Time for a salary cap?

Neil3030

I was going to write a big long musing on this, but instead I think I'll bang up a poll and see how the debate goes...

So, in light of what we saw happen yesterday at Man City, and what this could mean for the future of football if other billionaire playboys follow suit, is it time to introduce a salary cap?

Your move..

bohsman

Agree with on principle, but it could never work

Impossible to police, probably against EU law, set it at what £500 a week so that conference clubs cant complain that theyre being outbid?

If you set a wage cap of 50k a week players will either move to SPain or get 50k along with an added 50k bonus if they wear socks or whatever.

And what does it mean for the future of football? Surely its a good thing that moneys being pumped into the game?

Mitch Connor

bohsman wrote: »

Impossible to police, probably against EU law, set it at what £500 a week so that conference clubs cant complain that theyre being outbid?

If you set a wage cap of 50k a week players will either move to SPain or get 50k along with an added 50k bonus if they wear socks or whatever.

And what does it mean for the future of football? Surely its a good thing that moneys being pumped into the game?

You could set it to a percentage of the clubs turn over. Obviously this will mean bigger clubs can pay more player better money, but some clubs have worked very hard to increase turnover so they should get the rewards of it.

bohsman

Agree with on principle, but it could never work

Tauren wrote: »

You could set it to a percentage of the clubs turn over. Obviously this will mean bigger clubs can pay more player better money, but some clubs have worked very hard to increase turnover so they should get the rewards of it.

Theres a 65% of turnover wage cap just introduced in Ireland, however if someone wanted to pump 10m into the club that would count as turnover.

Neil3030

Nay

Impossible to police, probably against EU law, set it at what £500 a week so that conference clubs cant complain that theyre being outbid?

If you set a wage cap of 50k a week players will either move to SPain or get 50k along with an added 50k bonus if they wear socks or whatever.

And what does it mean for the future of football? Surely its a good thing that moneys being pumped into the game?

Caps aren't done individually like that. Each team is set an overall cap - in American Football for example it's $116m for 2008, calculated on team earnings for 2007 - and it's entirely up to the team admin how much they give each player. They can lump it all on a couple of Robinho's but that'd mean the rest of the team would be Danny Mills'. The idea is that bringing in one or two big star, high wage demanding players, will require sacrifices elsewhere in the team.

I think it would be possible to police, but only if it was implemented by FIFA, across all countries and leagues.

allybhoy

bohsman wrote: »

And what does it mean for the future of football? Surely its a good thing that moneys being pumped into the game?

No i dont think it is a good thing for the game. It will only make the top flight more elite and make the gulf between the EPL and the Championship even bigger.

bohsman

Agree with on principle, but it could never work

Definitely not policeable, just looking at whats already happening here, Sporting Fingal are signing players up and giving them a 2nd job aswell, Wexford Youths are fairly amateur but there are players getting paid small fortunes in travel expenses. Could see Ronaldo getting paid 50k a week to sweep the dressing room and another 50k towards petrol.

Neil3030

Nay

bohsman wrote: »

Definitely not policeable, just looking at whats already happening here, Sporting Fingal are signing players up and giving them a 2nd job aswell, Wexford Youths are fairly amateur but there are players getting paid small fortunes in travel expenses. Could see Ronaldo getting paid 50k a week to sweep the dressing room and another 50k towards petrol.

This is hardly a fair reflection of the state of all leagues that employ a wage cap. NHL and NFL players in America scrape by quite nicely while their leagues remain competative.

bohsman

Agree with on principle, but it could never work

allybhoy wrote: »

No i dont think it is a good thing for the game. It will only make the top flight more elite and make the gulf between the EPL and the Championship even bigger.

And whats wrong with that? Money goes to money, and on the bright side as more good players come in it pushes good players that would have been in the premiership down to the championship making that league better too.

bohsman

Agree with on principle, but it could never work

Neil3030 wrote: »

This is hardly a fair reflection of the state of all leagues that employ a wage cap. NHL and NFL players in America scrape by quite nicely while their leagues remain competative.

Might help that thats the way things have always been done whereas in Europe bribes and backhanders are the way things have always been done.

~Rebel~

Nay

bohsman wrote: »

And what does it mean for the future of football? Surely its a good thing that moneys being pumped into the game?

