Tuesday, October 30, 2007

How to Earn £139,000 a Month


Ever wondered what a Premiership player's payslip looks like? Well here's the payslip of a Liverpool player (not one of their top stars) for April this year. Net pay of £82,413.67, which equates to a gross monthly wage of more than £139,000. Nice work if you can get it. (Click on the image to enlarge it).
UPDATE: I got it wrong. It's £83,000 a week, not a month!!! Having done a Google search, it seems this is doing the rounds on football related websites. I haven't identified the player, but others haven't been so reluctant.

50 comments:

  1. I’m not a keen supporter of any football team and while it is not funded by the Tax payer, I don’t give two hoots.

    Jonathon Ross’s patslip would look pretty similar and is another matter altogether.

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  2. wow. how can people say politicians don't earn their money when this guy earns double their annual salary in a year?

    oh and Iain, you might want to scrub out their NI number... just a thought :P

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  3. aren't you concerned that publishing this might be illegal?

    :)

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  4. i don't like this post. It's a gross invasion someones privacy. Sorry - but I think it's wrong. The Daily Mirror would do this kind of stuff.

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  5. I do hope this chap gets a letter from the tax man every year, and a letter bomb from Liverpool football fans.

    However judging by the intelligence of the average soccer fanatic they would only blow themselves up in the attempt anyway.

    Very, in fact inhuman wages for all top sportsmen, is an Illuminati conspiracy of long standing. All the way back to the very start of our last civilization.

    These people worship sportsman as been touched by a gods given ability and commitment to their art sport or profession.

    It is also promoted to piss off poor people off. Also to divert government tax man attention from the their own dubious tax situation abode status and criminal activities.

    However the main reason is to foster a "cult of the personality" in the population. Because THEY never know when THEY might need to use the old chessnut again.

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  6. Wow, bold move Iain!
    And another add on to jamie above: he not only earns double, but almost pays a politician's annual salary as well.....

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  7. Iain, I don't know whether you should be publishing this. I know you have scrubbed out any identifying details etc but I believe newspapers have already named the footballer in question, so folk just have to put two and two together.

    And if a friend of a friend sent my payslip to someone and it ended up on a blog, I would be upset. Granted, I'm not a premiership footballer, but the principle is the same.

    Sorry if I seem to be some sort of killjoy, not my intention. I'm just putting myself in the shoes of the player in question.

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  8. I wouldn't go to a football match if you paid me so I couldn't care less how much they "earn" however this would be more interesting if it had been a BBC employee as we ARE paying their wages.
    Nothing to do with this but ask the Cons NOT to mention ethical foreign policies as no trading country can afford to have one.

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  9. Given that football clubs, at least in their origins, are working class organisations, it is interesting to see how they embrace the worst aspects of capitalism: obscene salaries for the men at the top and instant dismissal for managers who do not perform.

    But is tom [8.32 PM] right about football not being funded by the taxpayer? Didn't we fling a few million into Wembley Stadium?

    Personally, I loathe the game. My most fervent wish is that England comes bottom in every international competition.

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  10. sorry Tom I've just seen your comment.

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  11. In my comment above I of course meant 'when this guy earns double their annual salary in a MONTH?', not in a year. doh!

    Oh and i'm really impressed Iain, that you actually acted on my suggestion! There aren't many blog authors that would act on peoples suggestions...

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  12. Bel said:
    "Iain, I don't know whether you should be publishing this."

    I agree. What next - going through MPs rubbish bins? Come on, Iain! It's not very stylish.

    get rid of this post, please!

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  13. I am a Liverpool fan, and judging by recent performances, whoever it is, is really being massively overpaid!
    But at least we football fans, are only compelled to pay for these bozos out of tribal loyalty. Everyone is forced to pay for overpaid bozos like Jonathan Ross!

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  14. Yes, it seems obscene but footballers have a short working life (Im not a footie fan by the way), and it's part of being in a market economy.

