The poor rate of pay within domestic women’s football means players can only qualify for a mortgage in a third of UK areas – with their male counterparts outperforming them even as far down as League 2, research by Stipendium has revealed.
The average player in the Women’s Super League (WSL) takes home a weekly income of £904 or £47,000 a year. At a mortgage loan to income ratio of four times salary, this means they can secure a mortgage to the tune of £188,000.
To buy the average UK home, a mortgage of £240,972 is required once a 15% deposit of £42,525 has been placed. This means the average player in the WSL is some £53,000 short when it comes to their mortgage eligibility.
In fact, based on the current average house price across every local authority in the UK, the average WSL player earns enough per year to buy a home in just 33% of areas.
In contrast to the women’s top flight, the average annual Premier League salary is £3.12m – 6,538% higher than the WSL. As a result, a Premier League player can secure a mortgage in 100% of UK areas with ease.
With an average annual income of £954,200, so too can the average player in the Championship.
Although the average player in League 1 and League 2 earns considerably less at £109,200 per year and £72,800 per year respectively, they still earn considerably more than the average WSL player.
Based on this average annual income, the average League 1 player earns enough to be eligible for a mortgage in 93% of UK local authorities, with the average League 2 player able to purchase in 69%.
Christina Melling (pictured), CEO of Stipendium, said: “To think anyone could reach the very top tier as a professional sportsperson and still struggle to afford a home in the UK says as much about the state of the UK property market as it does about the inequality of pay within women’s sports.
“There are, of course, many people across many professions within the UK who are struggling to overcome the sky high cost of buying a home.
“But when you consider the average female footballer in the topflight earns substantially less than the average male in the fourth tier, it really does rub salt in the wound.”
