The Premier League has confirmed that players will be asked to take a 30% pay cut to help protect jobs at their respective clubs.
Following a meeting on Friday, the clubs also reiterated their desire to complete the domestic season, however, no date has been set on a potential return to action. Instead, they will wait for the government to give them the green light when “it is safe and appropriate to do so.”
Having told players to resist accepting wage cuts when the subject was raised on a club-by-club basis, it is expected that the PFA and LMA will advise their members to accept the terms now that a consensus has been reached. A meeting is scheduled for tomorrow.
The pressure was heaped on top-level players yesterday when Health Secretary Matt Hancock took a cheap shot at them in the government’s daily coronavirus press conference.
Just days after billionaire-owned Newcastle United and Sp*rs took the opportunity to furlough non-playing staff to cut their own losses, he said:
“Given the sacrifices people are making, including some of my colleagues in the NHS, who have made the ultimate sacrifice and gone into work and caught the disease and have sadly died, I think the first thing Premier League footballers can do is make a contribution; take a pay cut and play their part.”
From what we can tell, most players, following the lead of their continental peers, won’t have a problem taking a cut. They aren’t blind to their comparative wealth but nor have they been in a position to speed up the legal specifics of such an agreement. In the meantime, many have made donations to charity.
The Premier League also confirmed that a £20 million donation would be made to the NHS to support communities, families and vulnerable groups during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Clubs also voted to advance £125 million of funds to help EFL and National League teams who are struggling to stay in business without matchday income to support them.
I just can’t understand why they players are coming in for so much stick over this. They’re working on it behind the scenes. Think how long one contract negotiation usually takes then multiply it by however many players operate in the EPL.. getting a consensus on this will obviously take time!
Because people are dying, NHS staff are putting their lives on the line (as in literally, not like some ‘hard-working’ centre back) and footballers have to buy themselves time and conclude a series of negotiations rather than actually pulling their heads out of their arses and rushing to support the people who have paid for their lavish lifestyles.
Can anyone help? I’m still trying to find a rational link between a global health crisis and the vilification of football players. My word, jealousy comes to the fore in difficult times. Here’s an idea, maybe stop paying to go and watch football because you’re clearly not aware that the money you pay doesn’t just sit in a fund and await a global disaster. 9/11 was not solved by footballers. The 2008 banking crisis was not solved by footballers. And this crisis will not be solved by footballers. Seriously, find a better and more rational place to direct your anger.… Read more »
Low and behold the man who constantly has to have his opinion heard has blessed us with his wisdom in an unsurprisingly condescending manner… ? Not that it’s even the slightest bit of your business but I am doing, which is why I feel justified in being frustrated (don’t mistake it with anger, which is clearly what you’re exhibiting) with players who are millionaires, and run up to fans in stadiums making contract signing gestures as though we should get behind them when they ask for more money (which if you didn’t know, comes from fans), who ask us to buy… Read more »
Well done, you’ve just argued the money out of tax paying (nurses, schools, hospitals) British based hands and into American billionaire hands. These guys pay exorbitant amounts of tax throughout their career. They have made their contribution. Arsenal contribute £50m a year just on player wages. And don’t throw the death statistics at me like I’m supposed to feel guilty. You still haven’t successfully shown any link whatsoever between rich footballers and a global health crisis. You just wanted a bitch about contracts renewal which I really don’t get in your discombobulated ramble that Pete would be proud of. The… Read more »
“Well done, you’ve just argued the money out of tax paying (nurses, schools, hospitals) British based hands and into American billionaire hands.” What are you smoking? The NHS desperately needs funding, players are deliberately paid exorbitant amounts so that their tax status doesn’t affect their enjoyment of their riches (many of whom avoid correct levels of taxation by using off-shore tax-haven accounts and loopholes). Asking them to give more than the paltry 30% they’ve offered, post-negotiations, is justified by the current circumstances. They’ve still got all their sponsorship and endorsements’ finances to play around with. “These guys pay exorbitant amounts… Read more »
Although I enjoy some light ribbing in discourse I don’t stand for personal attacks, of which you have supplied many. As a result, let’s just leave it there. There is quite enough negativity on the planet at the moment without me having to read slander like “distasteful little man” and “pathetic child” which are aimed at someone who has no more than differing opinions to you. It’s a shame because there’s room for a decent discussion on this. But we won’t get anywhere when perfectly acceptable views are discounted as vindictively as you speak of our supposed heroes who put… Read more »
The hypocrisy is utterly laughable. You predictably waded into the discussion with a deeply condescending attitude (if you hadn’t we could be having the decent discussion you suddenly decided was possible), you made out that the only reason this really bothers me is because I’m jealous of footballers wages, you then distastefully start bringing things in like 9/11 and ‘the chinese welding in the sick’ but only feel there’s too much negativity in the world when someone points out that you’re arguing like a pathetic child. You then suddenly act all passive and victimised, as though you were pleasantly projecting… Read more »
And as the world came to an end, Upamecano sat in a football forum, upvoting his own comments.