    I'm assuming they pay a large whack of tax on that, and as long as the public are idiots enough to finance all this by paying massively over the odds for the merchandise, well, it's their business.

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  15. Err - thought we already knew that footballers earned loadsamoney? If the muppets stopped paying ridulous prices at the gates perhaps things would change...Or perhaps if society was a bit fairer. Seriously - you are a bit of an idiot ID arent't you? A bit of consistency in your conservative thinking would make you look less of one.

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  16. The incompetent footballer gets sacked. They are instantly held to account by an unforgiving crowd and a careless management. They have to sort out their own pensions and don't get expenses for assistants or second homes.

    Good footballers lead to the employment of many a person; through ticket sales, shirt manufactureres and the like. If they weren't worth their wage then it would not be paid.

    How unlike the average MP or minister.

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  17. He's paying his taxes, not using some offshore scam. This man should be congratulated for his productivity. He put more money into skoolsnospitals than the entire Labour party last year.

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  18. £83,000 a week and he can't even be bothered to make a payment on his Student Loan.

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  19. Trumpeter Lanfried

    Soccer fans not have a choice they are brainwashed.

    Also they are not working class anymore. Or if they are they simply must be swinging the lead or on more then the average middle class wage.

    Anyone that can and does spend such a silly amount of cash just to follow a football team.

    Quite frankly deserves all the piss taking they get. Which by the evidence of this footballers wages is a piss taking of biblical proportions.

    One thing should be changed. No sportsman should be employed. They should only be contractors for hire, and treated like the here today gone tomorrow mercenaries they are, by the fanatics.

    God I hate football. When does the cricket season start?

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  20. Not sure why this is "news" - we all know that top footballers get paid extraordinary amounts of money. So do film stars, other so-called celebrities and hedge fund managers. So what?

    BTW, the pay slip is for Week 24 01/09/06 - not April this year.

    Whyd they get paid weekly? Incredible in this day and age.

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  21. I must admit I have trouble believing this is genuine. In any other business, anyone earning over about £100k per YEAR does not get paid a salary (which attracts tax at 40%), but instead arranges things in a more tax-efficient manner, so that they pay far less tax. The £57k paid in ONE WEEK is an incredible amount of money not to be making any effort to avoid.

    I am seriously surprised that footballers do not do the same thing - clearly not well-advised

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  22. Do they get paid in cash on Fridays?

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  23. Iain, if you ever hope to be an MP, I trust that you will learn to be more discrete in dealing with other people's affairs. He may be a well known fiuigue (he is in my fantasy football team after all), but that doesn't mean anybody has the right to publish details of his weekly payslip.

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  24. What is the point you are trying to make with your post, Iain?

    Footballers are paid a lot. The ability to play football well is in scarce supply and a market economy rewards scarcity. Football clubs are private businesses and footballers are private individuals.

    So what? What does any of it tell us about the price of butter?

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  25. Anon 11;17

    They cant because they are traditional employees. Thanks to the combined efforts of the Marxist inspired Footballers Association, EU law and our greedy government.

    It would be interesting to work out how much of the ticket price effectively goes directly to the inland revenue.

    Not that a tribally brain dead, fanatically obsessed, overtly mind controlled football freak, would care.

    As long as his team wins for someone else, what he will never own, never see, never touch, never profit from, and lose pathetically next year, cheap, silver plated, completely useless, fucking cup.

    Even if he had to sell his grandmother and the all the kids off for medical experiments to pay for the ticket.

    When you purchase a ticket for a cricket match a large majority of the money gos to the club to promote cricket. Not so some footballers slag can go shopping till the credit card melts.

    GODS I really do hate football almost as much as Iain is in love with it.

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  26. I'm puzzled why a tory should be posting this obvious envy-fodder - is there something about your politics we don't know Iain? Or are you just a bit of a victim of jealousy yourself? Surely by normal Conservative lights, the market has dictated this chap be worth that much and therefore good luck to him.