This is exactly why a wage cap would be a good thing. At the moment a ridiculous amount of clubs money goes on wages that noone could possibly spend in a lifetime anyway. If they had to pay less wages, the club has far more money for its daily runnings which leads to better marketing, better stadiums and cheaper gate prices.

amacachi

Neil3030 wrote: »

This is hardly a fair reflection of the state of all leagues that employ a wage cap. NHL and NFL players in America scrape by quite nicely while their leagues remain competative.

It's a completely different structure thought, no promotion/relegation, franchises that switch cities when they feel like it. Not really comparable.

bohsman

Agree with on principle, but it could never work

Signing a superstar is as good as marketing gets, the punter is always going to be the last one to benefit so lowering gate prices wouldnt happen, a wage cap would be an excuse for owners to make more profit. Seriously the EPL is so far gone that anyone that thinks theres too much money in the game would be better off following a lower league side or an EL team.

herbieflowers

footballers are greedy and agents are greedy. It'd be difficult, with player power etc.

Neil3030

Nay

amacachi wrote: »

It's a completely different structure thought, no promotion/relegation, franchises that switch cities when they feel like it. Not really comparable.

I agree with you the systems are different, but that isn't to say a different style of cap wouldn't work in football.

footballers are greedy and agents are greedy. It'd be difficult, with player power etc.

Players could still demand high wages, and hold as much bargaining power as they want. But if money is all they're after, they'd have to play for the weaker teams in the league with more cap room. Prime example is Tom Brady taking a pay cut and sharing his endorsements with his team mates in order to keep the team strong with better players. He won 3 Superbowls.

Signing a superstar is as good as marketing gets, the punter is always going to be the last one to benefit so lowering gate prices wouldnt happen, a wage cap would be an excuse for owners to make more profit. Seriously the EPL is so far gone that anyone that thinks theres too much money in the game would be better off following a lower league side or an EL team.

IMO it's not how far it's gone, it's how far it could go.

Xavi6

Agree with on principle, but it could never work

Hell no! Not now that we're minted!

Down with that sort of thing!

bohsman

Agree with on principle, but it could never work

1 argument I could go for and I believe they have in Germany is not allowing clubs go into debt.

PHB

Nay

I've always believed in a salary cap, not only players specifically, but on squads. Not only would this solve the basic problem, it would drastically reduce the top 4s ability to give higher contracts to top players from smaller clubs, since they'd be unable to fit them in.
Also it would encourage clubs to invest in youth more, since they are cheaper.

I also think there should be limits on transfers based on your income.
Also think there should be a ticket price limit, but thats a whole other thing

ibh

Nay

bohsman wrote: »

1 argument I could go for and I believe they have in Germany is not allowing clubs go into debt.

Pretty sure it's the case in France as well. It may actually be that you can't exceed a certain figure of debt.

Part of the reason France 'exports' so many decent players.

bohsman

Agree with on principle, but it could never work

If Platini called for this itd be more UEFA being anti English etc Can only imagine how G14 would react.

PHB

Nay

Platini would never call for this. Why? Because it would affect top Spanish and Italian clubs too

amacachi

True dat.

juvenal

IMO it would be a welcome move from a sporting point of view, but the reality is that it would be almost impossible to implement. For this to work it would take the support of players, clubs, federations, and the businesses and corporations that are heavily involved in the game.

Comparisons to US professional sports are not really valid, as the leagues over here are basically monopolies. The salary cap works in these situations as there is no international competition to the US sports. The players' unions negotiate collective bargaining agreements every few years to set the salary cap and other issues for the teams involved. If a top NFL quarterback wants to leave his team for more $$$, his choices are limited to the other 31 teams in the NFL, as he doesn't have the option of waltzing off to Spain or Italy to take up employment there. Likewise with the NBA, MLB and NHL, where these leagues are so financially ahead of other international leagues that it would be a massive stepdown in terms of money for a player to move internationally. It would be like the EPL existing in its current form, and all other national soccer leagues having the same financial value and playing calibre as Coca-Cola League 1. Every player would aspire to playing in the EPL and getting the big bucks, but in reality only a few ever will. Currently, the EPL, Serie A and La Liga are probably the top leagues as far as wages and calibre go, with the Bundesliga, Eredivisie, Ligue 1 and possibly the Portuguese Liga as the second tier. If the players were to go on strike over wages in England (as has happened in several US sports), you'd soon see the top players head elsewhere where they can get the money they're looking for.

