All 10 Gallagher Premiership clubs pass salary cap audit as fly-halves top earnings

Every one of the 10 Gallagher Premiership clubs was found to be compliant with the league’s salary cap for the 2024-25 season, according to a detailed 58-page report published by PREM Rugby. The cap increased from £5m to £6.4m — its first rise in three seasons — pushing overall club cash spend up 6% to £7m.

Five clubs — Bristol, Exeter, Gloucester, Newcastle and Northampton — spent below the cap allowance in terms of players within cap, before additional credits are applied. Champions Bath led all clubs in academy wage investment, committing nearly £1m to developing the next generation of first-team players, with Harlequins a close second.

The £1.4m increase in the cap ceiling translated directly into a 10% rise in average senior player income, which reached £165,181 — a figure Salary Cap Director Andrew Rogers noted is above the pre-Covid average. Fly-halves remained the league’s highest-paid position, earning an average of £259,602, up from £231,182 the previous season. Wingers, despite their growing importance in both try-scoring and aerial contests, were the lowest-paid position at an average of £132,303, roughly half what playmakers receive.

Nine players were designated as ‘marquee’ signings and excluded from the cap at their clubs’ request. Those players earned an average of £533,000, and the data showed peak earning years fall between the ages of 29 and 31.

Squad sizes continued a downward trend, with the average senior and academy roster shrinking from 73 players to 69. Within that, the average senior salary cap squad fell from 43 to 42, and academy squads from 30 to 27 — a shift Rogers attributed to clubs streamlining their playing operations.

In his introduction to the report, Rogers said the publication builds on last year’s inaugural edition by now offering comparison data across five full seasons, from 2020-21 through to 2024-25. He also confirmed that, in addition to standard audits for all clubs, a full forensic audit has been conducted on each of the last five Premiership champions over the same five-year period — a measure designed to reinforce transparency at the top of the table.