Norwich City Football Club says the earnings of its players have skewed its gender pay and bonus gaps.

Figures published by the club show women's mean average hourly pay is 76% lower than men's, while in bonuses men's mean pay was 91% higher than women's.

The gender pay gap shows the difference between the total hourly earnings of men and women.

The median gaps – considered to be a more representative figure as the mean can be skewed by a small number of highly paid employees – at the club showed a better picture, with a pay gap of 20% and a bonus gap of 35%, both in favour of men.

In a statement on its website NCFC said: 'The gender pay gap analysis shows a considerable gender pay gap, however this is due to the fact that as a professional football club, our highest earners (the players) are all male and that we have a higher proportion of men in our senior roles (in particular coaching and management roles).'

Analysis showed that three-quarters of staff in the highest pay bands at the club were male.

In April 2017, when the pay figures were taken, 39.4% of the club's employees were female and there was one woman on its board.

The club said that while it would act redress the gap, the 'nature of professional football' meant its male players would continue to be the highest-paid.

It added: 'We will continue to analyse our pay and reward systems to ensure that men and women carrying out equal work are paid the same unless there is an objective, non-gender related reason for the difference e.g. performance, greater experience or a higher level of qualification.'

It added that the discrepancy in bonus pay was due to performance related 'incentives' in roles on the 'playing side'.

A string of Premier League clubs have come under fire for their gender pay gaps, with clubs including Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle United and Manchester City paying women more than 80% less than men, on average.

The proportion of women in the top pay band at many of the worst-performing clubs was under 20%.

Some, including Manchester City, have also calculated their gender pay gaps with first-team players and senior coaching staff removed.

All UK organisations with more than 250 employees are required to report their gender pay gap before April 5.