Former England rugby player Joe Marler was left visibly stunned when podcast guest Jimmy Bullard disclosed the biggest contract of his football career.
Bullard, who worked his way up through non-league before earning a move to boyhood club West Ham, went on to play for the likes of Peterborough, Wigan Athletic, Fulham and Hull City during a respected 15-year career.
He has since gone on to become a popular media personality, co-hosting Saturday morning show Soccer AM before it went off air. The 46-year-old is now a regular on YouTube show Golf Life alongside Tubes and his brother Ange.
The former midfielder has also appeared on numerous podcasts since hanging up his boots, including Joe Marler’s Things People Do show.
Here, the pair spoke about a number of subjects, including player insights and hilarious moments, as well as footballer wages – a discussion point that left former Harlequins player Marler in a state of disbelief.
Marler began the segment by asking: “In your heyday, what were you on as a footballer?”.
Bullard responded: “My biggest contract was £50,000 a week”, which brought a moment of silence from the former England rugby international. Looking visibly shocked by the revelation, he eventually replied: “£50k a week?!”
Asked what he assumed modern day Premier League footballers earn, Bullard said: ‘”I’d have to say a few of the Manchester City boys must be on £350k a week.”
Bullard has previously revealed how a typo in his contract at then-Premier League side Hull City earned him millions.
After leaving Fulham in January 2009, he signed a four-and-a-half year deal with Hull for a club-record fee of £5 million. It was a life-changing moment for the midfielder, who opened up about contract discussions on his Magic Sponge podcast.
“I was doing my contract with my dad but I had my agent there,” Bullard explained. “We had the chat before with the club, he’s obviously gone away to talk to the club, and the contract was £40,000 a week. And I was like ‘yeah, blinding contract, let’s sign it.’
“I’ve gone to sign it, I see on the paperwork it says £50,000. So I’ve passed it under the table to my agent, my agent’s gone ‘yeah, that’s a misprint, sign it.’ As I’ve signed it, I blew it dry, and then I read under it as well, another £5000 or £6000 appearance, whatever it was.
“And he’s said: ‘yeah, just sign it, just sign it’, and blew it dry.”
Bullard became Hull City’s record signing in 2009. Image credit: Getty
“This club is chucking it away like confetti that’s a joke,” he added. “So I was on £55,000 a week from £40,000. Amazing contract, amazing. And I’m celebrating to this f***ing day. Thank you Hull City for changing my life. I’m dropping cash everywhere, I’m bleeding cash.”