Unfortunately pro soccer is developing into a corporate industry, where teams are owned by billionaires, stadiums are named after companies, and signings are dictated by business plans as much as sporting tactics. The biggest clubs are essentially the same as US sports franchises, except that the manager still has a say in transfers and no clubs are being moved to a more profitable market (yet). It's probably too late to try and implement a salary cap on soccer, as too many people and businesses have a vested interest in the game and are making money from it.

The key issue here is that in a lot of professional sports the players see themselves as bigger than the game; that without them the game wouldn't exist, whereas they are just custodians of the game that we all grew up watching and love. In ten years, it will be another batch of players that we're watching, and the current crop will be managing/fishing/philandering/punditing etc. No player is bigger than the game, and no player is indispensable, but the wages the top players are demanding would seem to contradict that.

Although when the players see businessmen and corporations making so much money from the sport, it's hard to blame them for milking it for all it's worth, as their shelf-life is probably no more than a decade. From that point-of-view, it's impossible to see the players supporting a salary cap that in reality is going to affect their income drastically, despite the obvious benefits to the game itself.

SectionF

Nay

juvenal wrote: »

Unfortunately pro soccer is developing into a corporate industry, where teams are owned by billionaires, stadiums are named after companies, and signings are dictated by business plans as much as sporting tactics. The biggest clubs are essentially the same as US sports franchises

Telling intro to the sports bulletin on Morning Ireland today, as cue for Utd/City spending splurges: 'And now for the business, sorry sports news'...

Corporate football is developing into something that is light years from the sport's origins. Clubs in lower leagues in England, and in domestic leagues in the shadow of the EPL, are struggling.

Ironic that European competition law is being cited as blocking efforts to reform the game, and bring back just that -- some competition.

Besides, has anyone noticed the creepy kinds of people who own these clubs now?

Juan Pablo

Agree with on principle, but it could never work

Xavi6 wrote: »

Hell no! Not now that we're minted!

Down with that sort of thing!

+1 billion

Mr.Nice Guy

Nay

I'd definitely favour a salary cap. The wages are getting out of hand.

LostinBlanch

Nay

I think a salary cap is the only way to go. I'm not sure how it'd be implemented though. So a little from Column A and a little from Column C for me.

mikemac

Agree with on principle, but it could never work

I've not read the other posts but the OP's idea will be shot down immediately by the EU.
You can't cap someone's salary at that's restrictive practice and unfair.

Maybe it'd be a good thing for game overall, I admire the American system and how the worst teams get to draft the best rookies. Realy seems to work well but it doesn't apply to European soccer at all

vorbis

Nay

Do people REALLY not understand how salary caps work??
They're implemented by TEAM not by individual. I can't see how that is against EU law. You're not limiting anyone's right to work. UEFA could introduce a Europe wide team cap in the morning. Where can players who want more money go? South America??

invincibleirish

Nay

The EU can change its laws & directives to suit the situation.What needs to be done is a positive plan put in place and support from all echelons, unfortunately FIFA & UEFA when not squabbling with one another or whoring their events to the highest bidder should consider these options as they are after all the custodians of the game.

A similar system for club football that is in operation in American sports will eventually come to pass, the money in the game is unsustainable long term and its going to take a few big name clubs to go down the ****ter before the powers that be wake themselves up from their corporate stupor.

_blank_

Agree with on principle, but it could never work

There should be no salary cap.

As much as people deny it, not like or whatever, football, at the top end especially, is now a business. Not a sport any more, but purely a business.

The players are the assets. Assest are worth money. Fair play to the players who are commanding the top dollar, more power to them. What exactly are people's problems with lads earning 130, 140, 150 k a week? Why do you care? What's it to you?

Des

Nay

Des wrote: »

There should be no salary cap.

As much as people deny it, not like or whatever, football, at the top end especially, is now a business. Not a sport any more, but purely a business.

The players are the assets. Assest are worth money. Fair play to the players who are commanding the top dollar, more power to them. What exactly are people's problems with lads earning 130, 140, 150 k a week? Why do you care? What's it to you?

They eventually will have to cap it. The same thing happened to the NBA.

_blank_

Agree with on principle, but it could never work

Deleted User wrote: »

They eventually will have to cap it.

Why?

I'd like to know YOUR reasons for saying that.