Stay safe brother. The world needs passionate people. Good chatting x
Haha what!? You of all people are accusing me of that? You’ve been caught out like-hacking in the past and it’s common knowledge you do it. I’m in my 40s ffs, I’m hardly going to waste time doing that. This forum is clearly more important to you than anyone else. I for one don’t even like the thumb up/down system, I’d rather debates were conducted by the gravity of their words, not likes/thumbs. When people don’t agree with you you blame it on like-hacking, calm your ego and for once just accept that your view, and approach to a discussion,… Read more »
The lady doth protest too much, methinks.
? Here, take this shovel, you’ll get there quicker!
Mate, if you’ve got such a good cause you’re working on, why not get on with it? You’ve posted every hour for over 24 hours – mostly rambling, angry, slightly confused essays. As you have such a rich private life that someone like me can only dream of, why are you spending all your time rewriting the British economic system and then gratifying said comments with your own hand? You clearly have better things to do, so do them. Try and work out a way where you don’t take differing opinions personally. It’ll be good for your mental and physical… Read more »
Wow, you just won’t let the hypocrisy cease will you. You constantly try to prove your point with lies and exaggerations. I’ve posted every hour for the past 24hours? You can see in the times posted that that’s wildly off the mark, and yet you’ve posted on nearly every article for years. You’re absurd, you constantly change your angle from condescending to being the victim to trying to take the higher ground. Now you’re attempting to mock my writing? It’s quite sad seeing such desperation. And for the record, I am getting on with it. Working with paint and varnish… Read more »
Fear can take many forms. We’re all feeling it buddy. But anger just doesn’t seem productive at a time like this. You’re doing something amazing, I’m really proud of people like yourself who go out of their way to volunteer for the nhs, or take food round to old people, or varnish and paint furniture. That feeling will be deeply nourishing at a time when a lot of us just feel plain helpless. I think I understand your opinion about footballs need to cut wages but I personally disagree with the vitriol in which you present your argument. And that’s… Read more »
I appreciate your response, I feel I was at best little more than matching the aggression I felt you were directing towards me, and I honestly didn’t see anyone other than yourself disagreeing with me, but admittedly that’s my opinion which I accept may well be biased. The varnishing/painting/refurbishing is nowhere near as impressive as the real acts of charity, but the shelter is really struggling at present with money and staff shortages, leaving many homeless incredibly vulnerable. Obviously people need to look after themselves but I do hope where possible people can look at areas in their community that… Read more »
And don’t forget to do those downvotes nice and steadily. You wouldn’t want to arouse suspicion. Amazing how the comment below me has been up 13 hours and only received 5 votes and mine is already on 5 after just one hour. Slow down mate, it’s a little obvious. Pace yourself.
