How much do LOI players get paid?

[Spudulika]

Simple thing is this, most of the times players will stay at home if they have an option, even taking a pay cut. Players move to far off places if they're going to take a severe drop in wages or not get a new contract. The other thing to take into account is if they feel that playing part-time and working full/part-time is going to make them better as players. Though there are some players who'd rather stick at home, playing for boot money when they could earn substantially more (50e compared to 800e) as they don't want to move away from family, don't feel ready, or figure they can move to a better place. I believe it all boils down to the ambition of a player and where they want to go. Signing for a Championship side and sitting in their reserves (with a few loan spells around the place) means that in 3 years time they'll have a fairly decent nest egg built up. Again, it's down to ambtion.

CR - there is no perfect way to compare a league(s), a team can win year in year out, do well in Europe, but at home the league is a mess (Moldova for example). UEFA is the best we have at the minute.

[peadar1987]

Apparently Port Vale's monthly wage bill is £180,000, or about €225,000, so weekly that would be around €55k, over three times what Shams are able to pay. Basically if you're settled in Ireland and have a family here, to move you're going to need enough money to buy a house.

Edit: A lot of them will have other jobs in Ireland as well, which they mightn't pick up in a foreign country. Wages would have to compensate for that too.

[Colbert Report]

So Sligo Rovers look like they're head and shoulders above the rest of the league. How do you reckon they'd do if they were to be put into League 2 next season? Surefire champions? Play-offs? Mid-table?

[Spudulika]

I hate to say this, but it's a different ball game. They have good enough players to do a job in the upper mid-table League 1, but their style of play would be better suited to a Continental League. I'd put them up against top Bundesliga 2 sides and definitely they'd just survive in the Russian Premier (where they'd have a little more steel). I think some teams, like Pats and Sligo, have move away from the British model a little and play good football. It's more important to match them up in Europe and make progress to Group stages.

[Paddyfield]

When Tommy Gaynor left Nottingham Forest, he went through a few LOI Clubs before he ended up in Athlone. His contract was simple; he got paid if he played and got more if he scored and more again if Town won. Word on the terrace was that Gaynor got IR£50 for each of those clauses. A good day would be one in which he scored the winner! In his day, Gaynor was an awesome footballer and deadly from the spot.

The manager was sacked and current SD Galway manager Tony Mannion was appointed.

In one of his first games, Mannion took Gaynor off late in a scoreless game. Minutes later, Town were awarded a penalty from which they scored and won the game. Everyone jumped for joy except Gaynor who allegedly kicked the wall in despair of missing out on his few quid.

[nosebleds]

I'd be very surprised if there was many players/if any in the league outside of maybe Sligo and Shamrock Rovers, earning more than 500 a week.

joe gamble, dennis behan on 10,ooo euro the rest on 6.ooo a week happy days.

[Nah Nah Nah Nah]

I'd be very surprised if there was many players/if any in the league outside of maybe Sligo and Shamrock Rovers, earning more than 500 a week.

There's definitely some earning more then €500 a week playing in the premier division and not playing for either rovers

[Colbert Report]

The LOI must be a prime target for betting syndicates if players are making such a pittance.

[Jofspring]

We probably have a few earners over €500. If you add in goalscoring bonuses, clean sheets etc… i'd say we definitely do.

A lot of people would have you believe though we have Joe Gamble and Behan earning €3,000 between them a week and Bradley getting €2,000 a week

[Colbert Report]

How much prize money does a club receive for getting to the group stages of the Champions League? Even if they were to get beaten in all six matches? I'm trying to work out if it would be worth investing in a LOI club with the intent of having it pay off by them getting past the third qualifying stage. If Shamrock Rovers had beaten Copenhagen last summer in Tallaght, would they have struck it rich?

[NeverFeltBetter]

The LOI must be a prime target for betting syndicates if players are making such a pittance.

This has been an issue.

[Charlie Darwin]

Sorry, I'm here in North America where all salaries from any professional sports leagues are public by law. I'd like to know solely to compare the quality of leagues. It makes sense that the more a club is willing to pay players, the better players will play for that club. Not always true I realise, lots of times players will take less salary to play for their hometown club, etc.

There are a few reasons why wage comparisons don't work.

First of all, Ireland is an expensive country to live in. Wages for any occupation, in Dublin in particular, will necessarily be higher than many or all equally-sized countries on the continent. There is also a premium to be paid for attracting people outside of the mainland and onto a peripheral island, which is one of the reasons why few non-British foreigners play in the LOI.

Second, though related, is the fact that a club like BATE Borisov or CFR Cluj can attract players from poor countries with relatively low budgets due to the tiny cost of living in those countries. Many Brazilians and other nationalities use these leagues as a stepping stone into Europe so they can sign for richer clubs in Greece etc. In Ireland, even the highest paid footballer isn't going to earn much more than the average industrial wage, whereas in Romania or wherever they're rich. While you might make more money in euro terms in Dublin, you make much more relatively in an ex-communist state.

Third, it doesn't take account of tax rates. For instance, until recently, a top player in Spain paid a third the rate of tax as his equivalent in England or Germany. So while the player in England might have a much higher book wage than his equivalent in Spain, he would still only be earning the same amount after tax. Spain have raised their tax rate on sports stars now, but there is still a big disparity across Europe between countries that tax footballers high and low.

