Football Wage Distribution
The combined weekly wage of every tracked footballer is approximately £58,522,824, equivalent to a £3,043,186,848 annual payroll across 954 players. Average wage is £61,345/week, but distribution is heavily skewed — see the per-position breakdown below.
Verified August 2026
Weekly Wage by Position
| Position | Players | Average | Median | 90th Percentile | Top Wage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goalkeeper | 130 | £44,895 | £30,000 | £110,000 | £410,000 |
| Defender | 345 | £51,272 | £35,000 | £120,000 | £410,000 |
| Midfielder | 277 | £63,417 | £40,000 | £150,000 | £416,566 |
| Forward | 202 | £86,293 | £40,000 | £132,500 | £4,007,692 |
What the Numbers Show
- Forwards earn the highest average wage (£86,293/week), 1.92× more than goalkeepers (£44,895/week) on average.
- The combined annual payroll across all tracked players is approximately £3,043,186,848.
- Median figures are consistently lower than averages — the gap quantifies how much elite earners pull the mean upward.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does "weekly wage" mean on Retained List?
Weekly wage refers to gross basic pay — what a player earns each week in salary before tax, bonuses, image-rights and performance incentives. Figures are sourced from public reports and corroborated against at least one independent source.
Why is the average football wage so much higher than the median?
A small number of elite earners pull the mean upward. The median represents the wage of a typical squad player and is usually 30–60% lower than the mean, especially in leagues with extreme top-end pay like the Premier League and Saudi Pro League.
Which position has the highest average weekly wage?
Forwards typically command the highest average wage, followed by midfielders, defenders and goalkeepers. The gap reflects market value placed on goal-scoring output and creative play.
Does Retained List include image rights or signing-on fees?
No. Published figures exclude signing-on bonuses, image-rights payments, performance incentives, agent commissions and tax structuring. We report gross basic weekly salary only.
How often is the wage data refreshed?
The aggregate dataset is recomputed whenever an individual player record is updated and cached for 12 hours. Headline figures on this page reflect the most recent rebuild — see the "Verified" timestamp above.