I dunno where to find this (if this has been done before), or if this is the right forum, but I was wondering everyone's opinion on the high contracts in the today professional game. Also, can you guys give me a kind of 'history' of contracts through the professional ages. You know, like when they started to go up and records and such.. thanks
Players' earnings have only really taken off since the involvement of satellite TV in the early 90s. Until the early 60s, the clubs imposed a maximum wage on players which was, I think, around £20 a week (say $35 now). The legality of this and other aspects of players' contracts was successfully challenged then, the main litigant being George Eastham of Newcastle (although he was more concerned about freedom to leave a club after his contract had ended). The contractual terms were held to be unenforceable as being "in restraint of trade". The first big beneficiary of this was Johnny Haynes of Fulham, who created a sensation by being paid a basic wage of £100 a week.