[Spudulika]

CD - you've it perfect on your 3rd point, most players in Ireland are offered "Gross" deals, insofar as that they get x amount and get the tax taken out. However.....Ireland is different where when a players retires, or moves from Ireland, he receives the money paid in taxes (except PRSI I think) back. So it's better in Ireland than in Russia, for example. However at higher level leagues players will organise their taxes and so on. However I disagree with BATE, they are predominantly local, the players are well paid and while many do move abroad, the wages and packages they receive are far better. For example one player in BATE is on $800 a week, he also has an apartment free, a car and $100 a week in living expenses. His bonuses are quite good, $500 a win, $500 a goal and a large bonus for winning the league etc. Plus the contract is 12months. He's in the lower range of earners in BATE. BATE, last I checked, have 3-4 foreigners in the club, of their own volition. Though I'd suggest that the cost of living in Belarus is substantially lower than in Ireland, tax is 15% (flat) and I'd not stretch it by saying the value of $800 a week there would be !,500e in Ireland.

Colbert R - you can check on UEFA about prizemoney, though to get an Irish team into the CL or EL you've got to do it long term, do it mainly local, and stick with it.

[John83]

I think there's a threshold where the wages start to affect the standard of the league. I'd move to Sweden or Austria if I was going to be paid enough to cover my moving costs, and to make up for the hassle of trying to adust me and my family, if I had one, to the new language and culture. Most players wouldn't leave a £300 a week contract in Ireland because a club in Romania is offering £400, and a 33% wage boost is not to be sniffed at. The percentage is good, but the actual amount in real terms doesn't justify moving.

Yeah, but your living expenses would be much lower in Romania. It might be worth a punt, particularly if you were a young lad with no family commitments.

[Dodge]

Financially maybe but it clearly isn't about money for many. It can be even harder for young lads as they've no family support with them

Its not just footballers. same applies to any migrant workers

[Spudulika]

I'm with Dodge on this, moving to a different country under such pressure (especially when many of the players idea of foreign travel is a fortnight's pee up in the Canaries), they're not mentally set to just pack up and head abroad. Without that safety net and the mental strength, any little foul up sends them on a downward spiral. It doesn't only apply to players, lots of coaches have the same.

[Charlie Darwin]

CD - you've it perfect on your 3rd point, most players in Ireland are offered "Gross" deals, insofar as that they get x amount and get the tax taken out. However.....Ireland is different where when a players retires, or moves from Ireland, he receives the money paid in taxes (except PRSI I think) back. So it's better in Ireland than in Russia, for example. However at higher level leagues players will organise their taxes and so on. However I disagree with BATE, they are predominantly local, the players are well paid and while many do move abroad, the wages and packages they receive are far better. For example one player in BATE is on $800 a week, he also has an apartment free, a car and $100 a week in living expenses. His bonuses are quite good, $500 a win, $500 a goal and a large bonus for winning the league etc. Plus the contract is 12months. He's in the lower range of earners in BATE. BATE, last I checked, have 3-4 foreigners in the club, of their own volition. Though I'd suggest that the cost of living in Belarus is substantially lower than in Ireland, tax is 15% (flat) and I'd not stretch it by saying the value of $800 a week there would be !,500e in Ireland.

Colbert R - you can check on UEFA about prizemoney, though to get an Irish team into the CL or EL you've got to do it long term, do it mainly local, and stick with it.

I agree the tax rebate is another factor but I don't think it's all that relevant in terms of a wage comparison - I think gross pay would be the same in Ireland regardless of whether or not the rebate was being offered, it just means a small number of players might be more likely to try their luck elsewhere.

I didn't know that about BATE. I was under the impression they were bankrolled by a local business and made use of a lot of foreign players, but looking at their squad you're right, it is mostly local players. Which makes you wonder why Irish sides can't do the same.

[wonder88]

anyone have reliable figures for the weekly wage bills of our leading clubs. Bohs I think were paying a number of their staff over 1000e a week a couple of years ago which is amazing when one thinks of the ability of those who received those wages.

[Charlie Darwin]

anyone have reliable figures for the weekly wage bills of our leading clubs. Bohs I think were paying a number of their staff over 1000e a week a couple of years ago which is amazing when one thinks of the ability of those who received those wages.

What do you mean? Many of those players could have made more money in other leagues. Others probably wouldn't have, but pay structures at any club are a difficult balancing act.

[Spudulika]

CD - when I think about it it does seem logical. I think the issue is that (as brought up earlier) players are reluctant to move too far from what's known. Declan O'Brien was on a good wedge in Malta but just as he settled the club got in the local star (Mifsud) and he was shunted off home, I don't know how much he would have promoted the country afterwards. A great danger, as found out by at least 2 players, is that going abroad on a big wage doesn't mean you'll be paid - can't remember who went to Azerbaijan, but it was a joke. There are ways around it but unfortunately once agents get their fee they disappear and claim ignorance (sorry to generalise but it's hard not to).

On BATE, they're a club who have reformed and done things the right way. They come from a small base but the whole region is fanatical, think Munster rugby or Kerry football. The initial investment into them was very small, and very well planned. They come from a workers team that was never really that successful and the factory they're based around didn't have anything approaching the money needed to go big. And there was no big backer, just some small shareholders who mixed business knowledge with sports experience and kept it local. http://backpagefootball.com/land-of-...-rising/47603/ As clubs go they're very modest and even beating Bayern the other night they were very humble. The problem is that the local football scene is so divided that the national team doesn't benefit.

I know this sounds a bit mad (no, very mad) but I remember when I heard that Rovers got Tallaght and the move was on, that they'd do a BATE as everything was there, and for a while I figured it was on. I'd seen BATE play Rubin back (2006 maybe, have to check) and spoke with their head man about how they'd turned things around etc (because locally I'd been told they were just out of bankruptcy). They've a recent history of developing coaches with stable decision making and all from a small base (with a small population), so Rovers seemed the ideal copy.