Why Portsmouth players are embracing a wage cap which threatens their future earning power

It’s a landmark in the English game Pompey are continuing to resist.
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Yet, the very men who the EFL salary cap hits hardest, are embracing a seismic change to the game which could hit the amount of money they take home to their families.

The cap is going to batter the Blues’ £4m budget hard in its current form - with a blanket £2.5m ceiling voted in earlier this month.

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The reality is when the current squad’s contracts expire, the club are unlikely to be able to offer them an improvement on their deals - or even match it in a lot of cases.

Unless Kenny Jackett’s men reach the Championship that is.

With no cap in play in the second tier and a mooted £18m ceiling if it reaches the negotiating table, it’s clear where players need to be to secure their futures.

Pompey are currently operating at a level where the average career spans seven years, after narrowly missing out on promotion via the play-offs the past two seasons.

Pompey defender Lee BrownPompey defender Lee Brown
Pompey defender Lee Brown
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Yet, rather than fear for their earning power, vice-captain Lee Brown revealed the Pompey dressing room are using it as motivation to deliver security for their loved ones.

‘We were speaking among the lads about it,’ said Brown.

‘It’s a massive incentive to us as players.

Lee BrownLee Brown
Lee Brown

‘We said what an incentive this is for the boys. There’s a salary cap in League One where you can only earn X.

‘We’re a smidgen away from earning whatever we want, because there’s no salary cap in the Championship. What an incentive that is for the players.

‘The salary cap for Portsmouth Football Club is a lot less than the budget we were dealing with.

‘So we need to get promoted and it’s a great incentive.

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‘We can get out of this and financially we will all be better off, the players and the club. Everyone.’

Despite a fair amount of apathy among supporters going into the season, Brown explained it’s not a sentiment echoed in the Pompey dressing room.

Squad restrictions and relative quiet on the transfer front means a streamlined set-up looks likely next term - and the left-back feels that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

He said: ‘In house, we think we can do well.

‘Of course we’ve lost a couple but I think a smaller squad helps us in a way for unity.

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‘Sometimes you can have too big a squad and you have too many unhappy people around and has a negative effect on the group.

‘We have a small group at the moment and we have a bond. We’ve got to have that unity.

‘You look at people like Wycombe, they had that unity, and we’re looking for the same, to be honest. A smaller group helps that.’

While fans have focussed on the lack of new faces at Fratton Park, Brown pointed out there’s not been a great deal of business to strike fear into royal blue hearts this summer.

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Throw in the fact the sides coming down from the Championship find themselves in varying degrees of strife, and the 30-year-old sees cause for optimism.

He added: ‘The division is a hard one to call.

‘It’s careful, careful with the signings with the money situation and how much people have lost.

‘So it’ll be very interesting to see how teams adapt with smaller squads.

‘There’s not one team who are the big spenders.

‘The teams coming down are in financial trouble and look like they will naturally lose some people.

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‘It’s an interesting one this year and hopefully we can capitalise on it.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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