How Much Do League One Footballers Earn?

League One often has a wide range of clubs. There are teams looking to climb the football pyramid at high speed. Others are punching above their weight financially and will be content to hold firm in mid-table for a few years.

Every few years, a sleeping giant will drop into the third tier. Leeds, Sheffield Wednesday, and Southampton are just three such clubs in recent memory.

Average League One Salary

The top 100 earners in League One earn around £7,000 per week on average. This figure is courtesy of Salary Sport.

Financial figures for the third tier of English football are not as widely available as the Premier League, Serie A, or Bundesliga. Salary Sport provided the 2023-24 salaries for the top 100 earners, but there is no publicly accessible data on League One average salary.

Per Salary Sport, 52 League One players in 2023-24 earned £6,000 or more per week. Working out at over £300,000 per year, this is almost 10 times the average annual salary in the UK. They might not be the biggest names, but League One’s highest earners are still making plenty of cash.

Highest-Paid League One Player

Barry Bannan was the highest-paid League One player in 2023-24. Playing for Sheffield Wednesday, Bannan was on £21,000 per week. He was comfortably the highest earner in the division, even including the loan players from Premier League clubs.

No other player permanently contracted to a League One club was on more than £12,000 per week.

Into his mid-thirties and with plenty of Premier League experience, Bannan was always bound to have one of the higher League One salaries. He broke into the Aston Villa first team in his teenage years and had a string of loans.

League One Manager Salary

The average League One manager salary varies significantly from year to year. Certain clubs will pay more to their managers due to bigger budgets, and more reputable managers can command a larger wage than some of their peers.

According to a survey during the 2023-24 season, the average League One manager salary is roughly £200,000. Naturally, this falls in between the numbers for League Two and the Championship.

It’s worth noting, though, that there can be League Two managers on considerably more money than the lowest-paid League One managers, and some League One managers will earn more than Championship managers.

Paul Lambert was reportedly the league’s highest earner a few years ago. In 2024-25, Birmingham City’s Chris Davies and Blackpool’s Steve Bruce are likely among the highest-paid managers. Clubs like Burton Albion and Exeter City are bound to pay their gaffers lower wages.

League One Salary vs Premier League Wages

There is a vast gap between even the highest League One wages and Premier League salaries. Bannan, the highest-earning League One player in 2023-24, was earning in a week what many Premier League players get in a day.

This stretches from Premier League stars like Erling Haaland to mid-table players. The vast majority of Premier League players have a monthly salary far greater than what League One players pocket for an entire year.

Over 400 Premier League players earned more than Bannan per week in 2023-24. Only the most highly-paid League One players earn over £300,000 per year (54, to be precise), while several Premier League players are in that ballpark per week.

League One players generally have much shorter contracts than their Premier League counterparts. They are earning healthy salaries for the most part, but signing a contract with a League One club does not bring the same financial security as it does in the Premier League.

The trickle-down from the Premier League’s seismic financial growth hasn’t really happened, though League One wages have gradually increased. A long League One career sets a player up for life, but it doesn’t ensure generational wealth in the same way.