Burnley promise full pay for staff

BURNLEY chairman Mike Garlick has vowed to keep all the club’s staff on full pay for the foreseeable future. The Lancashire club are one of the smallest in the Premier League, making a profit of just £4.3million in the last financial year. But after a week in which Liverpool and Tottenham were criticised for placing non-playing staff on the Government’s emergency furlough scheme, Garlick vowed to hold out for as long as possible. ‘It’s a conversation we have had over the last week,’ Garlick told BBC Radio 5 Live. ‘We have taken the decision — certainly short-to-medium term — that we and the club will fund non-playing staff. We will not be furloughing them.’ Garlick said over the weekend that Burnley could lose £50m if the coronavirus outbreak continues to cripple the country. But last night he said: ‘That is the worst-case scenario — if we don’t finish the season and there is no new season in sight. But I don’t think it will come to that. I think we will start playing again and we need to. People want to see football.’ If the season does not resume by July, Burnley will look again at whether they have to furlough some staff. In the meantime, Garlick will not be asking the club’s players to take a pay cut. ‘We will not unilaterally impose things on the players,’ he said. ‘If they decide to help us in any way we would be grateful. But we won’t think any less of them if they don’t. Talks are ongoing.’ Garlick is ready for Burnley to finish the current season behind closed doors and added: ‘That’s the reality. We are probably looking at that. We need to get the job done.’