Plymouth Argyle boss reveals fascinating '£4.1m' budget insight after pipping Sheffield Wednesday and Co to promotion
With some fascinating insight, Steven Schumacher has revealed Plymouth Argyle’s budget after they pipped Sheffield Wednesday and others to promotion in League One.
Plymouth had a fantastic campaign in 2022/23, lifting the divisional title and securing a spot in next season’s Championship thanks to some remarkable consistency and a never-say-die attitude when going behind.
Schumacher won the Manager of the Season award for his efforts, and in an interview with Plymouth Live he explained the financial aspect of what they were dealing with as a club against the bigger budgets of clubs like the Owls and Ipswich Town.
“What we have done this year with our budget, it's unbelievable,” he said. “We started the season with a £3.7m budget and finished it with £4.1m because we strengthened in January - and that's everything included.
“That's not just on player wages, that's agents' fees, bonuses, relocation, accommodation, medical insurance - everything. We won the league with £4m.
“We are going to get that extra investment we get in the Championship. I think Simon (Hallett, the Argyle chairman) has said on record we will get all of that extra £7m.
“So our budget is going to be in and around £11m-£12m. There are teams in League One that are spending more than that this year, but we understood that.
“We understand we have got to try and recruit smarter and punch above our weight. We managed to do that this year on £4m, if we can manage to do that next year on £11m-£12m then so be it.”