For Richer for Poorer

As the England party jetted off to Geneva to prepare for that much anticipated friendly with their chums from Argentina it must have been comforting for the players to know that in the unlikely event that they won the World Cup, they’d got their bonuses stitched up a treat.

Apparently, the players stand to pocket £300,000 a man if they come back from Germany next summer with the trophy. An arrangement which, it must be said, has not met with universal approval – apart, of course, from the boys themselves.

It’s difficult to tell whether this money is offered as an incentive, or a reward, or a bit of both. Whichever way you look at it, there are many who will question whether top players require any more incentive than the opportunity to represent their country in the greatest competition in world football – particularly when you consider that their wages, bonuses and endorsements have already allowed them to be financially secure for life.

To put it bluntly, they don’t really need the money. At the highest level, the game is awash with the stuff and there is no good reason to believe that the prospect of even more of it will make them try any harder or play any better. And if that were the case, they shouldn’t be selected.

Perhaps it is time for those who are most fortunate and privileged to consider that in the lower reaches of the game, there are clubs and players who are struggling for their very existence. Clubs like AFC Bournemouth, nicknamed the Cherries and once known as Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic Football Club – who could be saved from extinction by what just one top international player earns in a year.

Try telling their players that the difference in standards between them and the glamorous world of the premiership is accurately reflected by the disparity in their incomes.