Progression of the British football transfer fee record

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Bryan Robson was the subject of a record transfer in 1981. Bryan Robson at the cliff -march 92.JPG
Bryan Robson was the subject of a record transfer in 1981.

The progression of the British football transfer fee record tracks the increases in the record for the highest transfer fee paid or received by British association football clubs. A transfer fee is the sum of money paid by one club to purchase the contract, and therefore the playing services, of a professional footballer. Fees are not generally formally disclosed by the clubs involved, and discrepancies can occur in figures quoted in the press. Trevor Francis, for example, is regarded as Britain's first £1m player but was officially transferred for £975,000. The generally reported figure of £1,180,000 included Value Added Tax, fees to the Football League and Francis' signing fee. [1] Discrepancies may also occur due to deals which involve additional sums to be paid at a later date after a player has made a certain number of appearances, joint fees for two or more players, or deals in which one player is exchanged for a sum of money plus another player.

Contents

The first three-figure transfer fee was the £100 paid by Aston Villa in 1893 for Willie Groves. Eleven years later, Alf Common joined Middlesbrough for the first four-figure fee, a sum which caused a national sensation and outrage amongst the football authorities. [2] The £5,000 mark was first reached in 1922 when Falkirk paid that amount for West Ham United's Syd Puddefoot, and six years later Arsenal paid the first £10,000 fee to acquire David Jack of Bolton Wanderers. After the Second World War, the spending power of clubs in mainland Europe outstripped that of British clubs for the first time, resulting in several substantial jumps in the transfer record. John Charles became the first player from Britain to command a fee of £50,000 when he joined Juventus in 1957, and four years later Denis Law joined Torino in the first £100,000 transaction involving a British club.

The 1970s saw a rapid increase in transfer fees. Martin Peters became the first £200,000 player in 1970, but by 1977 Kevin Keegan's move to West Germany's Hamburger SV had taken the record to £500,000. In January 1979 David Mills became the first player to be purchased for £500,000 by a British club, but just one month later Nottingham Forest paid twice that amount to acquire Birmingham City's Trevor Francis. In 1981 Bryan Robson cost Manchester United £1,500,000, but fees paid by British clubs lagged behind those paid by clubs in Italy, France and Spain to take British players abroad until 1995, when Manchester United paid Newcastle United £7,000,000 for Andy Cole. The fees paid by the Premier League's top clubs began to increase at a rapid rate, with Alan Shearer commanding the first £15,000,000 fee in 1996, and the new millennium heralding the first £30,000,000 transfer, although sources differ as to whether this barrier was broken by Rio Ferdinand's move to Manchester United in 2002 or Andriy Shevchenko's transfer to Chelsea four years later.

On 1 September 2008, Manchester City agreed a reported £32,500,000 fee for Robinho, [3] which remained the record amount paid by a British club until 31 January 2011, when Liverpool paid £35,000,000 for Andy Carroll from Newcastle United, which was also a new record amount paid for a British player. A few hours later, the record amount paid by a British club was broken again when Chelsea paid £50,000,000 for Fernando Torres from Liverpool.

On 11 June 2009, Manchester United announced that they had accepted an £80,000,000 bid from Real Madrid for Cristiano Ronaldo. The transfer was completed on 1 July 2009, setting not only a new British transfer record, but also a new world record (either in pounds or euros). [4] In turn, that record was broken on 1 September 2013 when Real announced that their £85.3 million (€100 million) purchase of Gareth Bale from Tottenham Hotspur had been completed. [5]

This record was broken on 8 August 2016, when Manchester United signed Paul Pogba from Juventus for a fee of £89 million, again on 6 January 2018, when Philippe Coutinho moved to Barcelona from Liverpool for a reported initial fee of £106 million, which could rise to £142 million with various clauses being met, and lastly on 31 January 2023, when Chelsea signed Argentine player Enzo Fernández for a reported deal of £601 million.

