Shock at Taylor wage
THERE is likely to be astonishment throughout football at how much the players’ union continues to pay chief executive Gordon Taylor. The annual Professional Footballers’ Association accounts for the year ending June 2017 reveal that Taylor was paid a package of £2.29million — over 22 times more than the £100,000 the PFA have given to research into concussion and head injuries. Even the £923,590 spent on antiracism equality development, another important issue for professional football, is dwarfed by Taylor’s pay packet, which includes a £777,183 bonus. Chris Sutton last night questioned how Taylor could justify his salary, especially as the PFA have failed to properly investigate whether there is a link between heading the ball and dementia. ‘Families of former players who are affected by dementia, such as my own father Mike, are still in the dark,’ said Sutton. ‘It is now 16 years since an inquest into the death of former West Brom striker Jeff Astle established that he had died as a result of brain damage from playing football. ‘When Alan Shearer made his documentary on dementia last year, Taylor said he didn’t know how many of his 50,000 PFA members suffer from the illness.’