Wycombe Wanderers boss Gareth Ainsworth has described the budgets of some of the teams in League One as ‘crackers’, as he admits the club have to ‘find different ways to try and compete’ in the division.

The League One season has currently got seven former Premier League teams competing in the third tier of English football in Ipswich Town, Sheffield Wednesday, Portsmouth, Barnsley, Bolton Wanderers, Derby County, and Charlton Athletic respectively.

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Six of those teams are presently occupying positions in the top eight, whilst other clubs such as Milton Keynes, Peterborough United, and table-toppers Plymouth Argyle have also had substantial financial backing.

This isn’t to say that Wycombe have not been supported since the Couhig family took over the club in 2020, as Wanderers have reached new heights in playing Championship football, whilst attracting international players to Adams Park.

These include the likes of Garath McCleary (Jamaica), Sullay Kaikai (Sierra Leone), Daryl Horgan (Republic of Ireland), and Sam Vokes (Wales) to name a few.

Ainsworth said: “You have got teams spending more than ever in League One with double-figure million budgets which has never happened before.

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“It’s crackers.

“Some of them are bigger than some Championship budgets, and we have to find different ways to try and compete with that as we’re Wycombe Wanderers.

“We don’t get 25,000 a week which adds millions to your accounts every year.

“We are what we are and I think people should be proud of what we have done so far, and how we have competed against these top teams.

“It’s tough but I firmly believe that we can be in the top 10, top six, or even top two come the end of the season.”

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Since joining the club in 2009 on loan from Queens Park Rangers, Ainsworth has seen Wanderers achieve three promotions (2011, 2018, and 2020), suffer three relegations (2010, 2012, and 2021), and two play-off final defeats (2015 and 2022).

A second promotion to the Championship avoided the club in May this year following their 2-0 defeat against Sunderland in the League One play-off final, and even though Wycombe have lost six of the opening 11 league games this season, Ainsworth is not ready to panic.

The club invested in youth to replace big names such as David Stockdale, Adebayo Akinfenwa, and Anthony Stewart who all left the club this summer. 

But the 49-year-old admits that it is sometimes ‘impossible’ for Wanderers to compete against some of the gargantuan clubs in the league.

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When asked if the financial advantages of some teams in the same division put clubs on different playing fields, Ainsworth said: “Without a shadow of a doubt.

“Whether it’s a concern or not, the governing bodies need to make sure that everything is done to the letter and sometimes I don’t think they do.

“But we have to make sure that we don’t spend beyond our means and I’ll make sure that we don’t do that.

“Rob Couhig has certainly put the funds in and has done so over the years, but I think it would be stupid to shell out money when the club can’t turnover that money.

“It’s crackers sometimes how business is run in football, but it’s that hope and glory of reaching the Championship or the Premier League as there is so much money up there.

“That’s where everyone wants to be and that’s what they gamble for.

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“But we’re lucky enough to say that we have done it the right way and the Couhigs have been brilliant, absolutely brilliant.

“We would not have made the Championship without them or the play-off final last season without his investment.

“But we cannot compete against teams that get 25,000 every week.

“It’s just impossible.”