There is no limit to what Australian soccer players can earn but AFL salaries at the top end have stalled

AFL stars earning less than soccer players is nothing new, but their salaries haven’t moved much at the top end since Wayne Carey earned $1 million a season almost 20 years ago.

Players at the top of the AFL tree don’t earn much more than North Melbourne legend Wayne Carey did 20 years ago.

AUSTRALIAN soccer players earning more than AFL stars is nothing new, but it is the personnel and extent of the present round-ball list that is astounding.

Since Wayne Carey earned $1 million a season almost 20 years ago, AFL player salaries haven’t moved much at the top end.

Soccer’s figures fluctuate relative to the quality of player and global pay scale.

Mark Bosnich, Harry Kewell and Mark Viduka would’ve each made between $8 to $12 million a year in their prime in the 2000s, with their wages then among the highest in the world.

Trent Sainsbury, Matthew Spiranovic and Tim Cahill are top of the Australian pops now, earning over $4 million a year, but they are well behind the world’s top earners.

By the time Australia produces players in the world’s top 50, they could be earning $100 million a year.

BOLDPLAY: PLAYERS WILL FOREGO ETIHAD MILLIONS

PAY STOUSH: SHOW US MORE RESPECT, AFL

While an AFL pay war is going on, soccer is threatening the AFL’s reign as Australia’s destination sport.

At least 25 Australian-born players are making salaries that AFL players can only dream of, while more Australians than ever are making a living out of soccer.

With A-League expansion imminent and the potential abolition of the salary cap, the domestic market could turn on its head.

Improved coaching and booming junior numbers mean Australia’s emergence as a global soccer force is inevitable.

Former Manchester United goalkeeper Mark Bosnich was earning more than $8 million in his prime.

Mark Viduka was a star striker in the English Premier League.

The Australian Sports Commission’s AusPlay survey, released a fortnight ago, revealed soccer was almost twice as popular as AFL.

More than a million (1,086,986) Australians are playing soccer, compared to 635,627 in Aussie rules.

Junior numbers are 551,911 to 328,540, with concussion among the issues scaring parents away from footy.

AFL executive wages have skyrocketed while players’ pays have stalled — and the players are rightly digging their heels in.

The AFL, with 10 teams in one state and much of the game’s money diverted to supporting Gold Coast and Greater Western Sydney, has little room for growth.

An AFL player can hit a jackpot by changing clubs, but there’s a ceiling to what they can earn, while the A-League is now a great launching pad for Australian soccer players.

Aaron Mooy pockets $3.8 million-a-year is for Huddersfield in England’s second tier. Picture: Getty Images

Tim Cahill is earning more than $4 million a year at Melbourne City. Picture: Wayne Ludbey

Aaron Mooy went from Melbourne City to dominating England’s second tier, while Wangaratta’s Seb Pasquali was scouted while playing for Melbourne Victory.

Pasquali, who turned 17 last month, would still be playing TAC Cup, but he’s now training with the youth team of world renowned Ajax and earning a package that would bring him close to the AFL players’ average of between $200,000 and $300,000.

The AFL’s No.1 draft pick gets a base salary of $74,740 (plus a $10,000 AFL payment as reward for being the best young talent in land), plus $3660 per senior game.

Soccer’s global nature gives players endless possibilities.

Originally published as There is no limit to what Australian soccer players can earn but AFL salaries at the top end have stalled