Enough to sustain him until he dies? The length of time a footballer can make a living purely from playing football is a lot shorter than the "standard joe."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

This kind of comment makes me want to vomit! Just think about what you've typed there - Enough to sustain him until he dies? Sustain him?? By sustain, you mean feed and water him right?

As Johhny Ball would say, let's do the maths. So, if Beckford is on £40k a week and we deduct 40% of that for tax, he's bring out around £24k a week. In a year, that's £1,248,000.

And he's on a three year contract so he's set to make £3,744,000 from his LCFC contract alone - plus whatever else he was on at Leeds and Everton and the next contract he'll get when he leaves us.

Short career? Earn enough to 'sustain' him? Don't make me laugh!!

Come on Fox_14 I think you're being unfair.

If Beckford choses to leave without a payoff he'll only be able to afford 1 Ferarri per year when he's 40. I can't believe you think this is acceptable for him.

We should feel so sorry for people like Beckford. They have it hard and you just don't get it.

In all seriousness, I think we can all safely agree that Beckford does not NEED the money. He may well indeed WANT it.

I agree it is hard to feel bad for a chap making £1,248,000 per year, if indeed he is on £40k a week.

Is the top tax rate only 40%? I thought it was 45%.

I suppose he can always go back to installing car windshields as I believe he did while at Wealdstone when his playing days are over so he should just say sorry it did not work out chaps, forget about paying me what I am legally due.

Top rate tax is 45%. Although in my opinion it should still be 50%.

I personally don't agree that footballers have a hard or tough time. I think footballers are paid far too much money. It is morally bankrupt for anyone to earn the sorts of figures many footballers do, certainly those who play in the Premier League or Championship. They get paid an incredible figure for doing something that they love whilst the rest of us get by on a pittance in comparison doing something that we might not always enjoy. Even if a footballer loses 45% of the wages in tax, they still get a stupidly high wage which should see them comfortably into their retirement, if they are sensible and don't blow it all in the early years of their career. Also, whilst a player's career may be short, they're are other opportunities within the game such as coaching or media work.

Having said that, I am always forced to come back to the point that if a club signs a professional, legal binding contract with a footballer, and that footballer is no longer wanted, and the footballer has not broken his contract, they should honour the contract and pay the guy what he is legally entitled to.

And finally I do agree with Fox_ 14's first point - the phrase "sustain him until he dies" is rather grotesque

They probably get around the tax laws as well by having their wage paid into "Player X Ltd", instead of directly to Player X via the taxman. One of the ironic things about earning so much is that you can afford to hire a smart accountant who can exploit every loophole going to ensure you get even more money.

How the other half live, eh?

All this "footballers earn too much money" is quite frankly hot air. Compare them to NFL stars, basket-ball or base-ball players in the States or even some of the top golfers.

This is all about supply and demand. If you wish to take the moral high-ground, then don't pay to see them and more particularly, don't subscribe to the various digital sports packages which help inflate these ludicrous salaries.

Like it or not, this debate should not be about whether Beckford is worth it - he has a contract and a right to have it settled. The fools here sit within the club who offered him that contract and our annoyance should be directed at clubs who are (reputedly) trying to get him on a free when he is still contracted to Leicester City.

The worst case scenario has to be for us to get a transfer fee sufficient to buy out his contract and then we just have to write it off to experience !

Disagree Prawn. Foxello is spot on when he says that nobody is worthy of that salary. Especially for a "job" that one could argue delivers little back into society (nice cheap tickets for the breadline fans???).

Just because other people are paid more for less worthy jobs doesn't justify it. It just makes their salaries even more grotesque.

I fully agree that the fault lies with the club for giving him the contract in the first place. Beckford isn't going to turn it down.

Football salaries are sickening when fans pay so much for their tickets. I hope this is decided soon.

"Socialistas" get a grip boys how many teachers wages does Beckfords taxs pay for a mate of mine paid £400k a year in tax and happily knowing how many peoples wages etc it paid.
Theres a lot of high horse ridding how much is it jealousy or something else?

comment by lcfcprawnsandwich (U3490):

"All this "footballers earn too much money" is quite frankly hot air. Compare them to NFL stars, basket-ball or base-ball players in the States or even some of the top golfers."

I think most people agree athletes make money way out of proprtion to their real contributions to society as a whole, but it is what it is.

