Houses prices have soared 100-fold since 1966, rising three times faster than wages… unless you’re a footballer
- House prices are 106 times higher than they were when England lifted the World Cup – rising from £2,006 to £211,000[1]
- Over the same period, the average UK salary has increased 33-fold, rising from £798 to £26,500[2]
- Getting on the property ladder has become far easier for footballers though, as the average top-flight player earns 1,136 times more than they did in 1966
UK house prices are 106 times higher than they were when England won the World Cup in 1966 – growing three times faster than wages, according to research from online mortgage broker Trussle.
With the start of the 2018 FIFA World Cup less than a fortnight away, Trussle dug into the archives to turf up stats on the dramatic increases in both house prices and footballer’s wages since the greatest day in English football history, 52 years ago.
Since 1966, the average UK house price has risen from £2,006 to £211,000[3]. At the same time, wages have risen at around a third of the rate, moving from £798 to £26,500[4] – meaning it is effectively three times harder to get on the property ladder than it was in the summer of ‘66, when the UK still used shillings and the Beatles’ Yellow Submarine was top of the charts.
If you’re a hopeful first-time buyer who happens to be a top-flight footballer however, the picture looks very different. On average Premier League footballers earn a staggering 1,136 times more than top-flight stars did back when Bobby Moore, George Best and Pele were making history.
| Average annual salary for top-flight footballer[5][6][7] | Average UK house price | Average annual UK salary | |
| 1966 | £2,288 | £2,006 | £798 |
| 1970 | £3,640 | £4,163 | £1,080 |
| 1974 | £5,304 | £9,139 | £1,809 |
| 1978 | £17,160 | £14,236 | £3,269 |
| 1982 | £3,900 | £22,685 | £5,613 |
| 1986 | £57,200 | £34,931 | £7,551 |
| 1990 | £78,000 | £57,901 | £10,601 |
| 1994 | £142,376 | £55,925 | £12,900 |
| 1998 | £371,072 | £72,469 | £15,098 |
| 2002 | £858,988 | £124,747 | £17,576 |
| 2006 | £955,084 | £176,819 | £20,696 |
| 2010 | £1,615,744 | £168,703 | £22,724 |
| 2014 | £2,300,000 | £191,669 | £24,232 |
| 2018 | £2,600,000 | £211,000 | £26,500 |
Looking at how the current England squad compares to the heroes of ’66, right back Kyle Walker earns approximately 867 times more than George Cohen did when he was going toe-to-toe with Franz Beckenbauer and Uwe Seeler. Walker earns £130,000 per week at Manchester City, while Cohen was earning £80 a week at Fulham in the sixties. Cohen had to sell his medal in 1998 due to his poor financial situation, while world cup final hat-trick hero Sir Geoff Hurst had to go on benefits following his retirement from playing.
It is estimated that the average wage of the current England squad is just below £80,000 per week. For context this is more than 3 times the annual UK average wage.
Ishaan Malhi, CEO and founder of Trussle, said:
“A lot of has changed since England won the World Cup. We’ve put a man on the moon, invented the internet and we’ve seen technology transform almost every aspect of our lives.
“We’ve also seen the UK housing market change dramatically. Prices have soared in the last 52 years, wages have struggled to keep pace and for young people, the chances of getting on the property ladder today will feel a lot slimmer than they did in 1966.”
Kindly shared by Team Spirit
