Fernando Torres and Andy Carroll have a lot of things in
common, large transfer fees, widespread criticism and now important, valuable
goals.
FA Cup
Andy Carroll’s goal against Everton in the FA Cup was worth
a minimum of £1.8m in prize money, rising to £2.7m if Liverpool wins in the
final. This is based purely upon the money won following his goal and, in the
case of a win in the final, the money they have the potential to win as a
result of that goal. This is obviously added to by the money the club may
receive from sponsorship bonuses and any other additional revenues that the
final may generate, either through merchandise or more indirect potential revenues
from the added publicity the club will receive. A study on the financial
impacts of the FA Cup by Deloitte states that a Championship or Premier League
club entering in the third round will win a minimum of £3.4m, so Carroll’s goal
is responsible for around 80% of Liverpool’s winnings and Deloitte also reveals
that clubs receive a significant proportion of the gate receipts in addition to
television money for games covered live.
Using the example of Stoke’s run to the FA Cup Sixth Round
in 2009/10 Deloitte shows that just by reaching the Sixth round through playing
Chelsea, Manchester City, Arsenal and York City, Stoke earned an additional
£1.8m. From reaching the final Liverpool can expect a substantially higher
payment than this and, combined with the prize money and other additional
revenue generated as a result of the final appearance, this means they can
expect a very healthy return on Carroll’s goal. The win also would have secured
Europa League qualification had they not already secured it through the League
Cup and last season Villarreal earned 9m Euros from this competition.
Champions League
Last year as losing finalist Manchester United were awarded 5.6m
Euros, which is roughly £4.5m, on top of the money they had already won from
previous rounds. Presuming the prize money is around the same this year (it may
well have increased) Torres can reasonably claim to have been responsible in
part for a significant proportion of that. Chelsea may have been going through
with the score at 2-1 but Torres’ goal sealed it so his contribution was
significant and again there are substantial additional revenues to be generated
through this result, particularly if Chelsea only manage to secure Champions
League qualification for next season by winning the tournament. Chelsea’s total
earnings from the competition in 2010/11 were 44.5m Euros when they only
reached the Quarter Finals so qualification and progress is very well rewarded.
Even the lowest earners MSK Zilina who lost all 6 of their games earned 7.4m
Euros.
Conclusion
To say that Torres and Carroll can claim full responsibility
for these earnings would be ridiculous. Football is a sport of 11-a-side teams
and the substitutes, coaches, staff and fans also deserve credit. Despite this
I think the financial implications of these two goals certainly deserve some
recognition and perhaps, combined with their sentimental value, they will help
to quieten down some of the criticism of these two players. On the basis that they
can’t claim full responsibility for this income, people, equally, can’t deny their
contribution to the other results of their clubs and the financial benefits of
these. £85 million is a lot for 16 goals between them but that’s a massive
simplification of their contributions.
Sources:
FA Cup Prize Money: (http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/News/2012/Apr/~/link.aspx?_id=9418FC357BF94B55989FD53EF01251DC&_z=z)
Champions League Financial Distribution 2010/11: (http://www.uefa.com/uefa/management/finance/news/newsid=1661038.html)
Villarreal Winnings mentioned here: (http://espn.go.com/sports/soccer/story/_/id/7777957/michael-cox-europa-league-deserves-more-respect)
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