Mike: Greed between the lines – we’re not like EPL
ALLOA chairman Mike Mulraney insists Scottish clubs should never be bracketed with greedy Premier League outfits.
There is growing anger at the decision of leading English clubs, including Spurs, to use the government backed pay scheme during the COVID-19 crisis.
Spurs announced all 55 non-playing staff would take a 20 per cent pay-cut for at least April and May and placed a number of employees on furlough.
It has provoked an angry backlash among fans and politicians, especially as the north London club posted profits of £87million before tax in 2019.
Newcastle and Norwich are also using the scheme, which allows employees to claim 80 percent of wages from the Treasury, up to £2500-a-month.
A number of Scottish clubs, including Celtic, are using the scheme and Alloa have become the latest to turn to government aid.
However, Mulraney has assured all staff they will be paid the additional 20 per cent from club coffers – and every player currently on the books will be offered a new deal for next season.
He said: “There has been a backlash in England but Scotland’s doing the right thing.
“Ours is a community based game – even the bigger clubs are community based – and the Scottish public will see we are being responsible.
“We’ve shown a prudent approach to all this and even called off games before we had to. The government asked us to do it on the Monday but we felt it was right to make the call before the last round of weekend fixtures in a bid to support the country.”