Spitfire wrote:Back in the 60s The Beatles were paying 19 shillings and 6 old pence in tax for every pound they were earning - that was 97.5% - and they were STILL millionaires ....
Not true. The Beatles were paying 19/6 only on earnings they couldn't hide from the taxman. So not on overseas earnings, not on anything their accountants could claim against "expenses", and not on anything earned by Apple Records (which they happened to own but which paid them nothing ~ on paper) and which they sold when they were non-resident in the UK
Footballers can demand such high wages for only one reason. It is because there are millions of people who actually want to buy memorabilia with the footballer's name on it. Millions of home shirts, millions of away shirts, millions of euro2016 shirts, and everything else. Football clubs make virtually nothing directly from playing football, but they make a fortune from retail sales.
Putting the income tax up wouldn't make the slightest difference other than the player demanding a higher gross pay to preserve the net. Persuading the millions who buy this tat that they are idiots would be far more effective, but might be a little harder to achieve.

Edited to add ~ The teams also make a fortune from TV rights, paid for by the same millions of idiots who are prepared to pay Sky, BT et al to watch the rubbish they call sport.