At the top of the tree is Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne, reportedly the best paid player in the Premier League, who takes home a cool £400,000 a week.
In the seven seconds it’s taken you to read this so far, De Bruyne almost earned a fiver.
But what does a contract worth £20,800,000 a year actually look like? And how much holiday does a football player get?
These are all questions we put to Gareth Farrelly – a former Republic of Ireland, Everton, Bolton Wanderers and Aston Villa footballer who retrained as a solicitor after his retirement from professional football.
He’s here to break down the bits we don’t see on a Premier League contract between a club and a player.
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The contract itself
“The football stakeholders have developed a standard player contract which is used by all clubs,” Gareth, 49, explains.
An important early point is that, although players are also governed by each club’s own rules, the terms and provisions of the standard Premier League contract take precedence over the club’s rules if there is a conflict between the two.
This contract has been developed over several years, Gareth adds, “and its terms are the same as those used by the English Football League.
“This means that if a Premier League Team is relegated to the Championship, or a Championship team is promoted to the Premier League, the contracts remain in force and don’t need to be rewritten.”
The structure
After the first page, which is just for basic information like a player’s name, there are four pages of legal definitions and 14 pages of standard terms and conditions.
“Many of these conditions are specific to football, and govern everything from maintaining a high level of fitness to commercial sponsorship and carrying out PR activity,” Gareth says.
There are then two “schedules” added to the end of the contract.
“Schedule One covers disciplinary procedures and penalties that can be imposed on the player by the club. It also sets out the procedures that players must follow if they wish to register a grievance against the club.
“Schedule Two is used to record the details that everyone is really interested in – pay, bonuses, benefits etc.”
Negotiation
The number of those involved in negotiating the terms and provisions detailed in Schedule Two of the contract will depend on how big the club is, Gareth says.
“On the club’s side it may be carried out by the sporting director/football management or one of the club directors, and on the player’s side, for the most part, the negotiation will be carried out by the agent.”
Gareth says one of the misconceptions is that agents walk into negotiations and demand a package – a lot more goes into it than that.
“In reality, the better agents will have undertaken a lot of work with regard to that club, to understand their player profile/needs and then what kind of wages and packages that club pays and what is achievable,” he says.
One issue, however, is players’ financial literacy.
“When the contract is being negotiated, the player is invariably given a form to sign to say that they have had the opportunity to take independent legal advice or to speak to the PFA [the players’ union] about it, and they then just sign it without having taken that advice.
“I think this should be mandatory and at the point of concluding the contract someone independent should be there to have a conversation with the player to make sure they understand the provisions of the contract, what they’re going to be entitled to, what they’re going to earn for the duration of the contract, how much they will be paying to their agent and how and when this will be paid.”
How is pay written in?
So far, it doesn’t sound too different from a contract you may have negotiated for yourself, right?
“One way in which employment contracts for professional sportspeople differ from those of most other employees is that they are for a fixed term,” Gareth says.
“Clause one of Schedule Two records the date that the player began to be employed by the club and clause two records the date (always 30 June, of any given year) when the contract will terminate.”
If the contract is not renewed, and the player does not immediately sign for another club, he will usually continue to receive his wages for a further month after the contract terminates.
Other standard clauses of Schedule Two include a requirement that the player work any hours that “might reasonably be required of him by the club without additional payment”, and that “the club shall be entitled to require the player to play and to undertake his duties hereunder at any other place throughout the world”.
Schedule Two also includes a section relating to the Professional Footballers’ Pension Scheme, into which an annual contribution of £5,208 must be made by the club for the benefit of the player, unless he opts out of the scheme.
“The level of the employer pension contribution might seem small when compared to current Premier League wages, but it is a hangover from the earlier days of the league when it actually represented quite a generous benefit, and it is still considered a real benefit at clubs outside the Premier League,” Gareth says.
Another hangover is the contract’s stipulations around the retirement age.
“At one point, players were able to draw their pension from the age of 35 but now they are treated the same as everyone else and have to wait until they are 55, so that clause is redundant now, given that the contract is for a fixed term anyway.”
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Clause eight of Schedule Two is the part everyone is really interested in. This is where the financial terms of the player’s employment are recorded.
“Unlike the big US sports franchises, where players agree an overall annual package, here in the UK footballers’ remuneration is still invariably discussed on the basis of weekly wages.
“Clause 8.1 records the player’s basic wage, either per week or per year. Unlike most other employment contracts, the Premier League contract actually provides five different lines on which the player’s wage can recorded, each with its own start and end date.
“This enables, for example, the club and the player to agree to annual increases in basic pay from the outset,” Gareth says.
Usually, the basic wage is the biggest element of the player’s remuneration but, depending on the circumstances, there can be other significant bonuses, payments and provisions.
