What the average 24/25 EFL Championship salary really was | OneFootball

The average player salary in the 2024/25 EFL Championship campaign has emerged in an alarming, wide-ranging reveal

The financial acumen and sustainability of EFL Championship clubs is coming under increasing scrutiny as second-tier sides continue to record alarming annual losses in a relentless, all-or-nothing pursuit of promotion to the Premier League.

There's little getting away from the fact that reaching the promised land is, alongside representing a creditable footballing milestone, hugely financially-rewarding and can promise to change the economic trajectory of clubs who escape through the Championship trapdoor.

Factoring in both domestic and international broadcasting rights, a campaign in the Premier League can bring home some £86.7 million, while the division's generously-mandated three-year parachute payments package typically ensures a retention of financial muscle into the Championship that is often criticised for disorientating the make-up of English football's second-tier.

It's little wonder, then, that clubs are scrambling for promotion. Middlesbrough, Ipswich Town and Millwall are all tussling to clinch second place behind Frank Lampard's Coventry City, while we're set to see a typically frantic fight for the play-offs and some of these clubs will know that the financial implications for failing to gain promotion after throwing so much money towards such ambitions can be dear.

As per a recent reveal from Daily Mail Sport, all 24 Championship clubs for the 2025/26 campaign are poised to record a cumulative loss of more than £600 million, with 13 outfits having posted average losses of £14m in the previous term.

It's also emerged exactly how much the average Championship club forks out on player wages, which forms a huge chunk of annual expenditure.

The average Championship wage bill in the 2024/25 campaign

Clubs in the Championship often hand out handsome salaries in order to convince courted talents to sign on the dotted line as opposed to joining a divisional rival and potentially derailing a promotion bid - even if doing so can come at a steep price.

Salaries and wage bills are, of course, a cause for concern without balance, and there's always the risk of being unable to offload expensive assets on costly contracts after underperforming.

But that hasn't deterred clubs throughout the width and breadth of the second-tier, who combined to accumulate a high average salary across the 2024/25 campaign.

According to the aforementioned report, football finance expert Kieran Maguire believes that the average salary in the Championship was £14,000 per week, with those numbers in Leagues One and Two equating to £3,900 and £2,000 weekly.

Whereas some clubs - namely those in receipt of parachute payments, or otherwise led by ambitious owners with deep pockets and credible designs on promotion - can afford to take such financial gambles, others simply cannot and it's patently clear that many occupants of the second-tier are continually spending beyond their means in a short-sighted pursuit of promotion to the Premier League.

The highest 2024/25 Championship wage bills

A look at the highest reported wage bills during the previous Championship campaign paints a clear picture as to how significant salary expenditure does not always equate to success and how such spending often proves misguided and ill-fated at this level.

As per Capology, a site which provides estimated data on player and club salaries, Leeds United and Burnley boasted the highest wage bills by some margin at £37.2 million and £32.02 million respectively. Both clubs were receiving parachute payments, Leeds collected unprecedented revenue by Championship standards and, ultimately, they each gained automatic promotion.

Sheffield United, meanwhile, had the next-steepest wage bill but fell at the final hurdle in last term's play-off final, whereas West Bromwich Albion's annual salary spending of £21.6 million wasn't enough to push the Baggies into the top-six.

What's more concerning, mind you, is that Luton Town and Cardiff City had the fifth and sixth-highest payrolls at £21.2 million and £20.4 million. The Hatters had just come down from the Premier League, affording much-needed financial scope, but they suffered successive relegations down to League One and are unlikely to return under Jack Wilshere this term.

It's even worse with Cardiff, who have not graced the Premier League since 2019, have suffered dwindling attendances in recent years and were outspent by no more than five divisional compatriots on wages - only to finish at the foot of the league table, which resulted in an alarming £35 million loss for the Welsh outfit.