Female employees at Ipswich Town FC earn more than 50% less than men - but the gap narrows to less than the national average when the club’s professional players and other top earners are stripped out of the calculation.
Figures published by the club under new rules which require all UK organisations with more than 250 employees to report on their gender pay gap show a mean average gap (total pay divided by the number of employees) of 53.7% in favour of men.
However, the median average gap (which ignores the highest and lowest paid staff so as to represent more typical middle-range earners) is just 9.0% in favour of men, which compares with a national average of 9.7%.
There is a bigger difference when it comes to bonus pay, with the mean average gap of 94.1% actually rising to 96.1% in terms of the median, with 14.2% of male employees at the club having received a bonus in the past year compared with just 2.7% of females.
However, the club pointed out that within its mainly female corporate hospitality team, where members earn commission, the median bonus paid over the past year has been higher for women than for men.
Female employees account for a higher percentage of the total among middle range earners at the club, at around 33%, compared with around 29% among higher and lower earners.
Ian Milne, the club’s managing director, said: “Football is a sport in which the highest earning player and management roles are almost exclusively held by men and this has a significant impact on our results.
“In all other roles we ensure that staff carrying out equal work are paid equal salaries, dependent on experience and qualifications,” he added.
Not all clubs have reported but the figures from Ipswich Town appear to place it in a “mid-table” position compared with other sides currently playing in the Championship.
The average woman at Milwall Holdings, parent company of Millwall FC, is paid 80% less than the average man while at the other end of the scale the median pay gap at Derby County is 5.0% in favour of women.
The median gap at Ipswich Town is less than half the 20% reported by East Anglian rivals Norwich City, where mean average pay for women is 76% lower than that for men.
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