Southampton lead the way on wage deferrals to ‘protect future of club’
● Saints become first Premier League team to agree the move with players
Southampton have become the first Premier League team to announce an agreement with their players over wage deferral during the coronavirus crisis.
Saints, who have Scotland international Stuart Armstrong in their ranks, have announced measures to help the club and non-playing staff through the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Players, manager Ralph Hasenhuttl and his coaching staff have agreed to defer part of their salaries for the months of April, May and June “to help protect the future of the club, the staff that work within it and the community we serve”.
In addition, the club have confirmed they will not use the Government’s job retention scheme to furlough nonplaying staff during that threemonth period.
Fellow Premier League sides Tottenham, Newcastle, Norwich and Bournemouth have said they intend to utilise the Government scheme, with Liverpool reversing their decision to do so following widespread criticism.
In a statement, Southampton said: “Our owners, Mr Gao and Katharina Liebherr have put measures in place to ensure that all staff not deferring part of their salaries will continue to receive 100 per cent of their pay, paid in the normal way until June 30.
“The situation is ever-evolving and we will continue to monitor and assess the impact to the club over the coming weeks before deciding any further action necessary.”
Southampton have confirmed that “all activity at Staplewood Campus, St Mary’s Stadium and our other sites continue to be suspended except for essential activities” due to the coronavirus, with the situation to be reviewed at the end of April.
The statement added: “We will continue to offer our full support to the city of Southampton through the work of the Saints Foundation and provide any further assistance we can.”