Huddersfield Town face Newcastle United at St James' Park this weekend for the first time in the league since 1983, when the Toon ran out 5-2 victors.
Back then the average annual pay for footballers in the Second Division was £15,507 - meaning the average club would part with around £300,000 every year.
In 2014/15, Huddersfield Town paid their players £13m, according top Swiss Rumble - more than 43 times the wage bill of 30 years ago.
Newcastle United however, forked out £65m to pay their squad in the 2014/15 season - five times more than Town.
The Toon's wage bill dwarfs those of every other Championship club from the 2015/16 season, with Norwich coming closest to the astronomical figure by paying £51m to their players that season.
Championship wage bills in 2014/15 compared to Newcastle
Swiss Ramble
Although Newcastle have let some of their highest earners go - with Fabricio Coloccini, Papiss Cisse, Andros Townsend and Georginio Wijnaldum all leaving the club and Moussa Sissoko to follow - they have also added to their ranks.
This suggests the Magpies' wage bill will not significantly decrease this year and could well be the highest Championship wage bill ever, projected at around £75m.
In comparison, Huddersfield Town were the third lowest salary spenders in 2014/15, with only Rotherham and Charlton spending less than the Terriers.
Newcastle captain Coloccini is thought to have earned £60,000 per week last campaign - totalling a staggering £3.1m, despite his side suffering relegation to the second tier of English football.
That means Town could afford four Coloccini's in their squad and would only have just over £1m left in the bank.
Although Newcastle are favourites to win the league with the stars at their disposal, the eight largest wage bills in Championship history point to a hit-and-miss record for the big spending clubs, with less than half of them bouncing back into the top flight at the first time of asking.
Most expensive Championship wage bills ever
1: QPR: £66.4million (2013/14)
2: Norwich: £51million (2014/15)
3: Newcastle United: £45million (2009/10)
4=: Cardiff City: £42million (2014/15); West Ham £42million (2011/12)
6: Bolton Wanderers: £37.4million (2012/13)
7: Fulham: £37million (2014/15)
8: Blackburn Rovers: £36.6million (2012/13)