This is becoming extremely embarrassing to watch. Stop projecting, just because you’ve been caught out like-hacking you assume that when your comment is disliked it’s a conspiracy? Just face it, you’ve played the villain too long and people are getting tired of it. You’re coming off aggressive, delusional, paranoid, extremely hypocritical and frightfully undignified
Well to be fair, I am pretty bored. And you’ve been such wonderful entertainment. It’s a bit weird that you feel the need to manipulate the likes but whatevs man, I’m not judging. He who is without sin may cast the first stone and all that malarky. It would be interesting to actually find out what people think of our discussion though. I hope it’s been as highly entertaining to them as it has to me. But the sad fact is, this news piece has been up for a while now and it’s most probably just me and you, wasting… Read more »
I am not, nor ever have been, manipulating likes, so please drop that. Barring today I barely even do the thumbs up/down, I just don’t like this idea that likes are in some way important, it’s the replies and conversations that make forums worthwhile. I used to moderate a sports forum that just got so toxic when the Twitter generation joined we had to close and reopen with a smaller private community on Reddit, where it now lies unused. Yeah sure a bunch of teenagers had fun for a few weeks but some of us had been talking to each… Read more »
Absolutely. People don’t realise that many values entertainment more than essentials like Health, education, etc. Its that’s value that’s reflected in the money in each industry and the employees in those industries. People like doctors and soldiers who put their lives at risk are paid more than entertainers like sportsmen/women, actors, musicians, etc. Ofcourse the power of TV and internet amplifies their reach. However the difference a doctor, police, firefighters make in the need of the hour can’t be valued less. BTW, I’m not a teacher, doctor, actor, musician and fighting anybody’s cause. I just find it weird that there… Read more »
I couldn’t agree more SB, and like you say, what would the situation be if key workers were playing hardball. And they’re the people who are really at risk.
I also love the irony of arguing over the amount of money in football with a guy whose name is a homage to a player we are trying to sign for +£50m.
My word you’re desperate, it’s just simple wordplay, how do you not get that? ??♂️
There’s always one apologist for these greedy, tight-arse footballers.
Yeah. Greedy. Tight arse. Actually, why don’t we get Andrew to sacrifice his wages? I mean, I bet he earns good money doing this, profiting off our support. When will Andrew earn too much and we all turn on him like the fans did to aftv?
Or how about we stop looking over other peoples fences and accept that some people have done a lot better than us. And that’s fine.
“…. accept that some people have done a lot better than us”. Who’s to say they’ve done better than us? Who’s to say they’re better at football than we are at our individual fields of expertise? Becoming richer doesn’t mean someone has done better. Football clubs are putting their lower-paid employees on furlough whilst fully paying players. So your comparison with Andrew is ridiculous, and could only be made by a simpleton. No Premier League club should be making use of the furlough scheme – that’s for small businesses which will go broke if they fully pay all their employees… Read more »
Because this ain’t just a global “health” crisis like the SARS or swine flu. What was a health crisis in one country is morphing into a global socio-political-economic crisis unseen since World War II
It was a masterstroke by the health minister to deflect the anger of the mob away from the complete shambles the government has made of this situation, and it’s worked a treat. Football players are not responsible for the state of the NHS or the level of other people’s salaries, yet the level of hatred coming out against them would seem to indicate that they’re the root of all evil in our society. I love my football, I’m proud of our club for the way that they’re handling this crisis and I love our players, most of whom already do… Read more »
Yeah it’s political skullduggery at it’s finest. If I was a player earning what modern footballers earn, yes I might give up part of my salary for the public’s benefit. But I’d tell this hypocritical, austerity-mad Tory government with it’s cast of utter creeps whose policies have left the country so vulnerable to this pandemic to ALSO give up some of what they’ve been paid and claimed in expenses at the taxpayer’s benefit. And maybe ask the Royal Family, and the bonus-earning bankers to as well. If the rich are being called to account, there should be no exceptions. The… Read more »
I absolutely guarantee you that the players are working on a package. But it needs to be coordinated, with a consistent approach, and the terms agreed by all parties. That takes a bit of time. It is the governments responsibility to handle the emergency and not the players’ fault that people are dying.
it baffles me a) that there is so much scrutiny of the players above the owners and corporations that own the clubs and b) people want such instant action from players. This is a marathon not a sprint. it will come!
For the record I don’t think a single person is blaming deaths on the players. But I do hope you’re right, it’s just with 30% agreed and it coming far later than we’ve seen in other countries who have readily volunteered donations before negotiations, not to mention it being far less, I still feel as investors into this industry we have a duty to put pressure on the club (owners especially, and management too) to do the right thing. Fingers crossed this pandemic has already been at it’s worst and by summer we can see the light of normality returning… Read more »
they’re an easy, working-class target that the government can say “should be doing more” rather than having to point fingers at people like Branson, or those who underfunded the NHS in the first place. Obviously I’d like to see footballers do more, and some are doing (Rashford provided meals for over 100,000 school children missing out in Manchester) but it’s telling the Tories have gone after the kids from estates and the third world who managed to make it big, rather than demanding anything of the suits with big surnames and hedge funds.
