Time for a salary cap in the Premier League?

[Thespence]

Is there not a cap in Rugby Union?

 

Think it could be Rugby League, sure someone got docked points last season for it.

 

Cap in both RL & RU.

 

Cap in RU getting cut due to credit crunch & the fact only a few teams hit it. Not surprisingly the bottom two clubs (Bristol & Newcastle) are well off hitting the salary cap.

 

If the PL had a salary cap, the PL would need to dramatically change & would have to become a closed shop.

[bealios]

 

If the Arabs had bought us, we'd all be dreaming of signing Kaka and saying that if it's our only chance to get back into European football then why should we not do it.

 

Football has already been ruined by mega bucks.

 

Would we? I've seen first hand what its done to Chelsea. No atmosphere at games, long term fans being forced out and replaced by tourists and corporate seats, going to the match expecting a 4 - 0 win every week and by definition most home matches being a big let down? Knowing that any trophy you do get will be devalued because not only do you get stick off other fans, you know in your heart that you "cheated"?

 

What would honestly give you more satisfaction - a Champions League win financed by a multi multi billionairre owner with ridiculous signings such as Kaka for £100m and £250,000 a week, or scraping a League Cup or god forbid FA Cup win with the current squad?

 

I agree that football has been ruined by the influx of foreign owners. I've said for ages the answer is a total salary cap for each club's registered first team squad of say 35 players. I don't even think its contrary to any EU regulations.

[bealios]

Regarding the closed shop argument, if this was a risk then I'm sure the fact that FIFA/UEFA would like it applied across all of Europe would negate this.

 

I think the argument that it would ruin the league is just scaremongering by those who would seek to lose out. The cap would be pitched at an appropriate level annually adjusted so that successful sides could pay top rates for star players. However, what it would stop would be the policy of clubs like Chelsea and Manchester United buying effectively almost 3 separate teams which could compete against the rest of the league.

 

There have been examples in the past where players have turned down first team opportunities at decent Premier League clubs to go and sit in the reserves at Chelsea/Man Utd. If the wages available to non-first team regulars was effectively limited buy the fact that the first team ate up most of the cap, then I'm sure that the likes of Steve Sidwell, Ben Haim, Carlos Tevez and even Theo Walcott in the early years at Arsenal would have thought twice about going to sit on the bench at the "Big Four". End result - they go to the rest of the league and it becomes more competitive.

 

Eu regulations promote free movement of workers around the EU. Effectively at the moment many players don't have this as only English clubs can pay what has become the going rate. A salary cap would actually prmote the goals of EU legislation.

[AyeDubbleYoo]

It's a noble aim, but legislation would have to be massivley detailed and strictly enforced - would it cap only wages, or also transfer fees, bonuses, endorsments and sponsorship deals etc? What about expenses and gifts?

 

I agree it's getting out of control and may ruin the game, but football is a free market now, how can we tell football clubs what they should be paying their employees if they choose to do it?

 

One idea though, since the situation will eventually be such that matchday revenue accounts for virtually 0% of club expenditure, can we have a massive reduction in ticket prices please? That's what Man City's owners should really be subsidising.

[Thespence]

Regarding the closed shop argument, if this was a risk then I'm sure the fact that FIFA/UEFA would like it applied across all of Europe would negate this.

 

I think the argument that it would ruin the league is just scaremongering by those who would seek to lose out. The cap would be pitched at an appropriate level annually adjusted so that successful sides could pay top rates for star players. However, what it would stop would be the policy of clubs like Chelsea and Manchester United buying effectively almost 3 separate teams which could compete against the rest of the league.

 

There have been examples in the past where players have turned down first team opportunities at decent Premier League clubs to go and sit in the reserves at Chelsea/Man Utd. If the wages available to non-first team regulars was effectively limited buy the fact that the first team ate up most of the cap, then I'm sure that the likes of Steve Sidwell, Ben Haim, Carlos Tevez and even Theo Walcott in the early years at Arsenal would have thought twice about going to sit on the bench at the "Big Four". End result - they go to the rest of the league and it becomes more competitive.

 

Eu regulations promote free movement of workers around the EU. Effectively at the moment many players don't have this as only English clubs can pay what has become the going rate. A salary cap would actually prmote the goals of EU legislation.

 

I agree that certain clubs can bulk up, I would end loan deals.

[Guest eltsacwen]

Introduce a 100k a week salary cap. And for every pound a salary exceeds this amount, the club has to pay the FA a pound. The money FA recieves is spread out to other clubs.

 

It will cost Man City 100k + 400k*2 to give 500k av week. And 500k is somehow redistributed by the FA to other clubs in PL/CCC. This will make clubs think twice about handing players very large wages. But the big clubs can still afford to pay players like Ronaldo, Lampard, Terry, Gerrard, Owen between 100k and 150k. But not much more than that.

