Even those clubs who continue to attract great crowds to their home games have discovered that gate receipts cannot cover the increased costs of being competitive in football.

An increase in players’ wages effectively means that clubs have to pay more to keep their best players and/or to attract new players. A lot of clubs are not able to afford such wages and have to make the tough decision of borrowing extra funds to remain competitive. Competitiveness is even more vital when a club can get relegated at the end of the season.

As a result, many football people have begun to wonder whether such wage increases can effectively be controlled. In fact, it is being controlled in 2 countries: the USA and Australia. Both leagues employ a salary cap to make sure that every club in their respective leagues do not spend more than a certain amount on players’ wages. However, what are the pros and cons of such a system being employed in Europe?

The principal benefit of such a system is that it guarantees that independent of revenue, each club will be able to remain competitive. The fans are the big winners in such a situation as everyone can aspire to seeing their team win the title at the beginning of every season. Due to this excitement, bigger crowds are also guaranteed, which is great news for the poorest clubs.

The major drawback of a salary is that it will potentially not make it any easier for clubs to retain their best players or recruit new talent. A salary cap in one country would give an advantage to those clubs in countries where there is no salary cap. A salary cap has the potential of actually increasing the wealth divide between the richest and poorest clubs.

Nevertheless, the risk of losing talent is not greater than the risk of losing clubs forever. While it may be a tragedy for clubs to lose star players due to a salary cap, it will surely ensure that fans still have a club to support.