    At least he "works" for a living. Just consider that there are more than 200,000 people in Britain who do not need to work for a living as they live off investments, etc. These are the real people the "Conservationists" er Conservatives are all about. There is a class element to this - an uppity working class man has made it into the big earnings league. This simply doesn't sit well with the party of the not-so-distant landed gentry and city investment folk.

    "The Informer"

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  27. Dear atlas shrugged: You and I are on the same wavelength.

    How nice, in the country of the mad, to meet at least one other sane person.

    Actually, we are not alone. I seem to remember reading that, even today, more people go to church than football matches.

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  28. Tomorrow's shock news:

    Dog bites man
    The Sun is in the sky

    Obviously this pay is ridiculous Iain as is many a celeb, popstar, model, presenter, uber capitalist ... but what do you propose should be done about it?

    Presumably West Ham pay the average non-graduate salary to all their playing staff? And under parity rules as seen at local Law Centres etc the exact same rate to cleaners, stewards etc

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  29. anonymous [7.59 AM] You say there are more than 200,000 people in Britain who do not need to work for a living as they live off investments, etc.

    A small number indeed compared with those who do not need to work because they, and their parents, and their grandparents, have always lived off 'benefits' and have not the slightest interest in any other lifestyle.

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  30. When details of players' salaries are regularly published in the newspapers (and presumably in the annual reports of football clubs) why is it such a big deal to see the payslip? This is all information which could be deduced from running the public numbers through an online net salary calculator.

    What annoys me is that this person pays NICs at a rate of 1.3% which is about a quarter of what I pay, and although I earn a decent amount - it is considerably less!

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  31. danvers says "why is it such a big deal to see the payslip?"

    It is an invasion of someones privacy. If iain wants to complain about a loss of civil liberties - then he shouldn't be publishing this payslip. It's hypocritical.

    If Iain is a Conservative with 'Conservative values' (btw I am not a Tory) then why is he victimising an athlete for earning money?

    For all we know this athlete might do lots of work for charity - or he might spend all his money on himself. Either way - it's none of our business.

    You can't slate the government for ID cards if you go and publish tacky stuff like this payslip.

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  32. I doubt Villa will pay him that come January.

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  33. i note he doesn't have any outstanding student loans

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  34. It's per month - the total taxable by week 24 is £765527, making an average gross weekly of around £32k - about right for an international, but not a top star) playing in the Premier league.

    Atlas - the money comes more from the pocket of Murdoch than the tickets.

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  35. I suspect this is one of the 1.5m immigrant workers!

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  36. What the heck business of ours is this?

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  37. Anon at 11.17 said: "In any other business, anyone earning over about £100k per YEAR does not get paid a salary (which attracts tax at 40%), but instead arranges things in a more tax-efficient manner, so that they pay far less tax."

    This is complete rubbish. Large nos of people in my company (including me) earn well over 100K and we pay income tax like anyone else. Employees who are UK domiciled, working in the UK, do; and any business not accounting for PAYE on that basis is operating illegally and its directors should be in prison with Mr Bright. This applies too of course to profits on share options, Long Term Incentive Plans etc.

    To suggest otherwise is contributing to the envy mythology that rich people don't pay their share. If they are employees they certainly do.

    Now, the fact that our Capital Gains Tax is now going to go up if we happen to hold shares in the company we work for, mostly because some slimey private equity or hedge fund people found some loophole to reclassify income as capital is our hard cheese; but it doesn't mean that most types of business are able to abuse the system with impunity like those boys.

    An interesting point of course is how many of these footballers are non-doms and, if so, whether they manage to get some portion of their wages paid abroad (for European cups played abroad for instance). I have insufficient interest in football to have found out whose wage slip this is, but maybe it's only part of what he's paid...

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  38. i dont understand why people get so upset about footballets pay how much do top actors earn per film? or city traders or FI drivers or singers . if anyone naffs me off its the WAGS but if you sell mags you get lots of money. that's entertainment

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  39. It is now on the BBC website. The player is John Arne Riise.

