Should PL footballers take a pay cut?

Interesting that England cricketers have taken a completely different view

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/52160991

Durham Fast bowler Mark Wood says it was the “right thing” for England players to make a £500,000 donation to the England and Wales Cricket Board and selected good causes.

Amid the ongoing coronavirus crisis, centrally contracted players volunteered to contribute 20% of their salary for three months.

“We were unanimous in wanting to help out,” Wood, 30, told BBC Sport. “We have obligations as professional sportsmen to be role models." He added: "But it is the people on the front line who are the real superheroes, doing an amazing job.”

“We didn’t just want to give to our sector, but also a charity of our choosing,” added Wood, who was part of the England side that won the World Cup last July.

“We had a group video call. There was a representative from the Professional Cricketers’ Association involved, but he can’t tell you what to do with your money and your contract. “When he went off the line, we had a discussion among ourselves and it didn’t take long to come to an agreement.”

As well as funding a charity, Wood said the elite players were also intent on giving back to the game.

With no professional cricket to be played in England and Wales until at least 28 May, and all recreational activities suspended indefinitely, all levels of the sport are set to suffer financially.

“We discussed how we could best help the game,” said Durham paceman Wood. “As the top players, how can we ensure the survival of county, grassroots and disability cricket? “It’s the right thing that we as cricketers help our fellow professionals.”

 

Why is that at different view? That's just the England players ie the top earners.

The football situation was completely different and was asking every person to make a bigger wage cut.

Then they were given advice from the PFA which told them to wait.

Then Matt Hancock shat on them.

Also, in general, footballers come from poorer backgrounds than cricketers and are usually not as academic.

Footballers also have lots of people working on "their behalf".

My only criticism of the footballers would be that they didn't react sooner but as we know with the communication skills of Mike Ashley they probably were not informed of the non playing staff being furloughed and only found out when it was in the media spot light.

 

It's different because footballers are hanging on waiting to be told what to do by their Union - the cricket lot just got on with it and essentially said bollocks to their Union and put their sport as a whole first

I agree that footballers have been singled out and other high earning sports stars etc should be in the same bracket - just in this case it seems to me like players are getting off their arses and doing something without waiting to be told what to do

 

I'll refer to the lack of academia of footballers compared to cricketers

 

You don't need qualifications to be intelligent, but yeah - I get your point however you still doesn't need to be a genius to work out

When clubs like Burnley reckon they might go to the wall over this, it doesn't hold out a lot of hope for the clubs further down the food chain

 

That's because, like a lot of clubs, they didn't the TV money before receiving it.

After all of this think an urgent review of club management needs to be under taken.

God save Mike Ashley

 

No way footballers should be footing the bill for this, why are we not chasing down movie/tv stars, singers and bands, heads of banks, companies, multi billionaires like Dyson and Branson as well?

Think the vast majority are being sensible and donating money as well to causes.

 

Agreed - all sports stars, movie/tv stars etc should be or already are doing so.

However I think football in the UK is massively behind the curve however, especially when you look at the players, managers at Barcelona, Athletico Madrid etc who've taken a 70% cut although there's no league wide mandate to do so

 

As previously mentioned taking a pay cut means the government loses £15m a month in taxes.

This only benefits the club. Now some clubs need this. Some clubs don't.

Also, the footballers in this country already do so much in the local community.

 

Except most of any reducton is due to be deferred rather than a full on reduction so the Govt are going to miss out too much in the long term, but it would certainly assist a lot of clubs and staff in the short term

And yes, I agree a lot of footballers do a great deal within the community in general - but you have to admit the scenario of some business employees being paid tens of thousands of pounds a week while others are furloughed does seem wrong.

 

Then all businesses should either furlough all staff or none at all.

Players have held to much power of the last 20 years and clubs have allowed it.

To make Sean Longstaff to take a 30% pay cut and Mike Ashley take in all sorts of money is a joke.

Having worked at an inner London school for a number of years I have seen when my own eyes how much west ham footballers have actually done locally and that's just one school!

Players don't even discuss their contracts with clubs, it's their agents.

Personally this should not be about individuals but companies.

Take a certain coffee shop chain who recently gave big discounts to NHS workers and have since furloughed their staff.

They paid approx £5m tax on their profits when it should have been closer to £17m. The difference would pay for a lot of nurses.

So not only are they actively using loop holes to pay less tax but that is a tax on profits so they make huge profits and still have furloughed their staff.

 

Does that mean your a teacher?

 

yes he's teaches statistics.

 

No it’s a serious question as if he is a teacher then he will be getting full pay and having to work. Although it’s half term now.

Before anyone gets on their high horse ( I mean that at everyone) and in the utmost respect I work in a support role for a trust who runs schools. So I am getting paid in full but I am also working full time still. I’m probably one of the lucky ones in that I can work from home with it hardly affecting my productivity at the same time as being isolated.

However to counter balance that my wife lost her job a week before the lockdown. Which means no income and no support either. So we are down to one wage.

 

I have told you his profession you turnip.

 

Back on point. I think the ethical thing to do was to furlough at the club all employees. Both playing and none playing staff. But that is just my opinion.

Footballers get a lot of negative press because of the obscene amount of money they earn. Note I said earn! Because that is what they are worth as it is what the clubs are prepared to pay.

What alarms me is that I have some clients with currently no source of income at all. Yet the footballers continue to get paid? What is right and wrong I don’t know!

 

Ha ha so he actually teaches statistics?

 

yes mate... down south somewhere

 

I am a teacher (of Maths), yes on full pay but that pay does not cover my outgoings which is why I have to private tutor. I am also working 3 days of the 10 days holiday at the school - again no extra pay.

Just to clarify (not for you GG) but teachers only get paid for 43 weeks a year (39 working weeks and 4 weeks holiday) the rest of the time is not paid for! Yet usually I work with year 11s during feb half term, easter holidays and the may half term as well as doing odd saturday mornings on a rota - again no extra pay.

I also want to point out I am still working full time hours (for a normal person) - my normal school week I work 60+ hours for 39 weeks a year! Every half term I also work about 12 hours during the week, Christmas I have off fully, Easter hols I usually work 12-15 hours per week. The 6 week "holiday" I usually go back in to school the first week and do about 12 hours and the last week I am also in for about 20 hours getting ready.

 

But just because some people have no source of income why does that lead to footballers having to reduce theirs?