Figures that show new generation of LOI stars could earn millions

The 42

2 days ago

MAYBE WINDSOR PARK is a lucky omen for League of Ireland teams, the kind of venue that is a catalyst for hope and greater possibilities.
The parallels between the post-match scenes on Wednesday night after Shelbourne edged clear of Linfield in Champions League qualifying and when Shamrock Rovers blitzed Larne 4-1 in the league phase of last season's Uefa Conference League did not stop with the jubilant celebrations in front of delirious travelling supporters.
Comparisons could be drawn, too, in the sense of confidence and opportunity that the respective triumphs inspired.
Last October, Rovers' head coach Stephen Bradley was enthused during post-match duties in Belfast after guiding his side to the club's first win in a group/league phase of European competition – worth an additional €400,000 to the club coffers on top of €3 million for qualifying.
The new 36-team format sees the top eight qualify for the last 16 automatically with those ranked ninth to 24th battling it out in the play-offs.
'We want to qualify out of the first phase, that's been one of our aims,' Bradley said. 'Why not? Why can't it be our aim? Let's go and try and do it, yeah. I don't see why we should put a limit on what we can do here.'
Rovers backed up Bradley's words and became the first Irish club to reach the knockout stages of European competition, earning over €6m in the process.
Close to 20% of that pot would be divvied up in prize money in the players' pool, with a certain portion guaranteed and the rest related to appearances and performances.
Fast forward to this week and Shels boss Joey O'Brien was just as pleased after progress to the second qualifying round of the Champions League guaranteed at least a place in the play-offs of the Conference League, due to the safety nets of the champions' path, and €1.7m in prize money for the club.
'Ultimately, to get the real money, you must make group stages. I told the lads in there that's the aim. We don't want this to be our [only] European memory. We want to go and create more history by qualifying for the groups,' he said.
Shels will earn a minimum of €3.17m should they replicate Rovers' qualification, and then the money will really hit for players.
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Sean Boyd was up front in the aftermath of Wednesday's win that talk of bonuses was a topic of discussion, which is hardly surprising given they have the kind of impact of players' lives that so many of us can relate to – paying off bills, saving for a house, getting a mortgage, or in the recently-engaged Boyd's case possibly paying for a wedding.
'She's already spent everything,' Boyd joked. 'I said [to her], potentially, if we get through, we get this [amount]. And she's like, 'oh, lovely, that will pay for the wedding'. We've to buy a house as well, so it's all coming at once.
'Ganno had mentioned during the week, it's like you get a deposit for your house obviously if you go through a few rounds so that's kind of where the players in the league probably make some decent money. So, yeah, another incentive probably.'
The 'Ganno' that Boyd referenced is Sean Gannon and he is a fascinating test case for what the future might hold for those top-tier League of Ireland players who spend their careers in this country.
He only turned 34 last week but has won 11 Premier Division titles between 2011 and 2024 with Rovers (two spells), St Patrick's Athletic, Dundalk, and Shels.
As the Reds are also guaranteed six more games this season the defender is set to overtake Ronan Finn's record of 63 appearances in Europe for a League of Ireland player if he features in each of the fixtures.
With that in mind, and given the current European formats as well as growth of basic earnings and bonuses at top clubs, it's safe to estimate that the next Sean Gannon will comfortably become a millionaire in the League of Ireland.
And there may well become more like him at the top table.
The Beat sources have laid out what we understand to be an accurate pay scale for those current established professionals at the top clubs in the country; starting at €50,000 per year for Category 3, €100,000 for Category 2, and a small, elite group touching €150,000 in Category 1.
As players can also expect to share 20% of European prize money between them (ranging from €30,000-50,000), it is now feasible to consider that those from all three categories who spend at least 10 years at the top and qualify for European league phase football in half of those campaigns could earn the following;
Category 3 – €750,000
Category 2 – €1,250,000
Category 3 – €1,750,00
A tall order, for sure, but with such financial and professional rewards now on the line it is definitely enough to maintain motivation levels and help retain the calibre of talent capable of achieving such targets.
And that's before you consider the added security that comes with Sportsperson's tax relief, which revenue.ie explains that players 'may claim a deduction of 40% of certain income arising in any 10 of the following years: your year of retirement or the preceding 14 years of assessment.'
It's understood that there are already players who will have the comfort of considerable six-figure sums once they hang up their boots.
In a week when the Professional Footballers' Association of Ireland (PFA Ireland) secured an increase in the minimum wage starting next season from €430 per week to €450, and their research detailed that the average weekly wage in a full-time Premier Division now stands at €890 per week (it was around €700 last year), it's clear that strides continue to be made across the board.
But for those among the elite, challenging for titles and battling for league phase football in Europe, there will be millions to be made from staying in the League of Ireland.
Of course, the above detail is based on figures standing still in terms of European prize money and the domestic growth continuing at a conservative pace. Who knows what might happen when the Virgin TV deal is to be renewed before 2029 and we could also have Bohemians and Sligo Rovers in new, modern stadiums?
Not to mention Finn Harps or Wexford, with St Patrick's Athletic possibly even advancing their own case for redevelopment of Richmond Park.
Even the value of winning the FAI Cup has soared, so how apt that the second round starts this weekend and Shels travel to Limerick on Saturday to face non-league side Fairview Rangers before welcoming Qarabag to Tolka Park in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Whoever lifts the FAI Cup in Aviva Stadium this November will be guaranteed €700,000 in prize money from European qualification as they will go into the Europa League and have the safety net of a second tie in the Conference League should it be required.
That is because success of clubs – specifically Rovers – has improved the overall Uefa coefficient to a point where should the Hoops win the Premier Division this season they will be seeded for two rounds of Europe next season.
That is the kind of bonus territory we are looking at.