Out of the Box IV: Why amateur football should not be about money!

To the surprise of many, Max Kruse - self-chosen brand name "MK10" - has used the recent winter transfer window to move from the likeable surprise club Union Berlin to VfL Wolfsburg, "a traditional club since Fifa 98". Kruse made no secret of the fact that money played a major role in the transfer. Max Kruse is a professional footballer and it is therefore legitimate for him to make such a decision dependent on financial aspects. As a professional footballer, however, he is also a role model. The message that he sends out to many football enthusiasts in Germany through his move: Money is above club loyalty, above team cohesion, above a feel-good atmosphere – yes, even above sporting success.  

As we have known since the documentary "Billions in Amateur Football", there are also many footballers in the lower leagues who are paid and for whom money is a very strong motivation to play for a club. This also means that it is not uncommon for these players to leave the club again when a better financial offer comes along. In academic literature, this is referred to as the "changer" type of player; in everyday language, the term "mercenary" is also used.  

I scientifically accompanied the survey, the results of which were partly published in the context of "Billions of amateur football", and analysed the data. A specialist article on this will be published in the "Leipziger Sportwissenschaftliche Beiträgen" in the next few weeks. Here is an overview of the most important results from my point of view: 

More than one third (36.9 per cent) of the over 8000 participants were paid at the time of the survey. 

As the level of performance increases, so does the proportion of paid players. Of the 1430 respondents who played in the 7th league at the time of the survey, a slight majority (50.9 per cent) are paid. Thus, the 7th league - which in many football regions corresponds to the district or regional league - seems to mark a kind of borderline between lower-class/social-oriented and higher-class/performance-oriented amateur football. 

Information on the amount of monthly earnings in October 2020 was provided by 2790 survey participants. In this month, a total amount of 1,160,657 euros was paid out to the paid players, i.e. about 416 euros per player. Calculated over a season with ten months of earnings, the total amount paid to amateur footballers in Germany is more than one billion euros. 

Not only does the proportion of paid players increase with the level of performance, but also the average salary. Interestingly, this even increases in the lowest leagues. My interpretation is that there are fewer players in the lowest leagues who receive money - but they are paid very well for their commitment. I've often seen them, the ex-Verbandsliga players who, at a ripe old age, once again tour the lower leagues. Often a gain from a sporting point of view, but not always from a human point of view. 

Players who receive money differ from players who do not. The former, for example, change clubs more often: Players who received money at the time of the survey played for an average of 3.0 clubs in their career so far. Unpaid amateur footballers only played for 2.2 clubs on average. Paid players also value the social aspects of amateur football less: the statement "Almost after every game I sit together with my team-mates in a social gathering" is agreed to by 68.3 percent of paid amateur footballers on average, while unpaid players agree to 83.5 percent. 

This last point underlines once again what the increasing prevalence of the "changer" type of player in amateur football can lead to. I therefore think that clubs should not put sponsors' or patrons' money into football legs, but into the sporting infrastructure, the youth sector or digitalisation. It's better to invest in B42 than in MK10! Especially in the lower leagues, football should still be played for football's sake and not for the sake of money - this is another way to be successful.