Northampton Town Chairman Reveals the Increase of Wages in League One This Season.

Northampton Town chairman Kelvin Thomas, reveals the extent to which league one
wages have increased over the past 12 months.
The club has begun to make decisions on their out-of-contract players, to which he
said, That football has become significantly more expensive in recent years,
particular in league one, since the likes of Birmingham City & Wrexham came into the
division, with Birmingham City spending 15m pounds on one player Jay Stansfield
last summer, with this the wage bill at Birmingham City is rumoured to be around
15m pounds, almost 5 times that of Northampton Town.
Reality is that football has become a lot more expensive the last year, with Kelvin
Thomas also adding, the numbers we we've seen show the overall salaries in league
one last season were 105m pounds, this season its 152m pounds, which shows the
increase in league one.
Speaking about his own club Northampton Town, he thinks the clubs recruitment in
January 2025 was good.
Most of the clubs players are out of contract this summer, the club has decided on
whether to offer contracts to some players, with a meeting this week on recruitment
for next season, with some players the club knows about, but not knowing what
division the club will be in next season, so can't make every decision.


Thoughts -
On what we have seen in league one this season, when Birmingham City & if Wrexham
are promoted, both clubs will have to spend money to hold onto a championship
place.
Northampton Town chairman Kelvin Thomas it would seem to be working on 3m pounds
to 3.5m pounds wages in the club, & using his recruitment team to the full.

Cheers Eric just been reading Paul Davis piece regarding Millers finances eye watering what the club is losing each week ?87 grand and not likely to get any better with possibly half the fan base not renewing beggars belief we don’t have a youth policy to call owt but appreciate academies aren’t cheap to run

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by uttis

Cheers Eric just been reading Paul Davis piece regarding Millers finances eye watering what the club is losing each week ?87 grand and not likely to get any better with possibly half the fan base not renewing beggars belief we don’t have a youth policy to call owt but appreciate academies aren’t cheap to run

---

Unsustainable unfortunately. It all points to us either finding a new fairy godmother or what's more likely not even being in a position to play league football in our centenary year.

One good thing for next season, I doubt we will see the likes of big spending by those coming down or those coming up which should make it a more fairer level playing field to the rest in League 1.

Tony Stewart's last swan song? What is he prepared to do to land that possible last promotion? If we do go up, then will he stay on and go for glory once more on an all out assault at the Premier League? Don't laugh XD.......many a gambler has thrown his all in to win that coveted prize on the last hand he deals as Chairman. IF, that ever came off it wouldn't be Evo at the helm that's for sure. Klopp out of retirement?
Now even I'm being feckin silly XD.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Brin

One good thing for next season, I doubt we will see the likes of big spending by those coming down or those coming up which should make it a more fairer level playing field to the rest in League 1.

Tony Stewart's last swan song? What is he prepared to do to land that possible last promotion? If we do go up, then will he stay on and go for glory once more on an all out assault at the Premier League? Don't laugh XD.......many a gambler has thrown his all in to win that coveted prize on the last hand he deals as Chairman. IF, that ever came off it wouldn't be Evo at the helm that's for sure. Klopp out of retirement?
Now even I'm being feckin silly XD.

---

Brin, if Luton come down won't they still be on parachute payments.........

If we're losing ?87 grand a week then that's not including player sales, but that could soon evaporate very quickly,

Back to the Boothy days soon then?

Listening to these people whinge makes me laugh, it is like a man giving his salary to charity then moaning they can't afford a holiday this year. It is self-inflicted the clubs in the EFL have the power to work together and stop it once and for all, but they don't, they choose a strategy based on selfish hope of the promised land. Example:
1. The EFL can decide how parachute payments are distributed and used, that is their arrangement with the Premier league
2. The EFL can decide to limit wages, and to have a EFL agreement on the maximum agents fees.

The issue is personal greed and delusional belief in making their club a established Premier League club, well that is as rare as proverbial rocking house pooh.

Now I know there wil always be challenges to that, but there always is to change. What would happen if all the clubs agreed to such a plan? The players won't strike if they do they don't get paid and most of them need the money to support their lifestyle, where are the agents going to offer these players to? Second & third tier European football where the money isn't that good and the British players need visas. Their biggest market is the 72 EFL clubs not the 20 premier league clubs, not the non-league clubs, because they won't be allowed in the EFL without agreeing to the operating procedures.
I heard that there are over 500 players each year that don't get a club or leave football, so the market is in the clubs favour not the players. The players have the power because the owners of the club aren't united in a cause to solve their own issues.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by uttis

Cheers Eric just been reading Paul Davis piece regarding Millers finances eye watering what the club is losing each week ?87 grand and not likely to get any better with possibly half the fan base not renewing beggars belief we don’t have a youth policy to call owt but appreciate academies aren’t cheap to run

---

You don't need an expense academy to have a youth system, as others have said there are a lot of young players kicked out of academies every year, what you need is a fully operational intelligent recruitment system that is geared towards a longer term strategy and not the insane working of a egotistical manager. You also need leaders with vision not ones that spend all day saying "yes sir, no sir". Like most organisations that fail it comes from the leadership.

Excellent posts Derby. Would imagine almost every club in the EFL is losing serious money every week,most a lot more than Rotherham. It's the nature of the beast and most owners go into the business expecting to lose money in their vanity project. Maybe some don't !