Household Bills
It could be time to invest in your child’s football career
If your child has a flair for football, the investment involved in their future career could pay dividends, new research has shown.
A study by Money Pug, a price comparison and deal finder website, found that the costs associated with becoming a professional footballer were far lower than other sports.
For example, football typically requires an investment of £62,500 over the course of a decade, which compares to an outlay of £120,175 per year to become a touring tennis pro or £159,700 per year to become a PGA Tour Pro.
What’s more, for those who are successful the payoff involved with becoming a professional football player is significant – with the potential to earn £2.6m per year as a Premier League football player.
With well-known footballers like Harry Kane raking in £200,000 per week, there is a strong incentive for parents to invest in training and equipment for their budding sports stars. If an athlete becomes an international, earnings have the potential to skyrocket. For example, the 23-man England World Cup squad’s weekly earnings totalled an impressive £2.1m.
Potential Premier League annual earnings of £2.6m compare to £498,851 per year for professional golfers or £36,450 for professional tennis players.
Nevertheless, the odds of succeeding and ultimately becoming a Premier League footballer are low at just 0.012%. Money Pug points out that this is the same likelihood as being hit by a meteor or injured by a toilet.
Out of every 1.5 million that attempt the feat, only 180 make it as Premier League professionals, 1,396 as League Football professionals, and 3,664 as semi-professionals in non-League.
Lee Whitbread, chief executive at Money Pug, explained: “The potential for a career in sport has grown extensively over the course of the last 30 years as the reach of professionalism has extended beyond the most common sports and now influences hundreds of sports, for men and women at various levels.
“The most obvious change this has brought about is the increase of wages surrounding professional sport. With the majority of the top six sports in the country providing a wage well above the national average, there has been increased interest in these potential careers.”
