Forum Topic

Enough is enough in Football.

A footballing pro who now commands £200k A WEEK is ludicrous! Given Suarez is a fine player and accepting he thrills hundreds nay thousands a week - enough is enough. Equally skilled pros in Germany, Spain, Italy and France don't demand that amount and players in Brasil, Argentina and Uruaguy certainly don't get paid that money. From now on, I'm giving up watching football and instead viewing rugby league. Bah!

Gerry Tan ● 4484d18 Comments

Bump

Keith Iddon ● 4421d

£4/10/00 in 1963.

Graham Weeks ● 4484d

No right thread, Tony Maxey mentioned Squires on his post.

John Bodman ● 4484d

Wrong thread Nigel..?

Keith Iddon ● 4484d

Squires - wonderful shop and still sadly missed by many (including me). Bought my first Sony stereo system there in 1969.

Nigel Brooks ● 4484d

I had to get up a full half hour before I went to bed, handful of hot gravel for breakfast and had to hop 10 miles to do my job, which was licking the road clean with my tongue. All for a ha'penny a day and all the rainwater I could drink...

Keith Iddon ● 4484d

Wow Gerry you were loaded. I was on £5.00pw in 1971 paying 57p NI. Working at Cox Garage on South Ealing Road. Then onto Squires of Ealing for a massive £9.50pw

Tony Maxey ● 4484d

After being a football fan since my early youth and a season ticket holder at Brentford for over 40 years, I gave up on football about five years ago. A combination of mobility problems made it difficult but my overarching 'problem' was realising that I was no longer enjoying the spectacle as even the lower league players wanted to emulate the 'stars'.I now watch and enjoy rugby where there are few prima-donnas and the skills extend throughout the team in good sides rather than a focus on this weeks's mega pay packet.

Nigel Brooks ● 4484d

Totally agree about growing a pair.It's a fairly recent addition to the game that virtually all players fall over all the time.I remember watching Tony Adams and then John Terry playing for England at the start of their careers and it was a matter of pride that they kept their feet and gave any opposing tacklers the impression that kicking one of them would break their own foot rather than cause an injury.Alan Shearer talks about strikers being "entitled to go down" in the penalty box, which strikes me as ridiculous.Even if "our" FA wanted to address this though, they have so little influence with UEFA and FIFA that it would make no difference.

Phil Kay ● 4484d

Keith, I started work in 1950.

Gerry Tan ● 4484d

You could always come along and watch Hanwell Rugby Club! As a new club we could do with the support and we are completely self financed (which means we PAY to play!).If you really wanted you could even join our committee and actually be part of the club!We socialise together after every game and are generally a good bunch of lads.

John Bodman ● 4484d

Should have practised your ball skills Gerry. Btw, what year did you start work. I was on £11 pw for a 45hr week in 1975.

Keith Iddon ● 4484d

Extortionate pay - when I started work my wage per week was £3-17s-6d!  Bah Humbug!

Gerry Tan ● 4484d

You could watch teams in the lower divisions, starting with the local side Brentford. That's still 'real' football.

Keith Iddon ● 4484d

If footballers salaries offend you don't google the salaries of American team sports! Football drives me insane, I cannot stomach the attitude of modern players (pros and amateurs). As for the diving etc, I think a few of them need to grow a pair! It's also worth noting the NSPCC have just launched the 'Magic Kit' campaign in regards to how competitve parents abuse officials AND their own kids during games.

John Bodman ● 4484d

Isn't this one of those perennial issues we discuss all the time?Gerry, will you also give up watching Hollywood films where the principal actors of either gender pocket in excess of £20 million for a few weeks' work?  Their hourly pay is even greater than Suarez, Bale, Rooney etc.I'm no apologist for ridiculous salaries.  The best one can say is that the footballers can be seen for 90 minutes every week from August to May.According to CNN, earnings this year:Robert Downey Jr - $75 million Oprah Winfrey - $77 million Hugh Jackman - $55 millionChanning Tatum - $60 millionAngelina Jolie - $33 million

Phil Kay ● 4484d

Salaries are sometimes higher in other countries than here Gerry.

Keith Iddon ● 4484d

Rooney gets £250k pw Gerry and Ronaldo nearly twice that. One of the highest paid team sportsmen last year was the Indian cricketer Dhoni...25 million US dollars apparently.Most footballers earn nowhere near this amount and in the lower divisions you'd be doing well to get 1.5k pw I shouldn't wonder. Bear in mind too the earning career of professional a footballer is less than 20 years .

Keith Iddon ● 4484d