Deleted User wrote: »

The same thing happened to the NBA.

As has been said above, USA Sports and European Soccer are totally different beasts, and bear zero relevance to each other.

Salary caps, in ANY profession, are bad news.

Mr.Nice Guy

Nay

Des wrote: »

There should be no salary cap.

As much as people deny it, not like or whatever, football, at the top end especially, is now a business. Not a sport any more, but purely a business.

The players are the assets. Assest are worth money. Fair play to the players who are commanding the top dollar, more power to them. What exactly are people's problems with lads earning 130, 140, 150 k a week? Why do you care? What's it to you?

Nurses and teachers are getting paid a pittance for their diligent work and yet footballers can whinge and cry to get out of contracts they have agreed to in order to earn megabucks deals elsewhere.

There's something very wrong with our society if people can actually promote, defend and condone such a selfish, 'greed is good' way of life.

I await comments telling me my head is in the clouds, get with the real world etc. but as someone said earlier if this is the way football is going it stinks and I'll stand by that view.

_blank_

Agree with on principle, but it could never work

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

Nurses and teachers are getting paid a pittance for their diligent work and yet footballers can whinge and cry to get out of contracts they have agreed to in order to earn megabucks deals elsewhere.

Woah, hang on a minute here.

Nurses and teachers have nothing to do with it.

Anyway, if the moany feckers wanted more money they could go to private schools and hospitals. It's not as if they didn't know the wages they were going to be paid, the hours they do, and the stress of the job before they went training for it.

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

There's somethign very wrong with our society if people can actually promote, defend and condone such a selfish, 'greed is good' way of life.

It's nothing to do with "greed is good", it's about workers saying to their employers that "another company is offering x,000 more than you are for the same work, now match it, or I'm off". It's the free market.

Answer me this. If, in your line of work, a big foreign company arrived on the scene, called you and said "hey dude, we'll offer you double the money to come work for us" what would you do? Answer honestly please.

Now, why should footballers be different?

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

I await comments telling me my head is in the clouds, get with the real world etc. but as someone said earlier if this is the way football is going it stinks and I'll stand by that view.

What do you mean IF this is the way football is going?

IF? IF?

It went this way when the wage cap was scrapped.

Des

Nay

Des wrote: »

Why?

I'd like to know YOUR reasons for saying that.

As well as the ones Ill outline below, I think these sugar daddys are gonna drive the game into the ground. They come in and just decide to throw money around like marbles and its the fans that suffer. Rising ticket prices etc.

Its become impossible for a small club to do anything noteworthy anymore. people harp on about how great it was that Pompey won the FA Cup and how it reignited the "romance" of the FA cup but thats rubbish because they needed a Russian sugar daddy to do even that.

Where does all of this leave the smaller clubs? U effectively have NO chance of getting in AND staying in the Premiership these days without MASSIVE investment from owners.

Next thing the owners will start pressurising the FA to only have 1 team a year relegated, theyll want Cup ties played over an aggregate of 4 legs so they can increase revenue by having 2 extra games. this kind of crap sounds outrageous but how long do u think guys will plough money into football teams before they start looking at ways to make money off of it? Theyre already doing this by screwing the fans over in this case already by hiking ticket prices and relying on fan loyalty.

Des wrote: »

As has been said above, USA Sports and European Soccer are totally different beasts, and bear zero relevance to each other.

Salary caps, in ANY profession, are bad news.

Do u really believe that? I think European soccer, particularly the Premiership, is fast becoming a parody of itself. I think its only a matter of time before the comparisons are very very obvious.

Case in point the "39th game" idea. Thankfully that got thrown out but that doesnt mean ten more ideas like that won't follow. That sounds very much like the European round of NFL games doesnt it? Not as far off as you say.

Money is ruining football. This would be the first step in trying to save the purity of football before many fans walk away from it. look at italy. 10-15 years ago Italian football was exactly like the prem is now. All of the top players went there because thats where the money was (FIAT owning Juve, Moratti owning Inter, Berlisconi (sp?) owning Milan etc) and look at the state of that league now. the TV money stopped coming and the clubs up there have been up sh1t creek, bsically selling their office furniture and office stationary trying to pay off their debts.

Mr.Nice Guy

Nay

Des wrote: »

Woah, hang on a minute here.

Nurses and teachers have nothing to do with it.

