While still a popular feature of the live betting lines, League One is quite some way from the spotlight of the Premier League – especially when it comes to finances.
It’s an incredibly competitive league that benefits from being a boiling pot of strong third-tier teams, teams who’ve come down from the Championship or even the top tier recently, and surging clubs up from League Two.
Naturally, the aim of the game is to break into next season’s Championship betting odds, and for some, the way to do that is to break out the chequebook at pay a few particularly talented players.
This is a look at the state of play of League One salaries in 2025/26, from the averages to the highest-paid of the bunch.
Finding League One Salaries for Players
League One salaries to players and all members of staff aren’t generally made publically available. There are, however, platforms dedicated to offering good estimates of the salaries players are getting each season.
So here, we’ll be referring to the information provided by FootyStats, which seems to offer a commonsense overview of what League One players are being paid in 2025/26.
League One Average Salary
The average League One salary for 2025/26 is £4,100 per week or around £215,000 per annum. This figure is drawn from 640 recorded player salaries, which is around 26 or 27 players per club.
It’s estimated that all of the top 50 highest-paid players in League One are getting at least £436,000 each year or £8,400 per week. Clubs with many entries in this section include Cardiff City, Huddersfield Town, and Luton Town.
As you’ll know from the table, this approach of paying big salaries for several players is certainly working out for Cardiff, while Huddersfield and Luton were likely hoping for a better run at the automatic spots this season.
Highest-Paid League One Player
A player of Premier League pedigree ranks atop the League One salaries table. That player is Calum Chambers of Cardiff City.
Reportedly earning an estimated £1.7 million per season, or £32,000 per week, the former Southampton, Arsenal, and Aston Villa defender seemingly didn’t take a huge pay cut coming to Cardiff in 2024 or after relegation in 2025.
Next on the list is a significant drop off to a player who joined recently on a permanent deal after a successful loan spell. Goalkeeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell nets around £23,000 per week now that he’s with Blackpool.
League One Manager Salaries
The figures for League One manager salaries will vary greatly from club to club. After all, you likely can’t expect to see a club that’s just been promoted to pay as much for a boss as one looking for promotion.
Salaries for managers in League One are even more opaque than those of the players, but it’s a fair estimate to think that the average pay is around the £200,000 mark per year.
Naturally, there’s quite the gulf between this figure and what’s assumed to be earned in the Championship by head coaches, let alone the Premier League, but it’s a hefty pay packet nonetheless.
There are some big names battling away in League One in 2025/26, including Graham Alexander, Gary Bowyer, Liam Manning, Jack Wilshere, Nigel Clough, Tom Cleverley, and Gary Caldwell, who could be among the highest earners.
League One vs Premier League – Salary Comparison
The Premier League is among the wealthiest sporting competitions in Europe and has even helped to propel clubs to valuations that rival even those of the insular, risk-free, money-printing franchises of the United States.
As you’d expect, Premier League salaries greatly outweigh those of League One clubs. In 2025/26, however, the £32,000 per week being paid to Chambers by the Bluebirds does offer a closer comparison than usual.
Kevin Schade has been a breakout star for Brentford this season, scoring six goals and three assists in his first 24 league games of the campaign. The German winger is reportedly on around £13,000 per week.
That said, the lowest salaries of the top 50 highest-paid players in the Premier League – Joelinton, Boubacar Kamara, and Youri Tielemans – net £190,500 per week. At the very top, it’s Erling Haaland on around £890,000 per week.
While the League One salary average comes in at close to £4,100 per week, in the Premier League, that average weekly salary clocks in at close to £88,500.
