A Football Squad Bonus Pool: An Example
By Daniel Geey and Courtney Bryan-Isaacs
In addition to the specific bonuses in a player's employment contracts, like appearance bonuses, players may also be paid a squad bonus.
The squad bonus pool is an additional amount of money to be shared between the players at the end of a particular season, depending on the success of the team. Let’s say that a bonus pool amount of £2m is available to the players of a Premier League club if they are not relegated from the Premier League. (In practice, the amount can vary depending on the position in which the club finishes.) In order to reward the players who contribute the most on the pitch during the season, a points system is usually put in place. So 3 points are awarded for a player who starts each Premier League game, 2 points for any playing substitute and 1 point for a non-playing substitute. There will be 43 points available for each game (3 x 11, 2 x 3 and 1 x 4). Stay with me!
With 38 Premier League games, there will be 1,634 points available
(38 games x 43 points). Therefore each point is worth just over £1,223 – i.e.
the total bonus pool amount is divided by the number of points available
(£2m/1634).
To give a practical example, a player in the same Premier League
squad who starts 20 Premier League games is a playing substitute in 3,
a non-playing substitute in 2, and is injured for the remaining 13 games
will earn:
20 starts = 60 points
3 playing sub appearances = 6 points
2 non-playing sub appearance = 2 points
a total of 68 points equals £1,223 = £83,164
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