Top golfers make money when they place in tournaments. The better ones get endorsement money (big money for top 10 or so), appearance money (Top 30 or so) and sposnorships (Top 120 or so).

The rest pretty much just have to show up.

Comment deleted by Site Moderator

Whatever it is Nev, I can guarantee you it's not jealousy!

Maybe I do need to get a grip. Maybe I should accept that people are loving in poverty in our country whilst people like Beckford earn obscene wages for not even playing the sport they are paid to play.

Maybe I'm an idiot thinking that doctors, nurses, refuse collectors, firemen, teachers, social workers are not paid a fair wage compared to Beckford.

I can tell you right now, it's not Beckford's 40% tax I'm worried about, it's the 60% that I don't think he deserves.

I assume with you being out in the desert you deal a lot with very wealthy organisations through no right of their own (lucky to happen to have some oil - and when it's all gone)?

I am personally happy to pay a large chuck of my salary to support those less fortunate than me. You clearly feel differently.

Doesn't change my view on the greedy footballer Beckford though!

"Maybe I should accept that people are loving in poverty in our country..."

Is that part of the saying "the rich get richer and the poor get children?"

Making Assumptions Ferry boy!
1. for 30 years paid my tax in full payed PAYE on my staff and corperation tax heres one i loved local council rates no representation just tax on jobs.

2.Not here as a tax avoidance just no jobs in what i do in the UK.

3.Who gives you the right to say by implication the Arab nations don't deserve the oil? Does Venezuela the USA Russia & Scotland deserve the oil riches we have and your friends in Labour squadered (i'm making assumptions now mate)

I think players wages are crippling the game but like Turkeys NONE of them are voting for it.

I am also see enough of the world not to be selective about the wages of certain Footballers or Arabs and their oil.

I'm not selective Nev, and did realise I went all "politics" on you there.

My own personal view is that I have more than enough money to enjoy my life, why would I not want to support those less fortunate than me. If your friend can pay £400k in tax then he must be pretty comfortable in life - he doesn't "need" that money.

I'm not saying the oil rich nations don't deserve oil. I'm saying that they've done nothing to earn it. And when it's gone?

I have no issue with wealthy people. We need wealthy people, through entrepreneurialism, or purely through luck, as these people contribute an important amount to our society. What I don't like is when very wealthy people (and organisations) try to make out they're hard done to!!! Just my view.

I'm not affiliated with any political party, although as you can guess, right wing politics is not my bag.

But anyway, all this oil talk distracts us from the point. Beckford is choosing greed and money that he doesn't need over football. Do you respect him for that?

But Mersey, you have to forget your personal dislike of Beckford and surely accept that if someone agrees a contract, they expect both sides to honour it.

Leicester could sack him but what for - not trying hard enough - not getting on with the manager?! As far as we know, he has done nothing so severe as to warrant dismissal and even then, that would likely lead to some sort of severance pay.

Personally, I think Beckford is a better player than most City fans give him credit for but I fully accept that he will never play for us again - QED, I would rather get him off the pay-roll but be properly recompensed by another club.

I suspect that he genuinely does want to play football but with the arrival of FFP, he (like many others) will find it hard to find clubs prepared to pay the wages offered in previous years. These players will grudgingly have to accept reductions but why would anyone jump at the first offer, particularly at the reported 50% reduction?

The situation is unpalatable but until the fans stop supporting the game in this format, it isn't going to change - until the inevitable happens and clubs start going bust.

I do agree prawn. Doesn't mean I have to like it!

my rich friend started work when he 16 his dads a taxi driver and his brother they come from the east end and deserved every penny.

Whats waghoen and Fuctac Gallagher earning i don't here anyone having a go at them.

The flip side of your argument Nev is how much of the money from regular paying fans goes into Beckford's pocket - of course, it is a lot less black and white than this...if you were to take on some sort of literal argument about Beckford and teachers; a conservative guess would be that his tax pays for about 50/60 teachers' wages per year. On the flipside, I would suggest that for paying fans at home games alone between 1500-2000 ticket prices go straight in to his pocket....but then having that perspective of tax/ticket prices is very simplistic and ultimately superfluous to any/everything.

I suspect that if Gallagher, Futacs or Waghorn were/are very high earners who don't play and were being offered contracts by other clubs but stalling because they wanted a pay off as well; there would be disgruntled fans.