[Guest kirkpatrick9]

With news that City have apparently offered Kaka a quarter of a million a week, just think of their wage bill in about 2 or 3 years when they could have about 15 players earning over 80k a week including average players like Wayne Bridge. Its disgusting imo and this kind of thing will ruin the game. So the question is, is it time to cap clubs like Man City and end their monopoly?

 

f***ing right we need justice, balanced justice here, these people if you look at it are actually ripping off the season ticket holders of NUFC, Liverpool, Man Utd, Arsenal and the rest of the premier league by playing god and propping up clubs artificially above the means of their fans financial support.

 

It hits the dream we have in our heads as football fans.

 

Before the benefactor age Chelsea were going bust, Villa could never outspend us without going the way of Chelsea pre Abramavich, Same with Man City.

 

The only debt we had was the stadium, which every club will get sooner or later. You could imagine if things were left as they were over time NUFC, Liverpool, Man Utd and Arsenal with the resource pool of season ticket holders, with champions league stints now and then,  would have been the big boys holding the dream for years to come, the laws of averages said so.

 

But the game has been seriously knocked out of kilter. The dream is getting ripped out of the hand of every premiership club that doesn’t have a seriously rich benefactor and these benefactors are creating an artificial means outside of fair competition to rip the dream right out of our hands. I mean for f***s sake, clubs that couldn’t hope to outspend us are now outspending us and other clubs multiple.

 

Something needs done here as sooner or later every other club bar Man City, Villa and Chelsea will become apathetic. The premiership will then lose its appeal if the clubs with big fan bases lose interest.

 

Saying that if the arabs had have took over the toon, I might have had a different POV and have been way more subjective.

 

My current solution is to have some formula going by season ticket sales. Hence if you sell 20000 season tickets over a certain bracket price over three years, you are allowed 25 players on 2 currency units a week, you have 40000 you have 25 players on 4 currency units a week etc. This IMO would allow a fair game.

 

[pedro111]

Been saying it for ages the way of American sports is the way to go.

 

Yep, it would be a nightmare at first to implement but in the long run it would be for the good of the game.

 

Every team in the league should have the opportunity to win the league given good management and coaching on a consistant basis no matter how big or small that club may be.

 

It shouldnt come down to the big city clubs with the most money winning everything all the time.

 

Its a joke really.

[bulivye]

yes.

[Guest kirkpatrick9]

Been saying it for ages the way of American sports is the way to go.

 

Yep, it would be a nightmare at first to implement but in the long run it would be for the good of the game.

 

Every team in the league should have the opportunity to win the league given good management and coaching on a consistant basis no matter how big or small that club may be.

 

It shouldnt come down to the big city clubs with the most money winning everything all the time.

 

Its a joke really.

 

The american way is the wrong way IMHO.

 

It needs to take in the fans, the fans should have a bit of power. The american way does not take into account season ticket sales.

 

I'm sure a  Man Utd fan does not want to feed a wimbledon fans success, when they would average 10000 at the top of the table, whilst in that season they are struggling near the bottom and averaging 40000.

[midds]

Not for me.

 

If clubs can't compete with transfer fees then they've got to strengthen the scouting/coaching network they've got. Instead of lashing out big money on average players they need to find good prospects and develop them properly. They'll end up with a better player for less outlay. The best players will earn the most money and probably play for the best teams. If clubs can't nurture their own then they'll be replaced with clubs that can. There is an alternative to spending big. 

[Guest guinness_fiend]

Manchester City are, romanticism aside, like the rest of the clubs in the Premier League, primarily a business competing in an international marketplace within a capitalist framework and, market forces pending, can spend what they want on players. 

 

The reason why they are able to pay such silly sums is because they are able to secure such sums, be it through equity or debt finance.  Despite the recession (the term "credit crunch" is misleading and inaccurate), many foreign investors still regard the Premiership as a reasonably sound long-term investment and it is foreseeable that this trend will continue, at least for the next few years.

 

Until such time as (a) a "great depression" sweeps over the land and completely ruins the economy, taking the business-first, football club-second clubs with it, leaving the grass roots clubs to rebuild the football league; or (b) the EU get involved and introduce transfer/salary caps, this saga will run and run.

 

It would be interesting to see whether FIFA get involved at any point and whether they can get a test case in front of the European Courts, as despite the free movement of people etc. legislation, it may be arguable that a single club in itself (or a number of clubs in an indirect quasi-cartel relationship) has (or have) a monopoly in the market place (in its capacity as a business), which is something that EU competition law has major issues with.

 

I personally find it disgusting, but it will not change anytime soon. 

 

In the meantime - Messi for the Toon - a snip at £200m!

[cp40]

should be set at a percentage of income, to stop clubs getting into debt, i think they do this with rugby.

[Liam Liam Liam O]

Not for me.

