Professional footballers at the top level are certainly rewarded handsomely in their pay packets, and now most appear to be actually increasing their wealth during the economic downturn. According to The Sunday Times Rich List 2009, 17 of the top 20 richest young players aged 30 and under have a fortune the same or greater than in 2008.
Music stars such as Elton John and Robbie Williams have been badly hit by the recession, losing around a quarter of their personal wealth over the past year, mainly due to the plummeting value of property investments and share portfolios. Footballers, however, seem to be bucking that trend.
Although fan-favourites Michael Owen, Wayne Rooney and Rio Ferdinand take the top three slots in the table, the riches of English footballers has received criticism. A survey of 4,000 fans by Virgin Money showed that two out of five were in favour of a wage cut for players at the club they supported in order to “set an example” during the current recession.
Source: The Sunday Times Rich List 2009
