With the season more-or-less at an end, it’s time that clubs will be thinking towards next season – and more specifically how they will spend their prize money on bolstering their squads to have a better campaign next time around.
With the merger of the SPL (Premier League) and SFL (Football League) to form the SPFL (Professional Football League), there was a shift in the distribution of prize money throughout the leagues which was largely welcomed. Rather than having a massive gulf between the top 12, who benefitted from the spoils of TV contracts, and the rest – the new structure bridges the gap by passing some of the profits further down the ladder.
However, while Championship clubs gained hugely from this rebalancing act, both League One and League Two teams barely received any boost – with 6 positions actually receiving LESS money than they did last campaign. Here’s an overview of the prize monies for each league and league position from last season and this season:
Overall
| League | 2012/13 | Share | 2013/14 | Share | Change |
| Premiership | £16,000,002 | 91.31% | £14,689,981 | 81.77% | -10.45% |
| Championship | £629,000 | 3.59% | £2,301,320 | 12.81% | +256.86% |
| League One | £508,002 | 2.90% | £588,535 | 3.28% | +13.00% |
| League Two | £386,001 | 2.20% | £385,351 | 2.14% | -2.63% |
| TOTAL | £17,523,005 | £17,965,187 | +2.52% |
Premiership
| Pos. | 2012/13 | 2013/14 | Change |
| 1 | £2,720,001 | £2,405,514 | -12% |
| 2 | £2,400,000 | £1,717,454 | -28% |
| 3 | £1,520,001 | £1,460,555 | -4% |
| 4 | £1,360,000 | £1,288,629 | -5% |
| 5 | £1,280,000 | £1,202,757 | -6% |
| 6 | £1,200,000 | £1,116,884 | -7% |
| 7 | £1,120,000 | £1,056,701 | -6% |
| 8 | £1,040,000 | £1,005,142 | -3% |
| 9 | £960,000 | £987,895 | +3% |
| 10 | £880,000 | £902,023 | +3% |
| 11 | £800,000 | £816,150 | +2% |
| 12 | £720,000 | £730,277 | +1% |
| TOTAL | £16,000,002 | £14,689,981 | -8% |
Championship
| Pos. | 2012/13 | 2013/14 | Change |
| 1 | £68,000 | £386,248 | +468% |
| 2 | £67,000 | £343,132 | +412% |
| 3 | £66,000 | £300,016 | +355% |
| 4 | £65,000 | £256,900 | +295% |
| 5 | £64,000 | £240,731 | +276% |
| 6 | £62,000 | £188,633 | +204% |
| 7 | £61,000 | £172,464 | +183% |
| 8 | £60,000 | £154,499 | +157% |
| 9 | £59,000 | £138,331 | +134% |
| 10 | £57,000 | £120,366 | +111% |
| TOTAL | £629,000 | £2,301,320 | +266% |
League One
| Pos. | 2012/13 | 2013/14 | Change |
| 1 | £56,000 | £102,401 | +83% |
| 2 | £55,000 | £86,232 | +57% |
| 3 | £54,000 | £56,769 | +5% |
| 4 | £53,001 | £52,099 | -2% |
| 5 | £51,000 | £51,200 | +0% |
| 6 | £50,000 | £50,302 | +1% |
| 7 | £49,000 | £49,404 | +1% |
| 8 | £48,000 | £48,506 | +1% |
| 9 | £47,000 | £46,709 | -1% |
| 10 | £45,001 | £44,913 | 0% |
| TOTAL | £508,002 | £588,535 | +16% |
League Two
| Pos. | 2012/13 | 2013/14 | Change |
| 1 | £44,000 | £43,116 | -2% |
| 2 | £43,000 | £42,218 | -2% |
| 3 | £42,001 | £41,320 | -2% |
| 4 | £40,000 | £40,421 | +1% |
| 5 | £39,000 | £39,523 | +1% |
| 6 | £38,000 | £38,625 | +2% |
| 7 | £37,000 | £37,727 | +2% |
| 8 | £36,000 | £35,930 | 0% |
| 9 | £34,000 | £34,134 | 0% |
| 10 | £33,000 | £32,337 | -2% |
| TOTAL | £386,001 | £385,351 | 0% |
It’s great that Championship teams earn more money, and I think it’s vital to ensure that the top of our game is more competitive, but I can’t help but feel that the teams lower down the pyramid are getting a raw deal. The problem of inequality isn’t really being solved, but just shifted down a league or so.