Matt Hancock caused a few feathers to ruffle yesterday afternoon when during the Governments daily Coronavirus briefing he suggested Premier League footballers should take a pay cut in order to help prevent their own club from furloughing their non-playing staff.
This comes after the Toots furloughed all their staff just before it was made public that Daniel Levy had received a few extra million pounds for overseeing the completion of their new stadium build.
Hancock said:
“Given the sacrifices many people are making, the first thing PL footballers can do is make a contribution.”
The Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) have released a statement which read:
“Players will have to share the financial burden. We are aware of the public sentiment that the players should pay non-playing staff’s salaries. However, our current position is that – as businesses – if clubs can afford to pay their players and staff, they should.
“The players we have spoken to recognise that the non-playing staff are a vital part of their club and they do not want to see club staff furloughed unfairly. Any use of the government’s support schemes without genuine financial need is detrimental to the wider society. In instances where clubs have the resources to pay all staff, the benefit of players paying non-playing staff salaries will only serve the business of the club’s shareholders.”
Julian Knight, who is chair of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport committee has written to Premier League chief executive Richard Masters calling for action on player wages, saying clubs which furlough non-playing staff but do not impose cuts on player wages should be subjected to a windfall tax if they do not change approach by Tuesday, 7 April.
“The purpose of the coronavirus job retention scheme is not to support the economics of Premier League clubs.” Knight wrote.
The above information and quotes come from the BBC website so bearing in mind they broadcast the daily briefing, they should be accurate.
None of the above affects any Arsenal players as yet because for now, despite not being at work, the non playing staff are being paid by the club. However, a lot of football clubs can’t afford to do the same. Bournemouth is one of them. Eddie Howe along with three other highly paid members of staff has taken a large reduction in pay but as far as I can make out, his players haven’t, despite all the non-playing staff having been furloughed. Bournemouth have said they’ll pay the 20% which the government doesn’t cover. Norwich, Newcastle and Toots are the other PL clubs furloughing employees. Brighton’s chief executive, technical director and head coach Graham Potter have all taken a pay cut for the next three months as their club continues to pay its non-playing staff. What a good example of how to look after staff.
But as always, when it comes to money, human beings get defensive. Why should one group of sportsmen be penalised when around the world, others are raking in the millions? Well, I guess the simple answer to that is we not hearing about staff being furloughed. Yet. What about the multi millionaires around the UK? Well, why should they worry about football is my answer to that. This is about football looking after it’s own sport. Players taking a pay cut so those who look after them all year round, get something back. For just a few months. Not years.
Is that really too much to ask of them?
Good morning Rico.
Apparently Premiership footballers have the most iron-clad contracts of any league in the world. This has come about as a result of the efforts of the Professional Footballers Association (PFA). As with all trade unions the interests of it’s members override the good of the general public.
Shaming the PFA and the players may work, but turkeys just don’t vote for Christmas.
Morning Cicero. As they might but I bet there is nothing in a contract which relates to taking a pay cut because of a pandemic virus.
I wouldn’t bet on that Rico, Force Majeure?
Golf , Tennis , Formula 1 , even athletics have people that earn mega money but also there are many just about managing to stay on the tour. These are the ones that make up the qualifying rounds and go out early but without them tournaments would not take place and there would be no opportunity for improvement.
It’s too easy to point fingers at the top people and then paint everyone with the same brush . We hear about the Messi’s and Ronaldo’s sharing their wealth in different ways , giving money directly and lending their out of football assets to local services to help .
It seems that Hotels appear to be the latest scheme and Ronaldo’s Portuguese one and Messi’s in Sitges are being handed over to isolation purposes for key workers .I believe that Gary Neville and Ryan Giggs are doing the same in Manchester.
At the same time it is very unlikely that players from lower leagues or even the lesser premier players are in that position . They like most of us live up to their income . In a nut shell some can do it others can’t.
Any way I am rambling , it’s the isolation . The point that I am trying to make is that it’s not a level field but as in most things media reports distort public opinion.
When I start to hear that people outside sport start to give their wealth to the cause . Tv personalities , Actors , airline moguls , Soros ,I.T magnates , City billionaires , politicians , Lords then I will feel free to point the finger at footballers .
Until then it’s just jumping on an easy target.
What needs the most publicity is that some clubs , major businesses and their owners are leaving the tax payer to pick up the slack , but of course the media don’t want to upset their mates do they ?
I guess such an inclusion will come out in the wash Cicero. I’d be surprised though because of what the PFA have said, Linekar too who has donated £300k to the Red Cross.
But this is about football looking after football Potter, not making donations to the NHS etc. It’s about the really wealthy looking after the staff at the club they play for for a few months.
Maybe I’m expecting too much of blokes who are earning £200k a week etc, after all, it must be a struggle to live off half that amount for a short period of time.
Other sports need to look after their own too.
Johnathan David and Ollie Watkins are linked with a move to Arsenal.
David is at Gent.
Watkins is playing in the Championship.
Watkins is an Arsenal fan..
What I don’t understand is that football clubs always say the majority of their revenue doesn’t come from gate receipts, but from sponsorship and TV rights.
Presumably they have had this money already, so in theory shouldn’t need anyone to reduce salaries or be laid off/furloughed.
I don’t blame the footballers for keeping their pay, but I do blame the club administrators for finding ways to not honour their commitments to their non-playing staff. Despicable.
Dt, that TV revenue etc might have to be paid back if the season doesn’t finish, which right now looks highly unlikely.
Tottenham’s owner, Joe Lewis, is a tax exile living in The Bahamas. As such he pays minimal tax to this country. His net worth is reckoned to be around $4.7 billion, yet he is happy to let the British tax payer subsidise the wages of his 550 employees at his football club.
