Comparing Scottish Premiership clubs wages - 2013/14

Those nice chaps at Sporting Intelligence have published their annual Global Sports Salary Survey.  For reasons that are beyond me, they continue to assess Scottish Premiership clubs (even if they do still refer to it as the SPL) and put them in the same list with the behemoths that populate the English Premier League, La Liga, the Bundesliga...all the biggest, best and richest sides in the world, really.  So whilst at the top of the list you have the likes of Paris St. Germain, Real Madrid and Manchester City, at the bottom (literally) are Inverness Caley Thistle, Partick Thistle and Ross County.

Hey, I'm not complaining.

Plenty of readers disputed last year's findings; sarcastic comments can be found on several Dundee United forums, for a start, and there were even accusations that I'd falsified the whole thing!  All I can say is that I'm reporting on findings by another organization, who specialize in looking at this sort of stuff.  I imagine they are a good ballpark figure.  They're certainly believable.

Remember, these are for the 2013/14 season, which is why Hibs and Hearts are mentioned but Dundee and Hamilton aren't.  And it's for the top flight only, which is why there's no acknowledgement of the existence of Rangers.

So here is the crappy little table showing the new figures, in comparison to previous years.

Average first team player weekly wage (£) 2013/14 2012/13 2011/12 2010/11 Celtic 17345 22103 21253 20457 Aberdeen 2706 3033 2906 3002 Hibernian 1965 2565 2804 3322 Dundee United 1760 2125 2503 2513 St. Mirren 1508 1520 2007 2046 Kilmarnock 1442 1897 2274 2404 St. Johnstone 1308 1533 1920 1960 Motherwell 1301 1523 2296 2319 Hearts 1231 3206 5305 6310 Inverness CT 1032 1023 954 1122 Partick 875 Ross County 692 748

Here are some musings...

Celtic still out-resource everyone in Scotland by a country mile

For the second season running, Celtic's wage bill is greater than the sum of all eleven other teams put together.  But their average first team player wage dropped by more than 20%.  As with the previous year, they lag behind every English top flight club.  They also pay less than most Bundesliga clubs, but more than most Ligue 1 and Serie A sides.

Aberdeen are spending more on wages than the chasing pack

I wouldn't be surprised if the Dons' average wage was higher in 2014/15, given they've got their house in order.  Even last season they were paying far more than Dundee United.

The contrast between Hibs and Hearts

According to this, Hibernian had the third highest wage bill in the Premiership last season...a season which ended with their relegation.  Dear oh dear.  Their Edinburgh rivals cut their wage bill by nearly two-thirds after going into administration

Motherwell punched well above their weight

The surprise is not that Motherwell slid down the table this season, but that it took so long to happen.  Finishing second with the eighth highest wage bill last season is a hell of a feat.  The further cuts put in place in summer 2014 took their toll.

St. Mirren players haven't been giving value for money

The Buddies' average wage held just about steady, which put them up to fifth in the list from ninth in 2012/13; that might be skewed by the fact they have a relatively small squad (so the total wage bill may not be that high).  But the figures are further evidence for their fans that the club have been underachieving for a long time now.

And what about Rangers?
Oh, if we must...their wage bill didn't fall by much in 2013/14, and was still well ahead of Aberdeen's.  A figure of around £4000-5000 as an average first team wage doesn't seem unrealistic.



Lawrie Spence (LS) has ranted and spouted his ill-informed opinions on Narey's Toepoker since September 2007.  He has a life outside this blog.  Honestly.