“If the player joins as a ‘free agent’ (ie, not bought for a transfer fee, rather joining on the expiry of a previous contract for free) then there might be a significant signing-on fee, if the club hasn’t had to pay a transfer fee,” Gareth says.
Can footballers ‘hand in their notice’?
Clause 18 of the contract relates to the “specificity of football” – a term favoured by those familiar with EU law.
“Under this clause, both the club and the player acknowledge the fixed-term nature of the contract, which not only has a fixed termination date but also commits both parties for the duration of the contract – the player can’t just decide he fancies another job and hand in his notice,” Gareth says.
Loyalty payments can be included – which would be based on the player still being at the club for time markers.
It’s worth noting that these payments will have been included to cover the agents’ fees that are invariably paid over the duration of the contract as well.
What other sorts of terms could be included?
Well, a club may include an increase in wages after a certain number of appearances, or the potential for a younger player’s contract to be renegotiated if they break through and become established in the first team squad.
“For younger players there could also be bonuses payable if they play for their national team, whether at under-21 or full international level,” Gareth notes.
So-called yo-yo clubs – teams that are regularly promoted and relegated – might also include a clause that the player’s remuneration will reduce by a certain percentage if the team is demoted.
The contract might also include help with relocation costs, potentially including legal fees.
Insurance and perks
“Players are covered by the club’s private health insurance, and must abide by its terms, but the club might agree to pay for a certain amount of insurance for players who are moving from a different country, and the family members who have moved with them,” Gareth says.
“Many clubs have agreements with car companies, and the contract might also include an agreement to provide a vehicle for the player, and for the player to drive that vehicle.
“Other provisions can include things like corporate boxes, so players’ friends and family can enjoy hospitality at matches away from the fans.”
Ts and Cs
We promise this isn’t as boring as it is normally.
“The standard terms and conditions that are included in the standard contract include duties on the player to play to the best of his ability, maintain a high standard of fitness, and not knowingly to do anything that might invalidate the club’s medical or life insurance,” Gareth says.
“By signing the contract the player also undertakes not to do, say or write anything that might bring the club or the game into disrepute.”
Other clauses govern the clothing that players can wear and promotional activity they can carry out “in a club context”, to maintain the integrity of the club’s, and the Premier League’s, sponsorship deals.
What if a player gets injured?
The contract also sets out the remuneration that will be received if the player suffers injury or illness.
Per the contract, “for injuries sustained while playing or training, the player will receive his full basic wage for the first 18 months, then half his basic wage for the remainder of his period of incapacity”, Gareth explains.
If the player is incapacitated by an illness or injury not related to his work for the club, he will receive his full basic wage for 12 months and half his basic wage for the remaining period of incapacity.
“In both cases the player will also remain eligible for his share of any club bonus payments,” Gareth adds.
Disciplinary action – and holidays
The sections of the contract covering disciplinary procedures enable the club to terminate the player’s contract in cases of gross misconduct or if a final written warning has gone unheeded (as in any employment contract).
“One way in which a footballer’s contract differs from those signed by most other employees, though, is that it allows the club to withhold wages as a punishment for an offence which does not meet the threshold for dismissal,” Gareth says.
“These fines are limited to a maximum of two weeks’ basic wage for a first offence and four weeks’ basic wage for subsequent offences within a 12-month period.”
Holidays, meanwhile, are not particularly generous – five weeks a year.
Disputes
What if a player wants to dispute anything in the contract?
Gareth says this kind of situation most commonly arises around the disciplinary issues we just discussed.
“The contract allows for immediate dismissal if the player is convicted of a criminal offence and sentenced to three or more months in prison (not suspended),” he says.
Outside that, how disputes are handled depends on the situation.
Gareth uses an example – clause 3.1.2 – which says the player will “play to the best of his skill and ability at all times”.
“This is something that a club would only look at if a player has fallen out of favour within the club, or they perceive that he is trying to engineer a move away,” Gareth says.
“In cases like this they might look at bringing in expert evidence based on video footage or training.”
He also mentions performance being inhibited by alcohol, which could potentially be widely interpreted, “but if the player is in the good favour of the club then they are less likely to look to enforce this sort of thing in the first place”.
However, if they want to get rid of the player then they will look at some of these clauses in really close detail and take legal advice as to whether they believe the player is in breach of them, Gareth adds.
On the other side of the coin, if the player wants to leave then they are likely to start looking at the contract to see if there are any clauses where the club might be in breach, so they can terminate the contract and leave on a free transfer.
“These cases usually end up in mediation or arbitration (the results of mediation are not legally binding but the findings of an arbitration are), enabling everyone to save face and achieve a satisfactory outcome for both parties, even if nobody gets everything they wanted.
“You’ll never please everyone in a dispute but fundamentally, mediation or arbitration is probably more cost-effective than going to court.”