Anyway, if the moany feckers wanted more money they could go to private schools and hospitals. It's not as if they didn't know the wages they were going to be paid, the hours they do, and the stress of the job before they went training for it.

Why don't they have anything to do with it? I'm sure the footballers value the contribution they get from the nurses who treat them when injured or the teachers who school their kids for them. Ask yourself if the wages these people are receiving are fair? I would say no.

DesF wrote:

It's nothing to do with "greed is good", it's about workers saying to their employers that "another company is offering x,000 more than you are for the same work, now match it, or I'm off". It's the free market.

Answer me this. If, in your line of work, a big foreign company arrived on the scene, called you and said "hey dude, we'll offer you double the money to come work for us" what would you do? Answer honestly please.

Now, why should footballers be different?

I would have to factor in a number of things. Would leaving sit well with my conscience? Would I be leaving anyone high and dry? Is this something that is going to bring me happiness or am I being swayed by purely financial means? I would factor these things in to the equation and that is being honest.

I think footballers do have a right to earn as much as they can but the issue is whether or not ther should be a cap on the amount possible. I would favour this. Let me give you an example.

Friday Night with Jonathan Ross is a show I enjoy watching but the money he gets to front it is obscene in my opinion and I understand why many British people are angry about it. Ross himself has the right to earn what he wants but perhaps the BBC should be restricted in what they can offer big names.

DesF wrote:

What do you mean IF this is the way football is going?

IF? IF?

It went this way when the wage cap was scrapped.

You are right but perhaps it's time to close Pandora's Box so to speak.

_blank_

Agree with on principle, but it could never work

Deleted User wrote: »

As well as the ones Ill outline below, I think these sugar daddys are gonna drive the game into the ground. They come in and just decide to throw money around like marbles and its the fans that suffer. Rising ticket prices etc.

If you are disillusioned by it, walk away. Support an actual football club instead of a franchise. Get involved with FCUM or your local equivalent.

Football for the people.

Deleted User wrote: »

Its become impossible for a small club to do anything noteworthy anymore.

A salary cap will change this how? If a sugar daddy comes and "gives" a club a billion quid, they will still be able to pay higher wages. The cap will be a percentage of turnover. NOT a static number.

Look at the LoI wage cap. 65% of club turnover. (St pats have a sugar daddy and are paying ridiculous wages by LoI standards, but are still within the 65% cap, Bohs are selling Dalymount and therefore, in theory, have more turnover (it's a bit more complicated than that) and are running away with the league).

There's no way, no way in hell, the EU are going to allow individual earnings to be capped in any way, shape or form.

Deleted User wrote: »

Where does all of this leave the smaller clubs? U effectively have NO chance of getting in AND staying in the Premiership these days without MASSIVE investment from owners.

Cry me a river.

As if you care if Doncaster Rovers, Kidderminster Harriers or Dagenham and Redbridge exist next year, in five years or in fifty years.

Do you want one of these teams to be challenging for the PL, or would you prefer it if Manchester United won the league every year for the next decade?

Deleted User wrote: »

Theyre already doing this by screwing the fans over in this case already by hiking ticket prices and relying on fan loyalty.

Incorrect.

They are relying on the success to keep the day trippers coming.

It's not the fifteen thousand locals who'd turn up to watch Manchester United in League Two who are keeping the club going. They'd be there no matter what. It's the irish day-trippers, the saudi rich-boys on once yearly trips who are fuelling this. Without the success they wouldn't be there, with them pumping the money in there would be no success.

Deleted User wrote: »

Do u really believe that? I think European soccer, particularly the Premiership, is fast becoming a parody of itself. I think its only a matter of time before the comparisons are very very obvious.

Case in point the "39th game" idea. Thankfully that got thrown out but that doesnt mean ten more ideas like that won't follow. That sounds very much like the European round of NFL games doesnt it? Not as far off as you say.

Money is ruining football. This would be the first step in trying to save the purity of football before many fans walk away from it. look at italy. 10-15 years ago Italian football was exactly like the prem is now.

You've done a lot of Premiership bashing in thet post Neil. Why do you still watch it?

Des

Nay

im leggin it back out to the library unfortunately so i cant engage too much more but ill address two things u said very quickly.

Des wrote: »

If you are disillusioned by it, walk away. Support an actual football club instead of a franchise. Get involved with FCUM or your local equivalent.