At 83 years old it is unlikely that he would be unable to pay to keep himself and his family in luxury for the rest of his life. It is disgraceful that he is allowed to sponge off the general public when he is rolling in money.
Hi All I know I am going to upset every one but when the multi millionaire and billionaire owner’s of the top club’s don’t put money into the club and only take out ( self sufficient club ) all the time then why should the players take a pay cut and as for sacking or cutting the pay of non players just shows how little respect the owners really have for there staff. So if the owners can not stand the heat get out of the kitchen
If the premier league and clubs have to give some money back to pay tv companies due to no matches being played then the pay tv companies must be made to pay back there customers back for non service
I bet if Joe Lewis needed a major operation that he’d be back in the U.K. like a shot, to get it on the NHS…
Bill Withers RIP, loved his voice.
My thoughts were that those thast can afford it , should following the previous examples volunteer it .
So did I Kev. Fitting that it’s a lovely day today…
Now I’m hoping and expecting that the latest rumour doing the rounds is just be the usual agent inspired bollocks we’ve been so used to hearing when things around football are quiet, but following on from the worrying links to Smalling and then the even more terrifying links to Lovren we get the insane rumour that Arsenal are after Lingard, that’s right fcuking silly bollocks Lingard…
Are the club really trying to totally destroy any chance they have of selling season tickets for next season?
If there is any truth in any of those three crackpot rumours then somebody at Arsenal really should be quickly handed their P45…
Perhaps they are April fool jokes that got held up in the post. There’s no other rational explanation. 😉
I think football’s in for a very large shock when this is all over. So many season ticket holders will not go back . Large crowds , close proximity and no guarantees that this virus or any mutation is fully gone .
Will things revert ,?
Back in the day at Highbury season tickets were mainly in the West and East Stands upper and the rest of the stadium was walk up. Of course there was no seperation of fans but clubs had little guaranteed income and television income was in it’s infancy . Only firms like Vernons and Littlewoods gave money to produce the pools as they needed the fixture lists. Referees were amatuer and the entry to the North Bank and Clock end cost roughly the same as a pint of beer .The East stand had a seat and cost a large scotch if you were flush .
Football is global and so is this virus , it’s everywhere , and football like everything else is going to have to cut it’s cloth .
On another subject as my wife and I enter our third week of isolation we hear that flights bringing British nationals back to the country from India and South America are about to land .
Are these people being quarantined ?
and if not WHY not .
Morning Rico and all. Kev, let’s hope that it’s all just nonsense and paper talk.
It is hard to believe that Arsenal and football in general will emerge from these dark days in anything but a different form. I think Potter is right. It’s going to be something of a culture shock for the clubs as they see their incomes inevitably diminish. I suppose it could be a reality check for a lot of people.
Morning all.
A different future ahead for all of us, and the unknown is pretty worrying, imo.
Morning all.
Is everything as good as possible with you and your families?
Hello JM, here in Oz, we appear to be on top of things atm, but that can change quite quickly.
My family and friends remain untouched at this point.
How are you coping?
Yeah, like you Adam I’ve felt that Potter is right and I’ve felt this way for awhile, football is in for a sharp shock I suspect.
As you say Cicero, an April’s Fool joke – here’s hoping eh?
I have heard some people suggest that as with the boom in crowds following the Second World War that we’ll see a similar situation as people return to normality when the virus (please God or whoever) finally fades, but I wonder?
Yeah, there’s similarities of course, but we didn’t have social distancing back in 1946!
Free transfers, sensible transfers and common sense salaries are the way to go next transfer window, unless there’s a nailed on bargain like Jaydon Sancho for £40m, but Lingard!!!
Nah, that’s just plain stupid.
Changing the subject, I’ve just discovered the delights of a jet washer, lads/ladesses they’re the dogs do dahs, addictive I’d say, I nearly jet washed the cat, fortunately I snapped out of it in time, but he’s up a tree watching me with deep suspicion…
All good in Wickford JM, hows things on the Atlantic seaboard?
Still breathing JM thanks , E voce ?
For now, nothing unusual here.
Well considering the mayhem in Spain JM, I’d be inclined to keep a low profile…
With 130,759 cases and 12,418 fatalities not too many miles away staying indoors seems the sensible solution…
I live about fifty yards from the A140 Norwich to Cromer road. From my garden on a normal Sunday I can hear quite a lot of traffic but today, during a couple of hours sitting in the sun with the Telegraph puzzle page, I heard almost nothing but high powered motorbikes bikes obviously travelling at much more than the 40 mph speed limit. I wonder what was “essential” about their journeys.
Funny that , we heard them in Potter Heigham and my son in Wroxham . Probably the local Harley group taking advantage of the low price of petrol . My car is currently on 3 weeks to the gallon.
ople not using their cars should go out and run them for a bit before their batteries go flat. Although you are not using the car there are many little drains of the electrics going on automatically . Alarms etc.
Potter, I did use mine for a run into Norwich on Saturday, shopping for essentials only of course, Lidls was amazingly quiet, we got all we needed and even a selection of Easter eggs for the children and grand children. My two sons and their respective wives have been very kind and helpful and the grandkids deserve a bit of chocolate as a treat.
Looking in the bathroom mirror I think I spent a bit too long in the sun, a ripe tomato was my wife’s description of my face.
Still Vitamin D is an essential for good health, I just hope my head doesn’t peel, the hair has mostly all gone so the scalp is a bit overexposed. Hey ho!
Good night one and all. 😴
Kyle Walker, a pathetic example of today’s self entitled, arrogant multi millionaire sportsman.
Morning all.
New post up now