Definitely true about them being an easy target.
Just because Branson is a prick, doesn’t mean footballers aren’t too. Although, good point about the Tories – I hadn’t noticed that they went for a certain type of rich people, and didn’t mention another type. But if you look beyond the Tories and the main stream media, you’ll find the condemnation being more evenly spread – check out RT News for example. All these filthy rich celebs telling us to donate to the NHS, when they can, on their own, buy all the face masks and ventilators required for the NHS. As for Richard Branson, when this is all… Read more »
Well said. I’m still convinced it’s just a question of timing- players have a bilateral contract with their employers (the clubs). If they waive 30% of their wages then the only beneficiaries are the club owners, not the NHS.
They’re probably – quite rightly – holding out for some guarantees that their sacrifices will be passed on, not “banked” by Kroenke, Mike Ashley et al.
And when the cut is finally agreed, the Tories will take credit for it even though it would have happened anyway!
The only cheap shot I read is from Andrew.
I honestly don’t think players have difficulty accepting s pay cut under the current circumstances, but a coordinated approach amongst clubs, even Europe-wide would be welcome.
As long as the FA do the same 🙂
Great to see money being put aside to safeguard National League teams.
30%!? Is this a joke? I’m sorry, this will probably make me rather unpopular here but the greedy spoilt brats have the finances to go a long time unpaid without suffering, meanwhile Jobseekers had 1,000,000 applicants in a week because of this pandemic. Honestly, if that’s all they’re willing to cut, and the fact it took ‘negotiations’ rather than being voluntary shows just how unworthy of our money they are. For me, I’m saying goodbye to merchandise, tickets, TV sport packages, the lot! I’d sooner donate that money directly to needy causes from now on. If this is the derisory… Read more »
Quite right. My guess is the PFA can convince everybody to accept 30% rather than trying for 50% and loads refusing. Certain players will (and already have) go up and down in the public’s estimation based on how they react to this, and I for one hope that the arsenal team properly does something to help out, whether at home or abroad.
Totally, I really need to see at least our players do something substantial to regain some faith in them. And I hope the players, regardless of club, who are trying to hide their finances at this time don’t get away with it, from a PR point of view.
I hope you’re ok over in Spain, seems this has hit you guys particularly hard, you’re all on in our thoughts ✌?
Özil has just donated 1,5 M € to Germany, 25 000 mask and 1 000 ventilators to Gelsenkirchen. Enough?
Erm not sure why you need to put “Enough?” but that is great news, fair play to him. Thanks for letting me know, goes to show that pressure from fans to players to do the right thing is not only working but is having great results! ?
Mesut and many other players have always been generous, it’s got nothing to do with pressure from anyone. Why is it that you can’t just applaud goodness from successful people?
What? I literally said that was great news. The fact it’s taken this long (3weeks later than players like Lewandowski) suggests there is an element of fan feedback being considered. And I can’t applaud generosity from successful people? I’m sorry but you don’t know me in the slightest and if you did you’d know that in light of Koscielny’s sizeable donation to help save an accordion factory I was so impressed it inspired me to donate what I could afford to a British based arts charity, or how I repeatedly, with massive pride, tell my friends of Mathieu Flamini’s post… Read more »
Oh, so some of the “lazy, spoilt brats” have inspired you to do good things. I don’t make lazy assumptions about you, I take you at your word.
A lot of them are though, and don’t take to heart what was clearly a generalisation. I offered you a valid and honest counter-point when you accused me of being incapable of applauding anothers success, so calm your overreacting, it’s not pantomime season.
And by the way, you say you take me at my word, yet directly misquoted me, I put “greedy spoilt brats”, not “lazy, spoilt brats”, whilst I question their stance on money I do not doubt their commitment to being hardworking professionals who take physical fitness incredibly seriously. So maybe take me at those words, yeah?
