West Brom v Coventry City: Wage bills compared | OneFootball

FLW compares the wage bills between West Brom and Coventry City ahead of the West Midlands derby at The Hawthorns.

A West Midlands derby unfolds between two teams at different ends of the Championship table as West Brom host Coventry City inside The Hawthorns at Saturday lunchtime.

The Baggies are still searching for their first league win under Eric Ramsay, but will have some forward momentum heading into the contest after two creditable goalless draws with Stoke City and Birmingham City.

The Welshman will want his first three points on the board sooner rather than later though, given the Baggies still hang precariously over the bottom three, with the pressure ramped up after Blackburn Rovers and Portsmouth both earned crucial victories to aid their survival bids over the course of the last week.

There has also been talk by The Telegraph’s John Percy that Ramsay’s job at the club is under threat, ahead of a pivotal week for the club as they face off against relegation rivals Charlton Athletic and Oxford United following their meeting with Frank Lampard’s men.

Meanwhile, the Sky Blues will come into this game rejuvenated after getting back on the winning trail.

There were deep fears growing that Coventry were going to throw their promotion dreams away after a run of three games without a win saw Middlesbrough leapfrog them into top spot.

But the Sky Blues responded last Monday evening in emphatic fashion against Boro, with a Haji Wright hat-trick ensuring a 3-1 victory lifted them back to the summit.

It’s now whether the Sky Blues can get a consistent run of form going, or Albion will spoil the party and take a giant leap towards Championship safety instead.

Ahead of what is set to be a fiery affair, FLW compares the wage bills of both West Brom and Coventry City.

We must stress that all wages included in this piece are ESTIMATES made by Capology.

West Brom’s wage bill

Starting off with the hosts, West Brom’s wage bill is one of a top Championship side.

It is to be expected though given their pedigree of being either towards the top end of the second-tier table or battling for survival in the Premier League over the las 20 years.

According to Capology for the 2025-26 season, the Baggies pay a weekly amount of £374,000 on player wages, equating to an annual spend of £19,448,000.

The Black Country outfit are also believed to fork out £4,851,600 on player bonuses, therefore increasing the amount spent per year to £24,299,600.

Albion are estimated to pay some big bucks for some major first-team assets too, with defender Nat Phillips estimated to be the highest-paid player at the club, earning £40,000 a week.

Following on from the ex-Derby County man are fellow summer arrivals Chris Mepham (£35,000), Charlie Taylor (£30,000) and Krystian Bielik (£25,000), while Daryl Dike and Jed Wallace are also estimated to be on the same weekly wage as the Poland international.

Coventry City’s wage bill

Moving onto the Sky Blues, they are working on a slightly cheaper budget compared to their West Midlands rivals.

As per Capology, Coventry are believed to spend £300,000 a week on player salaries, which leads to a yearly spend of £15.6 million.

Coventry also spend less on bonuses, at an estimated rate of £3.9 million, taking their annual cost to £19.5 million on the first-team squad.

Spending less financial resources on player wages, it’s hardly surprising to see Coventry’s higher paid players rank less than West Brom’s too.

Haji Wright, Matt Grimes, Ellis Simms and Luke Woolfenden are all believed to earn an estimated £25,000 a week and come in as the Sky Blues’ highest earners in the squad.

Coventry City have been smarter with their finances than West Brom

In comparison, West Brom spend £74,000 more than Coventry City on their weekly wage bill, while that comes to a total of nearly £5 million on an annual basis when taking player bonuses into account, which the Baggies spend just shy of a million more pounds on.

Yet there is a complete contrast in league position between the two sides, with the Baggies battling relegation and looking over their shoulders at the League One trapdoor, while the Sky Blues are at the summit of the Championship table and can almost reach out to touch the promised land of the Premier League.

And it just goes to show how differently the clubs have been run in recent times.

For West Brom, the hierarchy of Bilkul have made some puzzling and poor decisions since their play-off hopes crumbled under Tony Mowbray last season.

Amidst a troubling and challenging financial backdrop where a squad overhaul was taking place, the Baggies elected to hand over the keys to a novice coach in Ryan Mason, who had no prior experience of managing in the Championship, and it showed, as supporters were left baffled by questionable team selections, poor in-game management and head scratching post-match interviews.

And when the time had come to put a safe pair of hands in charge, they went for the exact same profile in Eric Ramsay, and it’s not a surprise to see Albion continuing to struggle, with the team winless from the Welshman’s opening seven games in charge, matching that of ex-Albion boss Bobby Gould.

But for Coventry, they are soaring.

And it was only a matter of time before the Sky Blues were to be in this position after rising up the Championship standings year-upon-year and firmly knocking on the door for a place in the Premier League.

After losing a heartbreaking penalty shootout to Luton Town in the 2022-23 play-off final under Mark Robins, the Sky Blues followed it up with another top-half finish, before moving on to Frank Lampard and getting back into the play-off mix under his guidance, although they succumbed to a last-gasp winner from Dan Ballard against Sunderland in the semi-finals.

But like all good teams do, they come roaring back, with a mix of superb recruitment and the work of a fantastic coach at this level getting them firmly in contention to make it third time lucky in their quest for promotion.

West Brom should certainly take a look at the work of Coventry and take note, with the Sky Blues building a playing and coaching team that is performing to the best of their ability, even with a smaller financial framework, while Albion are sinking through relegation quicksand despite possessing the more dominant resources.