Are Footballers Overpaid?... Come off it!

Following Raheem Sterling's admission that he was too tired to start in England's 1-0 win against Estonia in the Euro 2016 Group 3 qualifier, I revisit the age old question: "Are footballers really overpaid?"
 
Whilst many people have praised Sterling for his honestly in admitting fatigue, others have taken to social media to display their disgust at the footballer's perceived lack of commitment, drawing attention to the very privileged salary he earns from playing football. One person tweeted, "its only October...he wants to try doing a proper job! #OverPaidBigTimeCharlie, with another person saying "When you do a 12 hour shift in Accident and Emergency then you can say you're tired Mr Sterling".


Raheem Sterling

So what does this all mean? We know football players are paid very handsome salaries, but does that mean they should be denied the very basic human right to be tired?

Rio Ferdinand doesn't think so. He has emerged as one of Sterling's biggest supporters for his decision to tell his manager he was tired, voicing his opinion on the matter on Twitter (of course). "Going by many of the responses on here-because players earn a fortune they cannot get tired. Leave off!"

I have to say I agree with him. Regardless of how much money Sterling is paid, he is only 19 and he is only human. For someone whose number of matches has trebled over the past year, what do you expect? Of course he's going to get tired at some point?

And this whole comparison between the wages of footballers and the average working person is a ridiculous debate that has gone on for wayyy too long in my opinion. Yes most of the population endure very long hours for much smaller wages. Yes on the face of it, it doesn't make sense that doctors who constantly save lives earn a basic minimum of £22,000 a year, whilst regular soldiers who constantly risk their lives stand to earn a measly £278 per week. Why do people like Wayne Rooney earn £300,000 per week for what is essentially a 90 minute game of kicking a football around a pitch once a week?

Simple Answer? Us!

It is OUR fault that these players are paid more money than we could possibly ever dream of.
We pay subscription fees to watch live football games on Sky Sports Super Sunday and BT Sport. We buy the overpriced season tickets year-on-year, regardless of how poor our club is playing. We buy the club football shirts of our favourite players from the overpriced club gift shop, and then spend more money on items such as footballs, scarfs, mugs, bed sheets, posters... you name it, the list goes on! We buy the Adidas and Nike trainers that are endorsed by football's greatest superstars like Christiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. And let's not forgot the annual FIFA football game that progressively gets more and more expensive as the years go by. (This year's FIFA 15 is priced at a cool £55.00)

And we're not stupid. We all realise that such items are expensive and we all complain about it, but does that stop us from buying them? Of course not. Because football is a game of loyalty. We want to support our favourite clubs and our favourite teams the best way we know how, whether that means buying a club shirt or paying yearly subscriptions to watch their matches live on a Sunday. You can't put a price on loyalty, and it is this that allows the game (or should we say business) of football to make so much money.

So the next question is, where should all the money go?



Diego Costa has scored 9 goals in 7 Premier League Appearances for Chelsea this season
 

At the end of the day, whether we like it or not, it is the players that makes football so entertaining. Without people like Diego Costa, Yaya Toure and (dare I say it) Raheem Sterling, the Premier League (and football as a whole) wouldn't be half as exciting as it is. They make modern day football thrilling and exhilarating. They score the stunning goals that take your breath away. If the money doesn't go to them in the form of large salaries, it's only going to fill the pockets of club owners, agents, football executives and the likes of Sepp Blatter. Who wants that?

For all these reasons and more, I think all footballers are worth their weight in gold, and as far as I'm concerned, if you've really got a problem with how much they're paid, I suggest you cancel that Sky Sports package and throw that season ticket in the bin. But since that's never going to happen, let's just continue to enjoy our marvellous football weekends in peace, admiring the greatest sport on Earth.