Was it easier to become a professional footballer...

I'd say no, due to smaller squads. Though you didn't have to compete for a place against players from around the world.

Harder if anything imo
There are more professional clubs now, National League clubs even some National league north and south clubs, so probably another 30 full time clubs
Plus bigger squads now...only 1 sub allowed back then, is it 8 now?
Taking both those into account, I would estimate twice as many professional players now than 50 years ago

So, I would say it's easier now

Some good points there lads,I didn't think of it that way Reg, with wages being much lower in relation to today's inflated wages,I thought it would have been easier. The average footballer would have been on similar wages to many a blue collar worker i would have thought

Much easier nowadays to be a professional - I played at a high level in the 90s and can safely safe it's much easier today - I missed out on a cup winning medal due to not being on the bench as a sub - Only 2 subs allowed - I would have been 14th or 15th choice.  More lads now getting paid in lower league football around the UK & Ireland - some the wages they are now paying in the League of Ireland & Irish League is unbelievable - Teams like Derry City paying players 3 to 4K per week. More opportunities now as well to get in to academy set-ups plus getting trials with the bigger clubs.  When I was a teenager you had to be a top player to get a chance with the big clubs

The maximum wage for a pro - £20pw - was abolished around 1961. At that time the average wage in Britain was about £10.

Ten years later the average First division player was probably getting £120 or so and the average Brit about £25.

most professional players from those eras and i would include the early eighties needed to get a job after completing their playing career or run a pub or shop.....very few made enough to retire....

I was pro ,old division 3 now league 1, back in the late 70s, early 80s for a few years, with another 14 years of top semi pro either side
I was earning more as a semi pro with a decent day job
I had a mate working as a BT telephone engineer who was earning more than I was as a pro during the summer months...during the season with appearance money and win bonuses I  would earn more, but it wasn't fortunes like today
We had a squad of about 20, with about 5 apprentices

Yes Reg, I'd forgotten that win bonuses were ever a thing. They used to get mentioned in match reports etc, as it would have made a big difference to most players.

I knew quite a few football pros late 70s and into 80s.

Saw a few pay slips and can confirm top league
players didn't earn enough to retire.

I played golf with several milkmen, and papershop
owners, they had newstrade golf comp and I got a
yearly invite. Others took on pub licenses, and
others sought other employment.

Quite a few found employment off supporters of the
clubs they played for who were local business owners.


With better education and knowledge of sports
you'd expect it to be easier to get through the system.

Pedo coaches hopefully all removed too, stopped a fair
few becoming football pros back then.

Lack of money in the game put off quite a few back then
as a good job at electricity board was seen as a
better career step.

As reg says telecoms engineers likely bt were paid
as much, and with that gold plated pension, twas a
no brainer.

Lots of these working lads played at decent level too
in amateur leagues, sometimes picking up a nice
loyalty bonus off benefactors.

Lad I went to school with, was on 500 a month
playing for local pub team, whilst working
as a gas fitter.

Having a good pub team was quite a thing to
attract business across the bar.

Likely a bit of punting too

I'd say it was much easier back in the day at the elite level, and easier at any level back then.  You would struggle to pick a team from Wales/Scotland and NI combined that start PL games

3/4 reasons. 

1. There are far more foreign players
2. There are far more mixed race and black players of British origin
3. It's far more professional (albeit they get far more support)
4. It's more competitive at a local level (kids are indoctrinated like never before to have the dream and desire of becoming a footballer)

Against that

There are more fat kids in schools

Some kids just want to play cricket/ basketball

Kids want to be reality TV stars

Kids want to be social media influencers

Kids want to be musicians/rappers

yep, street football seems extinct

its far easier to get on/think your on the ladder to been a pro footballer because clubs take 1000,s more on ,just in case they miss out on a diamond, so obviously 10,s of thousands more get let go, if you made district side / boro boys good chance you,d get a shot at making it to at least reserve team football,might have 22 at my districte level,there,ll now be 1000,s at same district level looked at,you left school at 16 there were limited places to carry on playing organised football,every are now have 1000,s of teams to choose from, theres literally a team close to you for every level of ability

for all their faults EPL put millions in to grass roots football these days,when i played school was your organised football,now your organised football/football world opens up to you when you leave school,basically a team for every kid that wants one

Kriskin06 Jan 26 22:28

Much easier nowadays to be a professional - I played at a high level in the 90s and can safely safe it's much easier today - I missed out on a cup winning medal due to not being on the bench as a sub - Only 2 subs allowed - I would have been 14th or 15th choice.  More lads now getting paid in lower league football around the UK & Ireland - some the wages they are now paying in the League of Ireland & Irish League is unbelievable - Teams like Derry City paying players 3 to 4K per week. More opportunities now as well to get in to academy set-ups plus getting trials with the bigger clubs.  When I was a teenager you had to be a top player to get a chance with the big clubs

It's...........................................Mark Walters!