Record progression

DatePlayerFromToFeeReference
1893 Flag of Scotland.svg Willie Groves Flag of England.svg West Bromwich Albion Flag of England.svg Aston Villa £100 [6]
April 1899 Flag of England.svg Jimmy Settle Flag of England.svg Bury Flag of England.svg Everton £400 [7]
October 1903 Flag of England.svg Benny Green Flag of England.svg Barnsley Flag of England.svg Small Heath £500 [8]
January 1904 Flag of Scotland.svg Andy McCombie Flag of England.svg Sunderland Flag of England.svg Newcastle United £700 [9]
February 1905 Flag of England.svg Alf Common Flag of England.svg Sunderland Flag of England.svg Middlesbrough £1,000 [10]
November 1907 Flag of Scotland.svg George Wilson Flag of England.svg Everton Flag of England.svg Newcastle United £1,600 [11]
February 1911 Flag of England.svg John Simpson Flag of Scotland.svg Falkirk Flag of England.svg Blackburn Rovers £1,800 [12]
October 1911 Flag of England.svg Billy Hibbert Flag of England.svg Bury Flag of England.svg Newcastle United £1,950 [13]
November 1913 Flag of England.svg George Utley Flag of England.svg Barnsley Flag of England.svg Sheffield United £2,000 [14]
February 1914 Flag of England.svg Percy Dawson Flag of Scotland.svg Heart of Midlothian Flag of England.svg Blackburn Rovers £2,500 [15]
March 1920 Flag of England.svg Joe Lane Flag of England.svg Blackpool Flag of England.svg Birmingham £3,650 [16]
May 1920 Flag of Scotland.svg Johnny Crosbie Flag of Scotland.svg Ayr United Flag of England.svg Birmingham £3,700 [17]
November 1920 Flag of England.svg Stan Fazackerley Flag of England.svg Sheffield United Flag of England.svg Everton £4,000 [18]
December 1920 Flag of England.svg David Mercer Flag of England.svg Hull City Flag of England.svg Sheffield United £4,500 [19]
February 1922 Flag of England.svg Syd Puddefoot Flag of England.svg West Ham United Flag of Scotland.svg Falkirk £5,000 [10]
March 1922 Flag of England.svg Warney Cresswell Flag of England.svg South Shields Flag of England.svg Sunderland £5,500 [10]
November 1923 Flag of Scotland.svg Andy Wilson Flag of England.svg Middlesbrough Flag of England.svg Chelsea £6,500 [20]
April 1927 Flag of Scotland.svg Jimmy Gibson Flag of Scotland.svg Partick Thistle Flag of England.svg Aston Villa £7,500 [21]
October 1928 Flag of England.svg David Jack Flag of England.svg Bolton Wanderers Flag of England.svg Arsenal £10,647 [22]
March 1938 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Bryn Jones Flag of England.svg Wolverhampton Wanderers Flag of England.svg Arsenal £14,500 [10]
September 1947 Flag of Scotland.svg Billy Steel Flag of Scotland.svg Morton Flag of England.svg Derby County £15,500 [23]
November 1947 Flag of England.svg Tommy Lawton Flag of England.svg Chelsea Flag of England.svg Notts County £20,000 [24] [25]
February 1948 Flag of England.svg Len Shackleton Flag of England.svg Newcastle United Flag of England.svg Sunderland £20,500 [26] [27]
February 1949 Flag of England.svg Johnny Morris Flag of England.svg Manchester United Flag of England.svg Derby County £24,000 [10]
December 1949 Flag of England.svg Eddie Quigley Flag of England.svg Sheffield Wednesday Flag of England.svg Preston North End £26,500 [10]
October 1950 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Trevor Ford Flag of England.svg Aston Villa Flag of England.svg Sunderland £30,000 [28]
March 1951 Flag of England.svg Jackie Sewell Flag of England.svg Notts County Flag of England.svg Sheffield Wednesday £34,500 [28]
July 1955 Flag of Italy.svg Eddie Firmani Flag of England.svg Charlton Athletic Flag of Italy.svg Sampdoria £35,000 [28]
April 1957 Flag of Wales (1953-1959).svg John Charles Flag of England.svg Leeds United Flag of Italy.svg Juventus £65,000 [28]
June 1961 Flag of England.svg Gerry Hitchens Flag of England.svg Aston Villa Flag of Italy.svg Internazionale £85,000 [28]
July 1962 Flag of Scotland.svg Denis Law Flag of Italy.svg Torino Flag of England.svg Manchester United £115,000 [28]
January 1968 Flag of England.svg Martin Chivers Flag of England.svg Southampton Flag of England.svg Tottenham Hotspur £125,000 [29]
June 1968 Flag of England.svg Allan Clarke Flag of England.svg Fulham Flag of England.svg Leicester City £150,000 [28]
June 1969 Flag of England.svg Allan Clarke Flag of England.svg Leicester City Flag of England.svg Leeds United £165,000 [28]
March 1970 Flag of England.svg Martin Peters Flag of England.svg West Ham United Flag of England.svg Tottenham Hotspur £200,000 [28]