Football for the people.

I'm considering it!!

Des wrote:

You've done a lot of Premiership bashing in thet post Neil. Why do you still watch it?

Because i love Manchester United F.C. I'd follow them no matter what and im not letting some Saudi/Russian/Yank oil tycoons take that away from me. i grew up supporting them, why would i change. Doesnt mean i cant find the current situation disillusioning.

_blank_

Agree with on principle, but it could never work

Deleted User wrote: »

Because i love Manchester United F.C.

That doesn't exist any more.

The "Football Club" was taken off the official merchandising long before any American bought the club.

juvenal

A couple of points:

You cannot compare US sports to European soccer in any way, as they are completely different animals in every way, from markets to demographics to talent pools. Their salary cap system is irrelevant to Euro soccer. It's slightly OT, but if you want further explanation I'll post here.

Football is and has been firstly a business for well over a decade, if not longer. The sporting roots of the clubs corporations have all but disappeared, and football clubs have now become the billionaire's plaything. Anyone who yearns for the bygone days of Ronnie Radford et al, they're probably gone for good.

It's a free market, and in the current climate, you cannot blame a player for negotiating as much as he can to get the best deal possible. Most players are finished by their early thirties, and on average they've another forty to fifty years ahead of them, so getting the €£$ now it perfectly understandable.

Is it possible that the current situation cannot sustain itself? Absolutely yes, there is a real chance the the arsé will fall out of the business sometime, and the coin will move onto the next fad and people will have to pick up the pieces. But you cannot criticise the moneymen and CEOs for their motives, when everyone, including players and fans, are complicit in this business.

As Des said, you'll always get the 15-20k diehards who'll follow the team, but that's not where the money is being generated. The fair weather fans are generating most of the revenue for the businesses, the tourists who take in a game while in London or Manchester, the commuters from the continent and Ireland who pop over every couple of months and have a lot of disposable income in their pockets. It's exactly the same in golf; a lot of US fans are gobsh1tes who follow Tiger Woods every weekend, but haven't turned on the television since he had his operation, and they are the guys buying the expensive clubs and apparel and making enormous financial contributions to the industry.

You cannot go and spend €70 on a jersey, and then turn around and criticise players, managers and owners for investing huge sums of cash in transfers. Everyone has contributed in creating the monster, and then everyone has to generate the cash to feed it. It's a standalone industry now.

themont85

Nay

Salary Cap is the best way forward, not one on individual earnings but on the team as a whole. It introduces a completely different level to the sport. In the NFL the draft like a football teams acadamy is the most important thing in winning. It will force teams to be smarter with their resources. All the best teams in english football past were built on there youth structure up from the Busby Babes to United's great youth players of the 90s to even Arsenal recently. But models like Arsenal/Man Utd are dying out, Chelsea have proven that.

eagle eye

themont85 wrote: »

Salary Cap is the best way forward, not one on individual earnings but on the team as a whole. It introduces a completely different level to the sport. In the NFL the draft like a football teams acadamy is the most important thing in winning. It will force teams to be smarter with their resources. All the best teams in english football past were built on there youth structure up from the Busby Babes to United's great youth players of the 90s to even Arsenal recently. But models like Arsenal/Man Utd are dying out, Chelsea have proven that.

In the US you have two teams max per city playing in any particular major sport.
These teams have huge audiences, some have a whole state behind them or even more than a whole state. Each state is the the equivalent of a small European Country.

event

bohsman wrote: »

And whats wrong with that? Money goes to money, and on the bright side as more good players come in it pushes good players that would have been in the premiership down to the championship making that league better too.

that is 100% wrong

the gap that is widening is nearly imposible to bridge, looking at teams who get promoted they are usually favourites to go back down, as they have to spend too much money, that they dont have, to compete with the big boys

Savman

If Robinho goes and breaks his leg next week I doubt anyone will care how much money he collects from some rich Arab. Besides you can always rely on a Stoke City or West Brom to bring these prima donas crashing back down to earth on a cold winter's night...that's part of the entertainment value for me tbh

Salaray caps, great idea, but will never ever happen. Far too many loopholes. The beautiful game is over 100 years old and there's still confusion over the offside rule ffs, how the hell are they gonna regulate the entire in's and out's of every professional football club?

And I suppose Abramovich & co. would just sit idly by and allow this to happen?

