PC Slower Than It Used to Be?
A free scan shows the junk files, broken settings and background clutter dragging Windows down - then fixes them in one click.Free scan · Windows 10 & 11Crashes, No Sound, or Screen Glitches?
Random freezes, missing sound and display glitches usually trace back to one bad driver. Find and replace yours safely.Free scan · under a minuteIn a Planet Football ranking published on 27 January 2025, Leeds United had the Championship’s highest estimated annual squad wage bill at £37,206,000, while Portsmouth had the lowest at £7,202,000. These are Capology-based industry estimates, not audited final-season payroll figures, and the January transfer window was still open when the list appeared.
All 24 Championship clubs ranked by estimated wage bill
The figures below reproduce Planet Football’s 27 January 2025 ranking, which attributed its estimates to Capology. Amounts are estimated annual squad wages, ordered from lowest to highest; they are not a consistent set of audited staff costs.
| Rank | Club | Estimated annual wage bill |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Portsmouth | £7,202,000 |
| 2 | Plymouth Argyle | £8,933,600 |
| 3 | Oxford United | £10,962,000 |
| 4 | Coventry City | £11,336,000 |
| 5 | Queens Park Rangers | £11,620,000 |
| 6 | Millwall | £12,052,000 |
| 7 | Blackburn Rovers | £12,090,000 |
| 8 | Derby County | £12,264,000 |
| 9 | Swansea City | £12,284,000 |
| 10 | Preston North End | £12,466,000 |
| 11 | Bristol City | £13,576,000 |
| 12 | Stoke City | £14,352,000 |
| 13 | Hull City | £14,828,000 |
| 14 | Sheffield Wednesday | £15,466,000 |
| 15 | Sunderland | £16,134,000 |
| 16 | Middlesbrough | £16,346,000 |
| 17 | Watford | £18,800,000 |
| 18 | Norwich City | £19,110,000 |
| 19 | Cardiff City | £20,412,000 |
| 20 | Luton Town | £21,294,000 |
| 21 | West Bromwich Albion | £21,642,000 |
| 22 | Sheffield United | £24,128,000 |
| 23 | Burnley | £32,032,000 |
| 24 | Leeds United | £37,206,000 |
Source: Planet Football, published 27 January 2025; the article says the estimates came from Capology.
What the ranking says about the gap between clubs
Within this estimate, Leeds’ £37.206 million is more than five times Portsmouth’s £7.202 million. That comparison is calculated from the two listed amounts; it is not a separate statistic published by Planet Football. Burnley (£32.032 million) and Sheffield United (£24.128 million) are the other two clubs above £20 million in the table.
Recommended Free Tools
Why this is an estimate, not a final audited ranking
Squad wages are not the same as total staff costs
The table estimates annual squad wages. Club accounts generally report staff costs for a club’s own financial reporting year, which can include a broader set of employees and cover a different period. Salary Sport’s Championship finances and accounts page notes that its displayed club data is from each club’s latest filed year, with reporting years varying. Dragon Football says its football finance figures are parsed from Companies House iXBRL accounts and likewise span different reporting years. Those account-based figures should not be mixed into this ranking as though they measured the same thing.
The January snapshot could change
Planet Football published the ranking while the January 2025 transfer window was still open and cautioned that transfer activity could change clubs’ wage bills. Treat it as a mid-season snapshot, not a settled statement of each club’s eventual 2024/25 commitments.
Later estimates do not match exactly
A Sportscasting ranking dated 3 March 2025 also cited Capology but reported different amounts and ordering. For example, Sportscasting listed Burnley at £29.9 million and placed Middlesbrough fourth, while Planet Football listed Burnley at £32.032 million and Middlesbrough sixteenth. The two pages do not explain the methodological difference, so their values should not be averaged or combined into a supposedly definitive list. Sportscasting’s March 2025 ranking is a separate estimate, not a correction that reconciles the January table.
Quick Recap
Rank #3
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
