League 2 - Average salary?

Mazza26 · Aug 18, 2015

I keep hearing about all this Portsmouth loving, not only from Pompey fans but also from you guys and girls after the one-sided match on Saturday. Fine, but I just think to myself the gap between us and them last season was quite notable, ie we were better than them. NOW bearing in mind we've apparently improved considerably from Sheridan's team according to the majority of posters that means Pompey have improved by a country mile! Now how is this? How does this automatically happen? Why do we just assume "oh well they are so much better than us they will get 110 points end of." How do we know there aren't 2 other teams like this? Which will mean we will again be playing catch up like we always seem to. I look at the players they've brought in - loads of them - hundreds of them but not for big fees, however of course it makes you wonder how did they attract certain players.

Then I do some digging, well to be honest it won't come as a surprise to a lot of you as i'm sure you've done your own homework but apparently there's at least one pompey player on more than 5k a week! WTF! That's crazy. As soon as you hear stuff like that then that's that. End of. So the superlatives aimed at Pompey are OTT - it's not like Burton Albion. Pompey should storm the league and so is that why everyone has been saying this in the first place? Where did Pompey get their money from? So has anyone else heard of anything? I thought that 5k was roughly the championship average, and league 2 was around 1.2k possibly a tad more these days? It's all starting to make sense. :doh:

George Willis · Aug 18, 2015

Portsmouth attendance figures are way above anyone else in the league with just less than 17,000 turning up for their game against Dagenham. With that kind of gate income you can easily find the cash for a few really good players who are prepared to play in league two knowing that promotion is highly likely.

Relative proximity and easy travel to the bright lights of London also helps in persuading players to join the club.

Richard Allan · Aug 18, 2015

One of the Pompey directors flew in before KO in his private helicopter, they must have a few bob these fans that own the club

Carlo · Aug 18, 2015

I believe Pomepy are debt free and can use 55% of their turnover on wages. With their attendances compared to ours they will be able to pay a lot more in wages than we can.

LeonTheGreen · Aug 18, 2015

Id say the average is between 1 to 2 k. They get huge crowds for this level meaning they'll always have a lot more money than everyone else.

Johndelve · Aug 18, 2015

Pompey's crowds are far better than ours and anyone else's in this division . I would also imagine that their crowds will stay 15,000 or more irrespective of who they are playing . Hence they can pay bigger salaries .

Compare that to us, 11,500 turned up on Saturday but few more than 6,000 will be there tonight . That's a huge differential in just one game . Various reasons , money, footy on TV etc , but also our age old problem that people only turn up for big games whatever the result .

memory man · Aug 18, 2015

Johndelve":185q15de said:
Pompey's crowds are far better than ours and anyone else's in this division . I would also imagine that their crowds will stay 15,000 or more irrespective of who they are playing . Hence they can pay bigger salaries .

Compare that to us, 11,500 turned up on Saturday but few more than 6,000 will be there tonight . That's a huge differential in just one game . Various reasons , money, footy on TV etc , but also our age old problem that people only turn up for big games whatever the result .

Sadly, every drop of 1,000 spectators at the gate means £10k less at the very least - more like £15k probably. Increase that to a drop of 5,000 through the gate and that is a very serious £50k to £75k per match Over a season of 23 home games, say Argyle get a season average of 8,000 compared to Pompey's 16,000 that equates to something in the order of £1.84 million less income for us. Over a full calendar year that gives Pompey an extra £35,000 income every week.

PL2 3DQ · Aug 18, 2015

memory man":ma9s1ec5 said:
Johndelve":ma9s1ec5 said:

Pompey's crowds are far better than ours and anyone else's in this division . I would also imagine that their crowds will stay 15,000 or more irrespective of who they are playing . Hence they can pay bigger salaries .

Compare that to us, 11,500 turned up on Saturday but few more than 6,000 will be there tonight . That's a huge differential in just one game . Various reasons , money, footy on TV etc , but also our age old problem that people only turn up for big games whatever the result .

Click to expand...

Sadly, every drop of 1,000 spectators at the gate means £10k less at the very least - more like £15k probably. Increase that to a drop of 5,000 through the gate and that is a very serious £50k to £75k per match Over a season of 23 home games, say Argyle get a season average of 8,000 compared to Pompey's 16,000 that equates to something in the order of £1.84 million less income for us. Over a full calendar year that gives Pompey an extra £35,000 income every week.

