Football League World
·26 October 2024
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·26 October 2024
We have compared the East Anglian rivals in three financial departments, to see how the pair stack up.
It's fair to say that Ipswich Town enjoyed a much better campaign than Norwich City did last season.
The Canaries may have secured a top-six finish, but they collapsed in the play-off semi-final against Leeds United and that ended their hopes of returning to the Premier League.
Ipswich, who only came back up to the Championship in 2023, needed to establish themselves as a solid second-tier team again after a fairly long spell in League One.
But they were able to exceed all expectations under Kieran McKenna and have secured a place in the top tier, although they are finding life at the top level fairly difficult.
The fierce rivalry between the two teams means Norwich fans will want Ipswich to come back down.
Comparing the two teams, we take a look at the wealth of their owners, their estimated wage bills and their highest-paid players, with the latter two being based on estimates from Capology.
Norwich's Mark Attanasio, who looks set to become the club's majority shareholder in the coming months, reportedly has an estimated net worth of around $700m.
Gamechanger 20 Ltd, who are Ipswich's majority shareholders, are reportedly worth £10.8bn and that dwarfs the net worth of Attanasio.
As well as this, Bright Path Sports Partners (who own 40% of the Tractor Boys) recently bought their stake in the club for up to £105m, so they aren't likely to be short of cash either.
However, how money is spent will determine the success of the two clubs in the coming years.
If Ipswich hadn't spent much during the summer, it wouldn't have been a surprise if they had a fairly similar wage bill to Norwich.
They were only promoted to the second tier last year, so their wage expenditure may not have been very high recently, especially with the third tier having financial rules based on salaries.
However, the Tractor Boys' board weren't afraid to put their hand in their pocket during the recent summer window, and Capology have estimated that their annual wage bill is £32,916,000.
Some of their highest estimated earners are on a fair amount of money.
The Canaries, meanwhile, cashed in on a couple of important assets during the summer, with Gabriel Sara, Adam Idah and Jonathan Rowe all departing.
The likes of Max Aarons and Andrew Omobamidele have also left Carrow Road in recent years - and that's why it's no surprise that Norwich's annual wage bill is estimated to be considerably lower at £21,710,000.
Kalvin Phillips is estimated to be on £150,000 per week, potentially making him the highest earner at Portman Road.
It's unclear whether Ipswich are paying all of his wages, but they may be paying a decent chunk of his salary as part of the loan deal with Manchester City.
That would almost inevitably make him the highest-paid player, so it wouldn't be a surprise if that estimate from Capology is accurate.
In terms of the Canaries, Shane Duffy and Jack Stacey are estimated to be earning £35,000 per week, which would make them the joint-top earners.