006/07|£29,000|Andriy Shevchenko (£110,000)|
|2007/08|£18,000|John Terry (£135,000)|
|2008/09|£22,000|Robinho (£150,000)|
|2009/10|£27,000|Carlos Tevez (£220,000)|
|2010/11|£30,000|Carlos Tevez (£220,000)|
|2011/12|£32,000|Carlos Tevez (£220,000)|
|2012/13|£33,000|Carlos Tevez (£220,000)|
|2013/14|£35,000|Wayne Rooney (£300,000)|
|2014/15|£38,000|Wayne Rooney (£300,000)|
|2015/16|£40,000|Wayne Rooney (£300,000)|
|2016/17|£43,000|Wayne Rooney (£300,000)|
|2017/18|£45,000|Alexis Sanches (£350,000)|
|2018/19|£47,000|Alexis Sanches (£350,000)|
|2019/20|£51,000|David De Gea (£375,000)|
|2020/21|£52,000|Gareth Bale (£380,000)|
|2021/22|£53,000|Cristiano Ronaldo (£420,000)|
|2022/23|£55,000|Kevin De Bruyne (£400,000)|
|2023/24|£56,000|Kevin De Bruyne (£400,000)|
|2024/25|£57,000|Erling Haaland (£500,000)|
|2025/26|£60,000|Erling Haaland (£500,000)|
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