Very true but it's all relative, our crowds will dwarf the likes of Dagenham & Redbridge and Accrington.
Much like the Premier League there seems to be a pecking order in League Two related to finance, unlike the Premier League there's no guarantee the clubs with the most money will be at the top of the league.
It always amazes me how Dagenham, Accrington and Morecambe etc not only survive in League Two but thrive and prosper.
Our average attendance last season was 7,412, more than the combined average attendance of Dagenham - 2,041, Morecambe - 1,998 and Accrington - 1,478 and those three teams were never in relegation danger, finishing 14th, 11th and 17th. Accrington were just one point and one place below Portsmouth who finished 16th.
So it's not just about the size of crowds and income, it's also about having a good manager, making the most of what is at your disposal, spotting good players and, for smaller teams, relying more on the youth system.

Pompey also have a very good and proven League Two manager this season.

Emu · Aug 18, 2015

PL2 3DQ":61gj7230 said:
memory man":61gj7230 said:

Johndelve":61gj7230 said:

Pompey's crowds are far better than ours and anyone else's in this division . I would also imagine that their crowds will stay 15,000 or more irrespective of who they are playing . Hence they can pay bigger salaries .

Compare that to us, 11,500 turned up on Saturday but few more than 6,000 will be there tonight . That's a huge differential in just one game . Various reasons , money, footy on TV etc , but also our age old problem that people only turn up for big games whatever the result .

Click to expand...

Sadly, every drop of 1,000 spectators at the gate means £10k less at the very least - more like £15k probably. Increase that to a drop of 5,000 through the gate and that is a very serious £50k to £75k per match Over a season of 23 home games, say Argyle get a season average of 8,000 compared to Pompey's 16,000 that equates to something in the order of £1.84 million less income for us. Over a full calendar year that gives Pompey an extra £35,000 income every week.

Click to expand...

Very true but it's all relative, our crowds will dwarf the likes of Dagenham & Redbridge and Accrington.
Much like the Premier League there seems to be a pecking order in League Two related to finance, unlike the Premier League there's no guarantee the clubs with the most money will be at the top of the league.
It always amazes me how Dagenham, Accrington and Morecambe etc not only survive in League Two but thrive and prosper.
Our average attendance last season was 7,412, more than the combined average attendance of Dagenham - 2,041, Morecambe - 1,998 and Accrington - 1,478 and those three teams were never in relegation danger, finishing 14th, 11th and 17th. Accrington were just one point and one place below Portsmouth who finished 16th.
So it's not just about the size of crowds and income, it's also about having a good manager, making the most of what is at your disposal, spotting good players and, for smaller teams, relying more on the youth system.

Pompey also have a very good and proven League Two manager this season.

I think the biggest advantage these small sides have is their location. The pool of players available to these clubs is bigger and they are in a better position than us to cherry pick all the players who get released by the other higher up London/Manchester area clubs. For example, lots of these players do not wish to relocate out of the London area, so its easier to join another London-based League team further down the league pyramid.

Another thing is that there appear to be more scouts at games up here in London (again due to location), so players are in the shop window more here which is advantageous for their career progression.

Biggs · Aug 18, 2015

The massive improvement of Portsmouth this season can be summed up in just one example. They poached the manager, assistant manager and best player (Gary Roberts) of a very good League 1 team last season in Chesterfield.

esmer · Aug 18, 2015

As well as having attendances half of Portsmouth's we are still carrying substantial debt. To my mind clearing this debt (instead of managing it) should be the club's priority even if that means a few seasons of austerity in this division. Portsmouth are starting to flourish now they are debt free and we should learn the lesson from that.

Johndelve · Aug 18, 2015

Not seen any figures , but I would guess that we have one of the biggest differentials , percentage wise, of attendances on he country . When doing well we can get crowds of 14,000 but lose the following week and we could get less than 6,000.

Most sides don't have that sort of swing in percentage terms .

Bermudian Green · Aug 18, 2015

Given the financial trouble which Portsmouth had a few years back, did they have similar restrictions put on them as we have on us?

IJN · Aug 18, 2015

I think so Jerry.

But they're free of all old debt now as their truly incredible support has allowed them to pay everything off early.

17,000 Season Tickets being sold certainly helps.

Bermudian Green · Aug 18, 2015

Thanks guys, interesting stuff.

League 2 - Average salary?

Mazza26

George Willis

Richard Allan

Carlo

LeonTheGreen

Johndelve

memory man

PL2 3DQ

Site Owner

Emu

Biggs

Administrator

esmer

Johndelve

Bermudian Green

IJN

Site Owner

Bermudian Green