From Hill's £20-a-week to Ronaldo's £288k Madrid mega-deal

Cristiano Ronaldo's new salary of £288,000-a-week after tax is a new record. Sportsmail studies football history to see how wages have been sharply increasing through the years.

We're scratching our heads too, Cristiano: Ronaldo now takes home an eye-watering £288,000-per-week

 

When Johnny Haynes became the first footballer to earn £100-per-week in 1961 punters were outraged at the ridiculous wages.

Imagine what they'd make of Cristiano Ronaldo's new galactic salary of £288,000 after tax.

The abolition of footballer's £20-per-week salary cap in England on January 18, 1961, was a defining moment in the history of the game's global wage rises.

Jimmy Hill, Fulham, 1953: £20-a-week                                                                    

 

 

Johnny Haynes, Fulham, 1961: £100-a-week                                                          

At the time there was disgust that footballers in this country could earn more than the miners slaving away at the coalface. 

Yet in a PFA meeting to vote on strike action Bolton's representative Tommy Banks, who had been a miner, gave a speech in which he argued that although admired people in the mining community that didn't mean they could mark Stanley Matthews on a Saturday afternoon. The decision was unanimous and the cap was lifted.

Fulham's then chairman Tommy Trinder saw the publicity value of making his England midfielder the highest-paid player. Soon other clubs such as Manchester United and Liverpool, having initially decided to stick to strict wage caps, followed suit.

It came just in time with Italian clubs spotting the value in attracting star names and persuading the likes of Denis Law and Jimmy Greaves to leave England for bigger salaries. The competition forced clubs to offer higher and higher salaries to secure top players.

George Best, Manchester United, 1968: £1,000-a-week                                          

 

 

Falcao, Roma, 1980: £10,000-a-week                                                                      

George Best was the first to break four figures at Manchester United in 1968, but the Italians struck back. In 1980 the Brazilian Falcao became the first player on £10,000 per week when he joined Roma. Ten years later and Roberto Baggio became the first on £50,000 when he signed for Juventus from bitter rivals Fiorentina. 

The Bosman ruling in 1995 then had a dramatic effect on wage increases. Power shifted from the clubs to players when it was decided in the European Court of Justice that players finishing their contract at a club were allowed to leave for free. Agents could now demand their clients received greater wages based on their new employers saving money on their transfer fee.

Roberto Baggio, Juventus, 1990: £50,000-a-week                                                  

Sol Campbell, Arsenal, 2001: £100,000-a-week                                                       

What happened next? Sol Campbell moved from Tottenham to north London rivals Arsenal for nothing and became the first player to earn £100,000.

It has continued to escalate from there, with other stars demanding wages matching their team-mates or counterparts at other clubs. 

Coupled with the money poured into the Premier League through TV rights, global sponsorship and merchandise sales; the spiralling season ticket costs and billionaire owners bankrolling their teams and with clubs like Real Madrid and Barcelona having a limitless overdraft from Spanish banks. 

Carlos Tevez, Manchester City, 2009: £200,000-a-week                                          

Wayne Rooney, Manchester United, 2010: £250,000-a-week                                   

There is something in joining a rival club – or at least threatening to. Following on from Baggio and Campbell, Carlos Tevez was the first to break £200,000 moving from Manchester United to City in 2009. 

Wayne Rooney trumped him by threatening to move across the city, too, and was the first on £250,000. And now we have Ronaldo, but who knows where it will go from here.

Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid, 2013: £288,000-a-week (after tax)                        

SALARY STATS

Wage increase percentage since 1961

Miner salary: 6,037% increase
Footballer salary: 1,439,900% increase

Top 8 highest earning footballers in the world...
1 Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) £15million per year
2 Lionel Messi (Barcelona) £13.41m
3 Neymar (Barcelona) £12.57m
4 Zlatan Ibrahimovic (PSG) £12.16m
5 Radamel Falcao (Monaco) £11.74m
6 Wayne Rooney (Man Utd) £11.57m
7 Sergio Aguero (Man City) £11.31m
8 Yaya Toure (Man City) £10.90m