It’s always amusing to see people with no talent complain about people with talent should be doing with their money. They played 70% of the season (if not more), so a 50% pay cut is ridiculous. There is a bargaining agreement, and it takes time to work out the ramifications of contracts. You’d know that if you ever had to sign one.
I’ve signed 5 contracts in the last 8 years, but I’m so glad that you’ve decided I’m talentless. If 50% is unrealistic why have players in other leagues voluntarily cut their wages by as much as 70%, and far quicker than PL players?
Maybe leave out the needless nastiness?
I’m more talented than just about any footballer that has ever lived – just not in football. I am intellectually more talented than them, I am more talented than them in speaking English, I am more talented than them in numeracy, I am more talented than them in changing light bulbs, I am more talented than them in tying shoelaces. Just because they earn more in half an hour than I do in a year, doesn’t mean they’re more talented than me.
I mean, not sure why it took a global pandemic for you to figure out how greedy, obscene and morally corrupt football is. Also, don’t worry about being popular. As long as your comment on here reflects the general mood, people will upvote you. Bear in mind though, that mood shifts like the sands day to day so it doesn’t accurately reflect whether you’ve made a good point or not.
It seems to me that Upemecano’s comments conflate two very different things: (1) higher paid employees taking wage cuts so that lower paid employees in their company can be kept on and paid their usual wage, without their company going bankrupt. (2) higher paid employees contributing money to the Covid response effort. This 30% footballers wage cut is only about (1) – ie protecting lower paid jobs in football clubs. Which clubs absolutely should be doing, and this is something footballers should help with if necessary. But the situation is complex, as some clubs might be rich enough to weather… Read more »
This represents some clever but transparent blame game spin work by agents and the PFA (albeit a form of retribution for the way the conservatives behaved) but shows they clearly, and rather uselessly, arranged for the cut to be pre taxation. But here’s a basic remedy: Players earning £1,000 to £10,000 contribute 10% of post tax earnings, players earning £10,000 to £25,000 pay 20% of post tax earnings, £25,000-50,000 pay 30%, £50,000-75,000 pay 40%, £75,000-£100,000 pay 50%, £100,000 to £150,000 pay 60%, and anything above £150,000 pays 70%. A staggered system that sees a fairer, tiered approach, meaning those earning… Read more »
Any system like you suggest is utter shite if it applies only to PL footballers (or any other single group of wage earners for that matter), and is entirely inappropriate if you are forcing it to be done based on your own personal view on who or who may not be “overpaid”. Some of the footballers at Arsenal are on wages not very much above the average wage. They aren’t all rich and spoilt. I haven’t seen any demands from the UK Government that billionaires who profit off of the income generated by footballers, and got into the industry purely… Read more »
Very well said.
Also, 30% of a footballer’s salary is a drop in the ocean compared to 30% of a billionaire’s yearly earnings. And there’s more billionaires out there than top-earning Premier League players.
You’re taking too much out of a basic example, and a basic example that doesn’t ask those earning less than £1,000 a week to pay anything, and only goes up in increments of 10%, so not sure why you feel the need to defend those I’ve in no way accused. Honestly, nobody would be left suffering. I am one man, all I can do is make a suggestion, clearly I don’t expect it to be ‘my way or the high way’, but I’d rather be someone who at least tries to pose solutions that add to the problems. I fully… Read more »
To paraphrase churchill, you can always rely on the premier league to do the right thing once they have exhausted all other options.
So if the season does eventually resume, does
That mean we get Saliba to finish off the season?
I don’t think it’s enough, but unfortunately we/I are part of the problem as we’ve helped create this monster. Footballers aren’t alone anyway – execs are laying people off en masse or slashing wages while taking modest pay cuts themselves. Then again, others, like Barca, are doing more and seemingly voluntarily. I’m not rich and highly doubt I ever will be, but at this stage if/when football comes back I’ll be right there so who knows.
A welcome development. But the onus is also on billionaire club owners to help out too, as was articulated by Blogs today. Everybody is expected to do their part in these trying times.