If clubs want to impose their own wage caps, nothing is stopping them from doing so.

Neil3030

Nay

Des,

Salary caps are most effective when calculated on the mean earnings of all clubs in the league, not individual caps for each specific club based on their earnings. As you say, this figure would be far too easily manipulated by introducing capital.

I have absolutely no problem with players earning whatever clubs are willing to pay them. I have a serious problem with billionaire playboys swanning in and subordinating management, development and tactics with their piles and piles of cash.

I think the salary cap, if calculated appropriately to each specific league, is a good idea as it both restricts and protects all types of players. Mercenaries can still get their high wages if they so wish, but they will have to join a club that has a lot of cap room, which means they probably won't be playing with a very strong team. On the other hand, players who are motivated by pride and the desire to be champions will have to forfeit a chunk of their paycheck in order to get onto a team with players capable of mounting title challenges (but let's be honest, they'll still make a damn good living in the process). And then on the...eh... other other hand, youth players will receive more developmental attention as their value to teams increase under economic restrictions, meaning the standard of the overall playing pool increases for future generations.

By the way, this system still enshrines the principles of a free market, as players are free to choose which path they take - money or success. What the cap eliminates is the scenario that we are very likely to be facing quite soon, where massive injections of wealth at a small number of clubs will result in a handful of preposterously talented teams, with the rest of the world struggling to make up the numbers. We may be close to that scenario now, but it could get much much worse.

The salary cap doesn’t take power from players, it takes (a certain degree of) power from monetary influence in team success and restores power back to managers and tactics, which, unlike cash, are core virtues of the sport. As I've said before, in order for the idea to work FIFA need to introduce it at all levels, in all leagues and in all countries – that will create a network of monopolies vital to the idea’s success. Yes it will be a more complicated system than in the US, but for christ’s sake we’re smarter than them and it’s time we started acting like it.

eagle eye

We already have experienced a top four in England for a number of years now. I don't see where you are coming from saying that if it continues that there will only be a few teams at the top and all the rest struggling. Its already the case.

As far as a Salary Cap is concerned I'd love to see it happen and you are right that it would be great for the game. At club level you would see a lot of teams being able to compete again. On a National level you would have a lot more homegrown talent as clubs would have to spend much more money on their youth systems.
The problem is that the big clubs already control European soccer and they are now huge companies so its not going to happen.
At the first serious mention of this the G14 clubs would be threatening to breakaway and form their own super league again.

HalloweenJack

There should be a salary cap in place in ALL football.

However, to bring one in just because Man City are now rich is a bit unfair. Any threat to the top four and it seems that people won't have it.

I'm glad Man City are rich now. Maybe the Premiership will be a bit more interesting.

smemon

salary caps won't work as clubs can simply inflate bonuses or find a way around it...

what will work is forcing a club to field 'x' number of home players or at least have them in a squad. I'd suggest 5 per match squad.

that way, it encourages clubs to plough cash in to youth academies rather than established foreign superstars.

Dont be at yourself

Nay

At the end of the day, most footballers will be happy to play football for the typical professional salary - the only reason they're earning such obscene amounts is because the game is so awash with money.

FIFA should set a per-player salary cap, and set it low. Players may rediscover their love for the game and realize that it is a privilege to line out in front of millions of adoring fans, not a grueling task that requires ridiculous compensation.

It would also curtail players angling for moves to clubs offering higher wages, a la Flamini, Adebayour, Ronaldo and company.

If FIFA could reduce salaries & transfer fees, the money could be pumped into grassroots football and be put to use to offer the fan better value for money.

eagle eye

NekkidBibleMan wrote: »

At the end of the day, most footballers will be happy to play football for the typical professional salary - the only reason they're earning such obscene amounts is because the game is so awash with money.

FIFA should set a per-player salary cap, and set it low. Players may rediscover their love for the game and realize that it is a privilege to line out in front of millions of adoring fans, not a grueling task that requires ridiculous compensation.

It would also curtail players angling for moves to clubs offering higher wages, a la Flamini, Adebayour, Ronaldo and company.

If FIFA could reduce salaries & transfer fees, the money could be pumped into grassroots football and be put to use to offer the fan better value for money.

Again I agree with your sentiments here. The big problem is that FIFA don't have the power in European club soccer, they abide by the wishes of the G14.