Two Out of Five Fans Want Players to Take Wage Cuts

-- And nearly half would like to see wage caps in football, Virgin Money's Football Fans' Inflation Index shows

-- Cost of average match day rises to pounds Sterling 101.67

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Feb 01, 2011, 04:10 ET

LONDON, Feb. 1, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Two out of five football fans want to see players take a wage cut and nearly half would like to see the introduction of wage caps, according to Virgin Money's authoritative Football Fans' Index*.

Just 13% of fans believe players should be free to earn as much as they can in the wake of estimates putting the average Premiership salary at pounds Sterling 23,000** a week or pounds Sterling 1.2 million a year.

However not all fans at all clubs take as hard a line on player salaries – 34% of Man City fans believe players should be free to earn as much as they can while 25% of Chelsea fans take the same view. Man Utd and Arsenal supporters are also a bit more lenient than the average fan. Just 5% of fans at Blackpool and Stoke think players should be allowed to cash in.

Supporters themselves are feeling the strain – Virgin Money's Football Fans' Inflation Index shows the average match day cost for fans is now pounds Sterling 101.67 after a 4.2% rise in the past three months. The match day cost is now back to the same level it was in 2009.

The research with the Football Supporters' Federation shows just 10% of Championship club supporters back footballers earning as much as they can, while 12% of supporters in Leagues 1 and 2 take the same view.

Grant Bather, spokesman for Virgin Money, said: "Players have been the big winners in the football boom and if anyone deserves to cash in then it is them as they are one of the main reasons people go to games.

"But when fans are being squeezed financially it is inevitable they want to see players sharing the pain with two out of five now wanting to see pay cuts forced on players and others wanting to see pay caps. Most players now earn more in a year than most fans can expect to earn in their lifetime and that is sticking in the throat of supporters."

Malcolm Clarke, Chairman of the Football Supporters' Federation, commented: "Football at the top level is awash with money. Whilst supporters recognise that star players will expect to get a reward which reflects their talent, they feel that match-going supporters should also benefit from football's riches through reduced ticket prices. If this doesn't happen, particularly at a time when many fans are facing wage freezes and even redundancy, there will be a widening gulf between the fans and the players at the top level, which is not healthy for the game."


PREMIERSHIP CLUB	PERCENTAGE WHO THINK PLAYERS SHOULD BE FREE TO EARN AS MUCH AS THEY CAN
Man City	34%
Chelsea	25%
Arsenal	17%
Man Utd	16%
West Brom	16%
Fulham	15%
Sunderland	14%
Wolves	13%
Liverpool	13%
Bolton	13%
Wigan	12%
Blackburn Rovers	12%
Aston Villa	11%
West Ham	10%
Newcastle United	10%
Birmingham City	7%
Tottenham Hotspur	6%
Everton	6%
Blackpool	5%
Stoke	5%

The Virgin Money Football Fans' Inflation Index, which measures the match day costs, shows the average price of going to a live game is now a hefty pounds Sterling 101.67 compared with pounds Sterling 97.50 in August but still below the high of October 2008 when it hit pounds Sterling 106.21. The match day costs* include a pint of lager, a match ticket, a replica shirt, and a match programme as well as some travel expenses.

The Index shows football clubs have cut costs - average ticket prices across all divisions are now pounds Sterling 24.32 while replica shirt costs dropped to pounds Sterling 32.54 from pounds Sterling 34.24 in August. However other parts of the basket of goods - beyond clubs' control - including rail ticket prices, petrol and beer have climbed in cost.

Virgin Money's Football Fans' Index has tracked the cost of football since January 2006 and is aimed at helping supporters keep track of the rises and falls in the costs of supporting their team. The company identified the match day essentials fans buy and keeps tabs on increases and decreases.

At the launch of the Index in January 2006, the match day basket of goods*** cost pounds Sterling 77.95. However the most recent analysis puts the cost at pounds Sterling 101.67 – a rise of pounds Sterling 23.72 or 30% per match day. Virgin Money's Football Fans' Index runs every three months and the firm's research team examines the cost of items such as a gallon of petrol, match tickets, food, alcohol, train tickets and replica shirts.

Notes to editors:

* The Football Supporters Federation interviewed a representative sample of 4,150 football fans between 30 November and 15 December 2010.

** Deloitte Money League May 2010.

*** The basket of goods includes a gallon of petrol, a pint of lager, a bacon roll, a train fare, a match ticket, a replica shirt, pay-per-view cost and a match programme.

About Virgin Money

Virgin Money is Virgin's financial services arm and was established in 1995 as a joint venture between the Virgin Group and Norwich Union.
In 1997, Virgin Direct Personal Financial Services Limited launched The Virgin One Account, a joint venture with The Royal Bank of Scotland that offered the UK's first current account mortgage direct to the retail market. In 2001, RBS bought out the Virgin Group's stake in the joint venture.
In April 2004 the Virgin Group took 100% ownership of Virgin Money.
Virgin Money currently has over 2.5 million customers and offers Payment Cards (credit cards & Prepaid Cards), Savings and Investment products (Stakeholder Pensions, Children's Pensions, Employers Pensions, FTSE Tracker ISA, Bond & Gilt ISA, Climate Change ISA, Cash ISA, and Unit Trusts), General Insurance products (Motor, Home, Travel, and Pet) and Life Assurance products to the UK market. To apply go to http://uk.virginmoney.com/virgin.
Virgin Money's brand ambition is to make "everyone better off" – this philosophy underpins our approach to business by offering good value to customers, treating employees well, making a positive contribution to society and delivering a profit to shareholders.
Virgin has signed a five-year deal to be the official sponsor of the London Marathon, the biggest annual fundraising event in the world. The inaugural Virgin London Marathon was on 25 April 2010. Virgin Money, the financial services division of the Virgin Group is leading the London Marathon sponsorship with the ambition to help runners raise £¼ billion over 5 years and will use its infrastructure, online capability and financial expertise to deliver that through Virgin Money Giving.