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  40. I used to work in the personal tax department of one of the big 4 accountancy firms. Tax clients included foopbaw players. I can tell you that all these figures you hear in the media of so-and-so getting £50,000 a week understate the matter. What he gets is £50,000 nett. His gross pay is thus much higher.

    This is because football players are retarded morons. If you tell Ee-yain Dale he's on £50,000 a year, then he'll expect about £30,000 in his pay packet. If you tell Darren Foopbawla he's on £50,000 a week, then he'll expect £50,000 in his pay packet, because he's too excruciatingly thick to grasp the concept of PAYE.

    Foopbaw really is rip-off Britain writ large. All those lagered yobs paying top dollar to watch crap teams lose don't know the half of it. The players are paid about 60% more than the gullible mugs who pay for it all realise.

    This has come about because Sky paid too much for the right to screen foopbaw. All the money fell straight through the sport and into the pockets of greedy players, just like Broon's tax splurge on the NHS has all fallen straight through the industry and into the pockets of greedy doctors. To recoup its overpayment Sky's solution was to market the shiftless scum on the pitch as gods, so the shiftless scum in the stands would happily pay £50 to watch a talentless bunch of drunken coke-snorting clap-ridden whoremongering millionaires diving and missing penalties and queening it off the pitch in a sulk.

    You stupid people.

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  41. Anonymous
    "used to work" - there's a clue!

    you clearly cannot read a payslip.

    1.49pm yesterday had it correct.

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  42. I must say that i am quite surprised by some of the comments left in this column, whom openly think that this amount of money as a weekly payslip is ok! let alone not even for doing a job that is worthwile.

    Ok football plays an important role in society in terms of entertainment and economy.

    And yes, it is the people's choice to pay the hugely inflated prices to watch games and merchandise. But these people are in many ways forced to do this due to marking pressures and peer pressure.

    However, I honestly think that is a ridiculous amount of money to be paid for this job. When there are people within the uk, that work just as hard, or perhaps harder and would not even earn that amount of money within one year, or possibly two,three, four, five....

    Even if the football industry creates a huge revenue - couldn't the money be used elsewhere and invest somewhat in the society that pays for it. Rather than giving so much to football players, who will probably waste at least 50% of it on partying and shopping.

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  43. Not bad money, still at least he earns it unlike most of the MP's in the house.

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  44. Anonymous - again , it's a monthly pay-slip.

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  45. anonymous at 12.26

    I suggest you re-read my post properly since you clearly did not understand it.

    Foopbaw has dumbed you down.

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  46. Anonymous :
    Whaich part of this suggests you realise the payslip was a monthly one?

    "I can tell you that all these figures you hear in the media of so-and-so getting £50,000 a week understate the matter. What he gets is £50,000 nett. His gross pay is thus much higher."

    Redundancy was clearly justified!

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  47. Anonymous ex tax accountant :
    to save you scrolling up, this is the correct analysis of the payslip.

    Good luck with the job search - perhaps try something that doesn't involve the brain too much?


    It's per month - the total taxable by week 24 is £765527, making an average gross weekly of around £32k - about right for an international, but not a top star) playing in the Premier league.

    Atlas - the money comes more from the pocket of Murdoch than the tickets.

    October 31, 2007 1:49 PM

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  48. What a hypocritical load of nonsense! I would have thought that Iain would support the free market - yet here he is objecting to the (admittedly huge) amount paid to the man, as dictated by the market.

    What next Iain - will you be objecting to fat-cat salaries paid to city bosses? When will you be posting one of their wage slips?

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  49. I am not talking about this payslip, you no-reading-comprehension-having twit. The clue is that I referred to a generic "Darren Foopbawla" earning a conjectural £50,000 a week.

    Which many do. Except it's £50,000 nett. What part of that don't you understand you gormless foopbaw-gawping pygmy?

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