RUFC – ‘Wages too high’

Rotherham United’s Chief Operating Officer, Paul Douglas, has said that players wages in the lower leagues are too high.

Speaking on a Five Live programme last night regarding the financial state of lower league football, Mr Douglas said, ‘In my opinion, the wages in the lower divisions are too high and I believe this is why more clubs, in the last year, are struggling. I don’t blame the players for wanting the best possible deal but clubs have to act now and be more realistic in setting wage limits within their own clubs.

‘One of the problems, I think, is that a lot of the clubs are owned by self-made men who aren’t inclined towards collective solutions to problems and instead of sitting down and working out a proper wage structure that they can afford, they tend to get in certain players who they believe will help them climb the league. It’s a gamble and, as with any gamble, there will be winners and losers.

‘A fairer distribution of money to the lower league clubs coupled with a sensible approach to wages and I think you would see fewer clubs in trouble.

‘We are a business that has had to go into administration and therefore, technically, we have failed and it’s hard to argue when it’s said the club has been badly run. But, there are mitigating factors.

‘The thought of not having a football team in Rotherham is too sad to contemplate.’

On the same programme last night the Chairman of Leyton Orient, Barry Hearn, said that ‘all clubs who go into administration should be automatically relegated.’