CLYDEBANK29 • January 6, 2026 11:43 PM GMT
I'd say it was much easier back in the day at the elite level, and easier at any level back then.  You would struggle to pick a team from Wales/Scotland and NI combined that start PL games

3/4 reasons.

1. There are far more foreign players
2. There are far more mixed race and black players of British origin
3. It's far more professional (albeit they get far more support)
4. It's more competitive at a local level (kids are indoctrinated like never before to have the dream and desire of becoming a footballer

Added to that and i think more importantly the population in this country and around the world has exploded
Whilst the number of leagues has increased there is a far bigger pool to pick from than in the 1970,s hence to become a full time professional is more difficult

Take the premier league teams - if you made it to 16 playing for one of these clubs in the 1970,s you would have a better chance of making it than now. A lot of these teams now have satellite and feeder teams and bring these players in when the pro contracts are being decided. So you might think you are top dog playing for Man U under 16's but that can change when you become part of a bigger pool with the other teams

There is the the same process as players are released form PL clubs and trickle down to lower league clubs displacing players who may have been there since the age of 8. These players then become surplus etc etc

So on the whole i think its more competitive and difficult to get a full time pro contract now

Joe Jordan, Pat Jennings, Frank Stapleton, Gordon McQueen, Jimmy Nicholl, Pat Rice, Martin Buchan, Liam Brady Wille Young Arthur Albiston Lou Macari Mickey Thomas, Sammy Mcilroy, Sammy Nelson, David O'Leary.

15!! of the starters in the 79 FA Cup final were from Wales, Scotland, NI or Ire.  I doubt there are 15 in the PL now.  Not a foreign player or ethnic British player in sight.  And some people seriously think it was harder back then.

Currently you've got Declan Rice for Arsenal and Mason Mount and possibly Luke Shaw starting for Man Utd.  Foden sometimes at Man City, McGinn and Cash at Villa, Big Dan Burn and Gordon at Newcastle, Maddison if fit at Spurs.  So basically about 2 white British or Irish starters per English club

The mind boggles how anyone can think it used to be harder.

The other thing I forgot to mention

When I went to school only 50% of class could
become pro footballers

Now it is nearly 100%

Jan 7, 2026 -- 10:34AM, 1st time poster wrote:

its far easier to get on/think your on the ladder to been a pro footballer because clubs take 1000,s more on ,just in case they miss out on a diamond, so obviously 10,s of thousands more get let go, if you made district side / boro boys good chance you,d get a shot at making it to at least reserve team football,might have 22 at my districte level,there,ll now be 1000,s at same district level looked at,you left school at 16 there were limited places to carry on playing organised football,every are now have 1000,s of teams to choose from, theres literally a team close to you for every level of ability

This is 100% spot on - they are all trying to identify the next Messi

Much more competitive at underage level and then you have way more foreigners to compete with at pro level. Much harder to make it

Spot the Honky

Everton regularly have six or seven Englishmen in their starting line up.  In the last match v Brentford they had EIGHT !  Seven of which were white.

Our illustrious neighbours on the other hand have often had zero English players starting games this year.

Why is that Dixie do you think?

Iirc the 1986 FA Cup final between Liverpool and Everton, Liverpool had no English men on the team
Grobelaar
Nicol
Hansen
Begin
Lawrenson
Whelan
Molby
Mcdonald
Dalglish
Rush
Johnston

It may have been first time it happened, definitely not the last.

Foreign managers would be my best guess Honcho.

Everton are a a bit of a rarity these days in the EPL. I find it sad that our ENGLISH PL champions have hardly any English nationals in their squad but that is of course the way our game has gone.  Tommy Tuchel has even been opining on the subject , an ever decreasing number of players in the EPL qualified to  play for the national side.

Love watching the Big Match Replay, I actually know more of the players then , than NOW .

It never ceases to amaze me how much more I appreciate the skills of some players now I see them again decades on.  And they all made a very modest living.  At the time however my old man used to moan about how much THEY made compared to his contemporaries who played for absolute peanuts.

Everton's superb 1970 title winning team

West, Wright, Brown, Hurst, Labone, Harvey, Kendall, Ball, Morrissey, Husband, Royle.   Sub- Whittle

All English except Sandy Brown (Scottish) who scored a classic own goal that season in the home defeat by our lovely neighbours from across the park.

Browne ,  the only one i dont remember .

Would it be accurate to liken present day Rice to Colin Harvey?

They are/were both vital to their teams Honcho that's for sure.

Colin was given the nickname "the white Pele" by the fans , slightly over the top maybe but you get the idea. A very fine player who Harry Catterick actually rated the best of our fabled midfield trio.  It was criminal that he only won one england cap.

It's...........................................Mark Walters                                                                                                 played agins Mark 1978 Holte School  so quick couldn't even kick him

Eight english players in the toffees line up again tonight, opponents Wolves have......NONE

I agree on all counts.

Mane is English if you ignore the fact he was born in Portugal