Isn’t it odd that the people we all rely on now in this crisis are mainly the lowest paid in our workforce ..NHS staff, shop workers,cleaners.All these overpaid spoilt Premier League footballers are being asked to do is reduce their weekly wage from say average £60,000 a week to £42,000 a week.I feel so sorry for them we should have a public appeal to raise money to make help them maintain their lifestyles.
To play devil’s advocate here; most if not all Premier League footballers likely fall under the 45% tax bracket. So as much as we deride their fat pay packets every week, the silver lining is that 45% of their salary is going back into the country’s society, and more importantly at this time – to the NHS, and now add another 30% to that, that’s a massive amount of Premier League player cash going back into society every week.
Ok, but that is not really the point is it. The reason they are being asked to take a pay cut is because the club is not generating revenue, thorugh games, attendaces, tv etc. at the moment, and we have players on huge wages literally being payed to stay away from the club and not to play football.
Judging by the few that got caught on the K2 tax scheme, I’d be amazed if all in football pay anywhere near 45%. Certainly not Levy.
The government is printing money like billyo to pay for the fight against the virus. Frankly on the scale of this the footballers contribution is a piss in the ocean. Players should be accepting pay cuts because the little people at their clubs are being furloughed. This money could then be used to pay their wages rather than putting that burden on the taxpayer. secondly they should accept cuts because without them their employers, I.e. the clubs may well not be in existence much longer. If season ticket renewals don’t happen and tv money doesn’t come down there will be… Read more »
That statement from the governmentwas a bit rich considering how many bilionairs they pander to
Are you surprised that govt. has been reduced to ‘Look, squirrel!’ by pointing out wealthy footballers? They have little to take pride in so far, let’s be honest, and they’ll want a ‘good news’ story to make themselves feel better.
‘Wealthy footballers not doing their bit’ is it. Selective political aim taking, I would suggest and nothing we haven’t seen before. Whether we’re now more or less tolerant of “Look over there!” cries when politicians screw up is anyone’s guess.
Spurs and others furloughing general staff but not players is a joke. Either you are a TEAM or you are not.
As for the 30% cut for PL players, I’d much rather the 30% was given to charity, in particular grass routes and lower level teams. Unfortunately I cannot imagine many owners donating the salary savings they make, and it is just going to the rich getting richer.
That’s a good point. If it’s not going to employing the other staff, etc., then what’s the difference?
You can’t stop paying somebody that has a contract just because they are being prevented from doing their job by external factors. The football clubs have a contract that tells them exactly how much they MUST pay the footballers whether they play the game or not. People on a weekly wage are a different thing altogether. Most of them can be replaced easily if they should starve to death while on furlough. This may not sound very nice but it is the reality for all of us on a weekly wage. Training a newbie doesn’t usually take all that long… Read more »
I think we can all agree that Hancock was shamefully trying to deflect attention away from government failures. But the PFA have also handled this terribly, it’s been a PR nightmare. Talk of pay deferments when people are being laid off is a total nonsense. They needed to take the lead and take the challenge to the club owners, instead they bottled it. The question of whether players or owners should pick up the tab is a nuanced one and will be different for different teams. Spurs and Norwich are in very different financial situations. And owners paying can have… Read more »
@arseblog what’s up with “waiting moderation”???
I miss football.
*the martinelli gif where he sarcastically aplaudes to NHS workers*
Matt Hancock isn’t in a position to point his finger at anyone. Him feigning his support for the NHS anf its employees as if he’s not part of the problem is unsavoury. He should put his money where his mouth is rather than using this to deflect his own dodgy dealings.
This is outrageous. How will Mesut get by on just over £1m a month now:-)
Özil has just donated 1,5 M € to Germany, 25 000 mask and 1 000 ventilators to Gelsenkirchen. What have you done proportionally?
Your are taking the comment too seriously. As you ask, I have lost all my work and being self-employed will get nothing until June from the government.
No point complaining though and I am enjoying my Arsenal DVDs from the early 2000s!
No professional athlete or owner of a club/team should complain about having to forego some salary or revenue when hundreds of millions of people around the world are suffering not only physically and emotionally from this pandemic, but also financially.
Put it in a simple way, Players wages are backed by actual match days games played. Now match day games aren’t happening, so wages should be cut down real well.
