The amount of money in professional sport has come a long way since the early 1970s when footballer and playboy George Best quipped: “I spent 90% of my money on women and drink. The rest I just wasted.”

Although Best was one of the most-talented and highest paid players of his generation, his earnings of £150 a week in the early 1970s were equivalent to £60,000 a year today according to The Bank of England Inflation Calculator. That is dwarfed by the earnings of today's top footballers and those of other professional sportsmen and women.