Team budgets are always a hot topic amongst hockey fans. Never more so than in the past half year since Telford were bought out by media magnate Wayne Scholes, who almost immediately began spending money at an alarming rate (for fans of clubs other than Telford that is).
Now, every week, the Telford Tigers have a column running on their website, the ‘Colour Column’ as they title it, and this week it touches upon their budget. Somewhat amusingly to myself, and no doubt others too, it claims that the Tigers only have the ‘fourth of fifth highest budget in the league’. Now, this I find somewhat hard to believe. This summer alone they have added Jonathan Weaver from the Nottingham Panthers in the EIHL, Jason Silverthorn from the Hull Stingrays in the EIHL, and Martin Ondrej also from Hull to their roster. Add in Rick Plant, who was enticed away from Guildford mid season, and it is pretty clear that the club is willing to spend its owners money in the pursuit of success. The column tries to claim that it isn’t money that is the motivator behind these players choosing to join the Tigers, but something else. Something which they don’t specify, incidentally.
Now, far be it from me to claim I know all the team budgets in the EPL, but to attract 3 full time professional players direct from the EIHL in one swoop speaks volumes to me about just how big a budget they have. Each of these players on their own would take a significant chunk out of any teams budget, so all 3 are either so desperate to play for Telford they have taken major wage cuts, or the Tigers are paying more than they would like people to believe.
Now, don’t get me wrong, if a team can afford to spend a higher amount than another, then they certainly should, but I do wonder about the long term implications this may have for other clubs. if the Tigers achieve their owners aims for the forthcoming season, then next summer, everyone else will have to somehow find a way to increase their own expenditure to remain competitive, which may not be in their, or the leagues, best interests overall.
Part of the problem is that the EPIHL has no ‘wage cap’ system in place, so there is nothing at all to stop any team blowing everyone else out of the water when it comes to signing players. For my money, this needs to be remedied. We have already lost Slough (and I guarantee the fact that they would finish further down the table than previously with Telfords much stronger roster was a major part in Kozics decision), and I fear that come April 2015, we may lose more if things are not somehow brought under control.