This is strictly about the club downwards to the employees, the owners (fans, legends and shareholders) are exclusive of any monetary benefits, so yes, wages to be cut especially if exorbitant while all subscriptions to stand.
The players didn’t cause the pandemic, it just brought a situation requiring a reality check……..
Nowdays players are also companies. At least the high profile EPL players. So this discussion is more about companies trying to negotiate who is gonna lift the load rather than actually helping.
Seems to me the government has pointed us towards certain companies (i.e. the richest players) in order to direct our attention away from the people who make the most money out of Premier League football. Why does nobody ask/demand/tell Kroenke et al to send the wage earners home but continue paying them a basic living wage until the football returns? Why does nobody demand that the TV companies that are making all that money out of PL football help to cover some of the cost of paying basic wages for club workers on furlough? Why should one small facet of… Read more »
I would say the main issue here is clubs like Newcastle and Sp*rs asking the government to cover the cost of paying non-playing staff while still paying their players 100% of their salaries. If they can afford to pay the players they don’t need government assistance to pay their non-playing staff, who as a whole constitute a small part of the monthly outgoings for a club on wages. Having non-playing staff on furlough amounts to the taxpayer subsidising these clubs’ owners and players’ salaries, which can’t be right for any club that enjoys the vast wealth brought by being in… Read more »
I think in times like this where people are literally sacrificing their lives to get this situation under control i don’t fucking believe that people have to be “talked” into taking a pay cut. Especially at such astronomical wages. I hope they are ready for some sphincter tightening realities come post Corona times.
By (people on) “astronomical wages” you mean Kroenke, I assume, or is he immune to this argument?
What wage does Kroenke drawer from Arsenal?
What wage does Kroenke draw from Arsenal?
In fairness to the players, it’s actually the clubs (Liverpool, Newcastle, S**** & Bournemouth) who are a total disgrace, make millions, furlough non-playing and expect us the taxpayers to cover this cost whilst paying the players in full. Players from the above clubs should contribute so the clubs aren’t taking taxpayers money, that is genuinely needed by other businesses
Can anyone confirm that WE are not employing this furlough scheme? We usually are morally better than other clubs, but it would be good to know for sure.
Apparrenly a 30% pay cut will mean £200m lost to HMRC. Comments please.
Lol yeah I saw that too. Didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. As you can see, I’ve laughed in this comment.
Why don’t they just donate £200m between them on top of the wage cuts?! Or maybe they could just do their tax returns as if they haven’t taken a wage cut. If they can get away with underpaying their taxes, then I’m sure they can get away with overpaying.
How much of that would go on paying the furlough staff at their clubs?
It’s a much better look if the players were subsidising it that the taxpayer
Better idea – players get 100% of wages, agree to PAYE full tax to the treasury to help the NHS, then the PFA suggests charities they can band together and put another 25% to
Arseblog, I really don’t get the difficulty you’re having with footballers being asked to take a pay cut. This issue has been brought to our attention because 4 premier league clubs have put their heads above the parapet and publicly furlough their non-playing staff. Unlike other entertainers, such as musician or movie stars, footballers are salaried staff not freelancers. If footballers were freelancers many of them would surely have been cut long ago! However, Football clubs like most business are having very serious cash flow issues, the only solution the clubs have is to reduce outgoings and as by far… Read more »
I’m all for this. The question is how much equity should teams have to give players (presumably into a giant mutual fund-like player ownership pool) to enjoy this relief from their ownership obligations.
None, how much equity should the staff get for being furlough?
makes sense for anyone asked to amend their contracts with ownership to get equity in exchange for the cut. Ownership should not be subsidized by staff or players.
It doesn’t make any sense, they’re not getting a cut of anything, just taking there share of this seasons losses.
Which is fair considering they take the lions share from revenues anyway.
It would make sense for players to take a short term reduction in order for them to try and preserve the lavish existence they’ve become accustom to. What they’ve really done is ensured a 30% reduction in all further contracts, which is short sighted and will cost more.
Not sure why footballers are singled out. And the money that is not paid, stays with who? How about the landed gentry who earn money for doing piss all. they don’t even collect rent, it is simply just deposited into their accounts.