 

If clubs can't compete with transfer fees then they've got to strengthen the scouting/coaching network they've got. Instead of lashing out big money on average players they need to find good prospects and develop them properly. They'll end up with a better player for less outlay. The best players will earn the most money and probably play for the best teams. If clubs can't nurture their own then they'll be replaced with clubs that can. There is an alternative to spending big. 

 

Thanks for the quick response Mike.

[midds]

Not for me.

 

If clubs can't compete with transfer fees then they've got to strengthen the scouting/coaching network they've got. Instead of lashing out big money on average players they need to find good prospects and develop them properly. They'll end up with a better player for less outlay. The best players will earn the most money and probably play for the best teams. If clubs can't nurture their own then they'll be replaced with clubs that can. There is an alternative to spending big. 

 

Thanks for the quick response Mike.

 

 

Obviously it goes without saying that spending wisely is better than spending big - but you knew that already...

[Thespence]

World Soccer this month has in-depth look at "The Future Of Football" &  salary cap is covered by a article written, not read it yet.

 

What I did find shocking is in Brazil is that agents, football agencies & a supermarket (!?!?) are buying youth teams, 3rd tier clubs, or creating clubs to sign players so they have the registration & then loaning them to Brazil top flight clubs. Henrique Adriano Buss on loan at Leverkuesen from Barcelona moved to Barca from a team called Desportivo Brasil a club that only has U15, U17 & U20 levels & club he never played for which is owned by  Traffic a sports marketing firm. Desportivo Brasil have 86 players registered with the Brazil FA & 56 are currently out on loan

 

A wiki search on Desportivo Brasil shows Man Utd have links with them.

[Guest neesy111]

the kaka bid is inmoral and a kick in the teeth to what is the million's of people losing the jobs across europe, no footballer ever deserves to be paid 500k a week something it could take me over 20 years to do, all for what kicking a football for 90 mins a week and train for around 15 hours a week

 

madness, the reason why i'm disillunished with the whole game, something has to give and all clubs will feel the pinch next season as the paying fan can't keep forking out whenever clubs ask them for money and it could impact us the hardest

[Guest firetotheworks]

Putting a cap on wages would only bring out more corruption. Teams would make donations or pay players through off-shore companies etc. Something has to be done, but I think a better idea than a wage cap is needed.

[wyn davies]

do we need to spend a lot of money on fancy dan players to have a decent team, what  would Kaka do for our club at the mo along with Robinho would these type of  players be any good in the trenches .We've always had a "star" type players in the past and still nowt was achieved so perhaps a decent/honest eleven at reasonable wages and cost may be the better option.

[Guest firetotheworks]

do we need to spend a lot of money on fancy dan players to have a decent team, what  would Kaka do for our club at the mo along with Robinho would these type of  players be any good in the trenches .We've always had a "star" type players in the past and still nowt was achieved so perhaps a decent/honest eleven at reasonable wages and cost may be the better option.

 

'A FUCKING LOT' is the correct answer.

[Thespence]

do we need to spend a lot of money on fancy dan players to have a decent team, what  would Kaka do for our club at the mo along with Robinho would these type of  players be any good in the trenches .We've always had a "star" type players in the past and still nowt was achieved so perhaps a decent/honest eleven at reasonable wages and cost may be the better option.

 

"Tonight Matthew Newcastle United are going to become Stoke City"

 

 

[madras]

Putting a cap on wages would only bring out more corruption. Teams would make donations or pay players through off-shore companies etc. Something has to be done, but I think a better idea than a wage cap is needed.

would be worth examoning other sports with salary caps to see how they are policed and how effective it is.

 

more of a problem could be european law.

[Skirge]

No point in just us having a wage cap anyhting like this would have to be FIFA enforced or our league would suffer, players follow money and would stay abroad for bigger wages.

[madras]

No pint in just us havign a wage cap anyhting like this would have to be FIFA enforced or our league would suffer, players follow money and would stay abroad for bigger wages.

i was thinking of it being euro wide.

[Guest firetotheworks]

Putting a cap on wages would only bring out more corruption. Teams would make donations or pay players through off-shore companies etc. Something has to be done, but I think a better idea than a wage cap is needed.

would be worth examoning other sports with salary caps to see how they are policed and how effective it is.

 

more of a problem could be european law.

 

Another one could be if its only implemented by the F.A and noone else. Players would just go to another team with no wage cap, or transfer spending cap. It would have to be implemented by everyone and would just mean that the money normally paid for on a player would still be getting spent on the organisation that would be needed to police it.

 

What's happening to Man City isn't really that different to Real Madrid. Although on a larger scale.

 

Im sitting here thinking of ways to make it more of a competition, because its a possibility that Man City could become the Schumacher of football, and at that point maybe some F1 style changes will need to be made to level out the playing field. Thats the only type of change I can imagine. Not a monetary change, but a kind of handicap. Of course if that were to happen, it might be worth keeping Smith.