how much do footy players get paid
Footballers’ pay ranges from “beer money on the weekend” to “life‑changing money”, depending on level, country and league.
Quick Scoop
1. Pro vs local: huge gap
- Top‑level pros in the big European and Saudi leagues earn hundreds of thousands per week at the very top , and hundreds of thousands to a few million per year on average.
- Lower‑tier pros, semi‑pros and local “footy” players often earn a normal full‑time wage or much less , sometimes just match payments and small bonuses.
2. What top global soccer stars make
For global “football/footy” (soccer) at the elite level:
- Superstars like Cristiano Ronaldo are reported on well over 200 million USD a year when you include salary, bonuses and commercial deals.
- Other elite names (Mbappé, Neymar, Messi, Haaland) sit in the tens of millions per year in total earnings.
- In the English Premier League, typical average wages are around 50–75k USD per week in recent data for top clubs, with some stars on 300k+ USD per week.
3. Average league salaries (soccer)
Here’s a simplified snapshot of reported average annual salaries in some big leagues (player salaries only, not sponsorships).
| League | Country/Region | Approx. Average Annual Salary | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saudi Pro League | Saudi Arabia | ≈ 6.8M USD | [3]Boosted heavily by a few mega‑stars. | [3]
| Premier League | England | ≈ 5.0M USD | [3]Highest pay in Europe on average. | [1][3]
| La Liga | Spain | ≈ 2.5M USD | [3]Very top‑heavy (Barça & Real Madrid). | [3]
| Serie A | Italy | ≈ 2.3M USD | [3]Strong but with club financial pressure. | [1][3]
| Bundesliga | Germany | ≈ 2.1M USD | [3]High revenue, financially stricter. | [1][3]
| Ligue 1 | France | ≈ 1.5M USD | [3]Average inflated by PSG’s stars. | [1][3]
| A‑League | Australia | ≈ 70k USD | [3]Much closer to a “normal” professional salary. | [3]
4. Aussie rules / “footy” context (AFL‑style)
If by “footy” you mean Australian rules (AFL):
- The AFL has a salary cap ; total player payments per club sit around the mid‑teens of millions of AUD per year in the latest releases.
- That works out to most AFL players earning a solid but not superstar wage , with only a small group on 1M+ AUD per season.
- Below AFL (state leagues, strong local comps), players often get match fees, small contracts or “envelopes” , which can be handy extra income but not usually enough to live on alone.
5. Local / semi‑pro “footy” pay
At suburban or regional level (soccer or Aussie rules):
- Payments can range from nothing at all , to a few hundred per game , to a few thousand for a season , depending on how cashed‑up the club is and how good the player is.
- On some Aussie forums fans talk about “mercenaries” being brought in on decent match payments, but even then it’s usually side income rather than a full‑time wage.
6. Why the gap is so big
- Leagues with massive TV deals, sponsorships and global audiences can afford very high wages; that’s why Premier League and Saudi clubs pay so much.
- Smaller leagues with lower revenue (for example A‑League, local or semi‑pro competitions) simply don’t generate enough money , so most players earn like regular workers or treat it as part‑time income.
Bottom line: a tiny slice of footy players are insanely rich, a decent chunk live very comfortably, and a huge number are basically doing it for passion plus a bit of extra cash.
Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.