It's simple: A-League players are not overpaid

A-League players share of revenue is more than twice that of other professional sports in this country. The A-League clubs will make a combined loss of $30m-$40m, if not more, this year. How can you possibly suggest the players are anything but significantly over paid.

Not really your bad I think that Schwab was correcting Lugt as there figures are different...there's always the chance Lugt is including super or such.

Also, perhaps season 8 will see a TV deal that ensures each club gets enough FFA money to cover the salary cap.

Sorry, my bad. My point being we could get away will a small decrease in salaries but not the amount to which Edwin Lugt is eluding.

Reading Schwabs piece 135k seems to include the marquees and it's 125k without them.

Perhaps $145,000 is tad high for the average salary of a non-marquee A-League player when the same statistic is around $50,000 in the MLS. Perhaps $125,000 is more fair. However, there's no way A-League clubs can attract enough talent paying $50,000. If salaries in the A-League were lower significantly you'd get more Aussie players playing in the lesser leagues in Europe (e.g. Romania) and Asia (e.g. China). Clubs would struggle to hold onto players and the standard of the league would suffer. Furthermore, the chances of getting a Marcos Flores or a Thomas Broich become very slim. A lower standard will probably have a detrimental effect on crowds, which will effect revenues and thus we may end-up back at square one where the clubs are struggling financially. Standard is also important to the future of the Socceroos. In my opinion, Australian players who have an ambition of playing for the Socceroos should only head overseas to play in the top leagues in Europe (England, Spain, Italy, Germany, Holland, France, Turkey and Greece) and Asia (Japan and Korea). That is, they should head to these leagues with the objective of improving themselves as footballers. You cannot begrudge anyone the chance to make money either, so if that is their main priority they should head overseas to wherever they want. However, everyone else should be able to earn a decent living in the A-League and the standard of the A-League should be high enough for them to get there foot in the door with the national team. We cannot have a high enough standard if we drop the salaries.

He would have been here last season if the FFA had any sense and brought in a Wollongong team instead of the Fury.

Then how are you going to get Chippers? He won't play for free you know.

agree, bigger issues than player salaries. it probably is a problem, but if its changed it wont solve anything. just a bandage measure.

a situation where ordinary local players are getting larger contracts than they probably deserve. the players he refers to are likely to be Musalick, Bridge, Ryall, Jameison, Reddy, etc All players Sydney FC had to pay overs for because they were poached from other A league clubs. You generally have to offer more than what there existing club was offering to get them and your getting played of by the manager with 2 or 3 other A league clubs. Scout and find players from the state league and you can get away with paying them the miniumum. Develop your own young players (and decide before the end of the season which ones are worth keeping) and you also save money. Don't fill your foreign quota with mediocre players that are easily repalceable with players on the minumum wage. Basically having a plan for your squad that extends beynd this season like MV always have and the Roar are beginning too and you also save money. Sydney letting Payne go (not offering him a deal until the finals start is a joke) and then rushing to trial a bunch of foreigners at the start of the season....hard to feel sorry for them. And Reddy, they were linked with him for ages when he already had a contract at the Roar (and Sydney had a better keeper in Bolton), clearly they would have had to pay him more than what he was getting at Brisbane......but why? Brisbane fans were keen to drive him to the airport. How can he complain about lack of foreign spots with a straight face when Sydney used one of those spots on Terry Mcflyn for 5 seasons?

It is simple economics, you pay your employees what the market rate is. With average attendances of 7k per match or less. Don't expect big money! Or, why don't the players go out and form their own league and pay themselves whatever they want.

Maybe you can tell us what the leasing arrangement is on the Carrara AFL Stadium for the Suns.? I know that was a $130m tax slug for only half dozen home games a year.. As far as the Robina Football stadium is concern, it was built for the Titans NRL (only) not for the GCU FC as they were not even on the Football radar at the time.. They have not cost the State Government a cent.. But have certainly added to their treasury coffers beyond reasonable demands.. Btw do you have any information you would like to share with us, on the leasing arrangements on the Sydney Opera house.. Does the Australian Opera Co. cover the entire costs of the maintenance in their lease. Or perhaps, you maybe able to give some details on the Australian National Art Gallery----who actually pays for the up keep of that institution.. Was it the late Brett Whitley's problem..? Not that taxpayer's money should not be directed in these areas, I'm really all for it, but you have to make sure the tax money is not unappropriated, incorrectly or unfairly distributed. So not to bleed others to make up the short fall.. As you say we are all taxpayers but contributing to Australian cultural facilities that we all can enjoy using during our short stay on the planet..

AF, how much did the Robina stadium cost to build? I'm sure the Government is merely trying to cover the stadium costs and recoup their investment. Are you really one to say the Government should go on lavish spending sprees without any accountability? As a taxpayer, that is the last thing i want - I want my Government to keep spending to a minimum - and that includes on things like sporting stadia - and to manage MY MONEY sensibly and not waste it. The Government should be asking the tenant clubs to repay the costs of building the stadium, if not - who is paying? People in Bundaberg and Gladstone? Why should they pay for a stadium on the Gold Coast? To ensure this accountablity, clubs should sign long-term lease arrangements with the Stadium owner to average the cost over a long period. I know this is how it is done in the AFL for instance, and why the AFL signs 40 year contracts to get stadiums developed - with a minimum of Government input at the end of the day. A good arrangement.

I think the real issue here is that the state governments across the country have set the Stadia rents far too high. However, I do believe we should be playing in the best stadia possible, but the state governments are bleeding the HAL clubs dry of their attendance takings. I look at the GCU FC stadia deal and I can't blame Clive Palmer too much for his cap over the excessive rental charges on stadia. I can't blame him for trying to make the club stand on its own feet to square off the ledger to make it a self sustainable football business. The governments seem to want to turn the stadiums into cash cows where they should be more of a community service.. But to answer the question we need to pay the players adequately to be full time professionals, because without them, we can't possibly raise the football standard.

I love the game, played it for years and consume it as much as I can (including a weekly MLS game). I am capable of dealing with complexity, understanding trends, cultural differences, changing contexts, historical legacies and dynamics in complex system. I therefore feel, as much as any other person, I am able to comment on the relative standard of play in Australia and the US. I won't bore people with the details, but suffice to say, with very few exceptions the standard of play in the A-League surpasses the MLS in my opinion. I think the players are well paid in the global context, but by no means are they overpaid in general terms. We should not kid ourselves, for every overpaid dud that an A-Leagues club hires - there are two in the MLS....... The A-League standard can vary from week to week - buts its trend is clear and strong. THis continues despite the challenges facing the competition. Most players deserve some credit for their professionalism.