December 1971 Flag of England.svg Alan Ball Flag of England.svg Everton Flag of England.svg Arsenal £220,000 [28]
August 1972 Flag of England.svg David Nish Flag of England.svg Leicester City Flag of England.svg Derby County £225,000 [30]
January 1974 Flag of England.svg Alan Hudson Flag of England.svg Chelsea Flag of England.svg Stoke City £240,000 [31]
February 1974 Flag of England.svg Bob Latchford Flag of England.svg Birmingham City Flag of England.svg Everton £350,000 [32]
June 1977 Flag of England.svg Kevin Keegan Flag of England.svg Liverpool Flag of Germany.svg Hamburger SV £500,000 [33]
January 1979 Flag of England.svg David Mills Flag of England.svg Middlesbrough Flag of England.svg West Bromwich Albion £516,000 [33]
February 1979 Flag of England.svg Trevor Francis Flag of England.svg Birmingham City Flag of England.svg Nottingham Forest £1,180,000 [28]
September 1979 Flag of England.svg Steve Daley Flag of England.svg Wolverhampton Wanderers Flag of England.svg Manchester City £1,450,000 [28]
September 1979 Flag of Scotland.svg Andy Gray Flag of England.svg Aston Villa Flag of England.svg Wolverhampton Wanderers £1,469,000 [28]
October 1981 Flag of England.svg Bryan Robson Flag of England.svg West Bromwich Albion Flag of England.svg Manchester United £1,500,000 [28]
May 1984 Flag of England.svg Ray Wilkins Flag of England.svg Manchester United Flag of Italy.svg Milan £1,500,000 [28]
May 1986 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Mark Hughes Flag of England.svg Manchester United Flag of Spain.svg Barcelona £2,300,000 [28]
June 1987 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Ian Rush Flag of England.svg Liverpool Flag of Italy.svg Juventus £3,200,000 [28]
July 1989 Flag of England.svg Chris Waddle Flag of England.svg Tottenham Hotspur Flag of France.svg Marseille £4,250,000 [28]
July 1991 Flag of England.svg David Platt Flag of England.svg Aston Villa Flag of Italy.svg Bari £5,500,000 [28]
August 1991 Flag of England.svg Trevor Steven Flag of Scotland.svg Rangers Flag of France.svg Marseille £5,500,000 [34]
June 1992 Flag of England.svg Paul Gascoigne Flag of England.svg Tottenham Hotspur Flag of Italy.svg Lazio £5,500,000 [28]
January 1995 Flag of England.svg Andy Cole Flag of England.svg Newcastle United Flag of England.svg Manchester United £7,000,000 [35]
June 1995 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Dennis Bergkamp Flag of Italy.svg Internazionale Flag of England.svg Arsenal £7,500,000 [28]
June 1995 Flag of England.svg Stan Collymore Flag of England.svg Nottingham Forest Flag of England.svg Liverpool £8,500,000 [36]
July 1996 Flag of England.svg Alan Shearer Flag of England.svg Blackburn Rovers Flag of England.svg Newcastle United £15,000,000 [37]
August 1999 Flag of France.svg Nicolas Anelka Flag of England.svg Arsenal Flag of Spain.svg Real Madrid £22,500,000 [28]
July 2001 Flag of Argentina.svg Juan Sebastián Verón Flag of Italy.svg Lazio Flag of England.svg Manchester United £28,100,000 [38]
July 2002 Flag of England.svg Rio Ferdinand Flag of England.svg Leeds United Flag of England.svg Manchester United £29,100,000 [lower-alpha 1] [42]
July 2006 Flag of Ukraine.svg Andriy Shevchenko Flag of Italy.svg Milan Flag of England.svg Chelsea £30,800,000 [43]
September 2008 Flag of Brazil.svg Robinho Flag of Spain.svg Real Madrid Flag of England.svg Manchester City £32,500,000 [44]
July 2009 Flag of Portugal.svg Cristiano Ronaldo Flag of England.svg Manchester United Flag of Spain.svg Real Madrid £80,000,000 [4]
September 2013 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Gareth Bale Flag of England.svg Tottenham Hotspur Flag of Spain.svg Real Madrid £85,300,000 [45]
July 2016 Flag of France.svg Paul Pogba Flag of Italy.svg Juventus Flag of England.svg Manchester United £89,000,000 [46] [47] [48]
January 2018 Flag of Brazil.svg Philippe Coutinho Flag of England.svg Liverpool Flag of Spain.svg Barcelona £105,000,000 [49]
January 2023 Flag of Argentina.svg Enzo Fernández Flag of Portugal.svg Benfica Flag of England.svg Chelsea £106,700,000 [50]

Notes

  1. Ferdinand's fee was also quoted as £30m, [39] with the potential to rise to £33.3m based on additional clauses. [40] Also reported as £29.3m, the total amount paid was eventually reduced by £1.75m to help Leeds avoid entering administration. [41]

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