# Chinese soccer teams are richer than I thought! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 25, 2006, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-soccer-teams-are-richer-than-i-thought/377844 "2006-10-25T15:00:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2006, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-soccer-teams-are-richer-than-i-thought/377844/1 "2006-10-25T15:00:21Z")
[$ 500,000 ior 6 month contract?](http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/C69085FB-91B0-4A18-BB8F-C59379EEC905.htm) The Chinese (some at least) apparently have some spending money. > [@](#): > > Chinese football club Shanghai Shenhua have sacked former German international forward Carsten Jancker after a disappointing season in the China Super League (CSL), state media reported on Tuesday. > > The 1.94-metre striker scored just one goal in an injury-plagued six-month spell with Shenhua, who said they would not be renewing his contract. > > “I don’t know why but this is probably one of the darkest moments of my career,” Jancker said in the Shanghai Daily. > > “I thought I could score a lot of goals when I first came here but it turned out to be very difficult… I should have done much better here in the CSL,” he said. > > 32-year-old Jancker signed a six-month contract with Shenhua in May for about $500,000, but a mid-season thigh injury saw him miss several matches and struggle for form. ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2006, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-soccer-teams-are-richer-than-i-thought/377844/2 "2006-10-25T16:59:40Z")
At current exchange rates $500,000 US is about £270,000. Jancker was therefore earning (OK being paid) a little over £10,000 per week. In European football this would be pretty small potatoes. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2006, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-soccer-teams-are-richer-than-i-thought/377844/3 "2006-10-25T17:17:04Z")
[QUOTE=Chez Guevara] In European football this would be pretty small potatoes. [/QUOTE] In the Premiership, sure. But Chinese football hardly has comparable income. How many players in, say, League One are on that kind of money? I suspect that this is a case of a team having one well-paid high-profile western player, and that the rest of the squad are on peanuts. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2006, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-soccer-teams-are-richer-than-i-thought/377844/4 "2006-10-26T06:45:19Z")
[QUOTE=GorillaMan] In the Premiership, sure. But Chinese football hardly has comparable income. How many players in, say, League One are on that kind of money? I suspect that this is a case of a team having one well-paid high-profile western player, and that the rest of the squad are on peanuts. [/QUOTE] For a Chinese club, it’s a good chunk of the payroll. Still, as a former German international playing in increasingly sports-mad China he probably brought in much more revenue than any five Chinese players might. ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2006, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-soccer-teams-are-richer-than-i-thought/377844/5 "2006-10-26T07:32:19Z")
[QUOTE=GorillaMan] In the Premiership, sure. But Chinese football hardly has comparable income. How many players in, say, League One are on that kind of money? [/QUOTE] You are more correct than I at first thought. I can’t find much data on the subject but one site gives the average salary for a Premiership player for 2005 (I think) as £900,000 per annum, or a touch over £17,000 per week. I was surprised the figure was so low. Also one has to bear in mind that even this figure is distorted by the Chelsea wage bill. Obviously salaries in League 1 will be substantially lower. More details on salaries, especially in the lower leagues, would be welcome. I trust this is relevant to the OP. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2006, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-soccer-teams-are-richer-than-i-thought/377844/6 "2006-10-26T20:40:13Z")
[QUOTE=Chez Guevara] More details on salaries, especially in the lower leagues, would be welcome. I trust this is relevant to the OP. [/QUOTE] Here’s one which is relevant even though not about the players themselves: > [@](#): > > In the lowest professional division, League Two, the spread, strictly speaking, ranges from nothing to £100,000 per year, as Ramon Diaz at Oxford United has no work permit and officially works for free, while another manager is known to be on a bonus-only package. The mid-range salary is £55,000 a year plus bonuses, with the lowest paid manager understood to be earning £20,000. [http://www.personneltoday.com/Articles/2005/03/23/28798/Managers+at+the+bottom+of+the+league+when+it+comes+to.html](http://www.personneltoday.com/Articles/2005/03/23/28798/Managers+at+the+bottom+of+the+league+when+it+comes+to.html)