Pay cuts, furlough or deferrals: what are the Premier League clubs doing?
Arsenal continue to monitor the situation regarding player and staff wages and are playing an active role in the Premier League’s discussions. But there has been no decision taken and the focus has been on ensuring casual employees are looked after. All will be paid as normal until 30 April with the situation reviewed thereafter. Full-time employees were paid for the month on 27 March, as expected. For now there is little appetite to make redundancies. Nick Ames
Aston Villa
The club have continued paying all employees as usual, with the situation under regular review. Casual matchday staff were paid for the game against Chelsea on 14 March even though it did not take place. Paul Doyle
Bournemouth
Eddie Howe became the first Premier League manager to take a voluntary pay cut on Wednesday, offering to work on significantly reduced terms together with his assistant, Jason Tindall, the technical director, Richard Hughes, and the chief executive, Neill Blake. The chairman, Jeff Mostyn, and other key personnel continue to be paid in full and the club have committed to ensuring employees continue to receive their full income after furloughing around 50 staff, including those in marketing and hospitality departments. Ben Fisher
Brighton
All matchday staff will be paid until the end of the season and the chief executive Paul Barber, head coach Graham Potter and technical director Dan Ashworth have taken voluntary pay cuts for three months to ensure other staff continue to get their wages in full. Barber previously admitted some cuts may be possible. “What we have to do is protect jobs,” he told the BBC. Ed Aarons
Burnley
Will pay all matchday and non-matchday casual staff until 30 April at least, then review the situation. The club feel they can also reach that point without having to ask players to take wage cuts or deferrals, though would be mindful of anything decided at the PFA meeting if inactivity lasts significantly longer. Paul Wilson
Chelsea
Non-football staff are still being paid their full salaries. The club have also opened up the Millennium Hotel on their stadium site to NHS staff working in London hospitals, and their players have donated money to enable the Chelsea Foundation to help those in need during the crisis. Jacob Steinberg
Crystal Palace
The chairman, Steve Parish, has promised all employees will receive full pay during the coronavirus outbreak and that matchday staff will not be “disadvantaged financially”. The club have also guaranteed they will pay full salaries to any staff members off work because of Covid-19. EA
Everton
The club’s wage-to-revenue ratio climbed to 85% in 2018-19 but no costcutting measures have been introduced so far, with players and staff receiving their usual pay. An announcement on their next financial step is likely to follow Friday’s Premier League meeting. The club, along with Everton in the
Community, have committed to paying “all directly engaged” matchday and non-matchday casual workers. Andy Hunter
Leicester City
The club have carried on paying all employees as normal so far. No decision has been made about casual matchday staff who have not been able to work since the league’s suspension. PD
Liverpool
Players and staff continue to be paid as normal although that is likely to change, at least in terms of players’ salaries, following the Premier League stakeholders’ meeting on Friday. Liver
pool have committed to paying matchday casual workers for three home games that were due to be played before 30 April, costing the club around £750,000. AH
Manchester City
City have made their councilowned stadium available to the NHS and promised to pay 1,000 matchday staff for the rest of the season regardless of how or when it ends. Financially well-resourced, they have no immediate plans to ask players to take pay cuts or wage deferrals. PW
Manchester United
Have agreed to pay their huge matchday staff for the rest of the season. Monitoring the situation over player contracts, some of which are also huge, but feel better protected than most because their 25 global sponsorship partners make them less reliant on TV and gate income. PW
Newcastle United
All non-first team staff have been furloughed by Newcastle, the first Premier League club to take advantage of the government scheme. The number includes scouts, academy workers and those employed by the club’s charitable foundation. Paul MacInnes
Norwich City
Norwich have furloughed all fulltime staff who are “unable to work at this time” using the government scheme. They will supplement the furlough payment so that staff receive the equivalent of a full salary. The players, coaching staff and executive team have donated a percentage of their salaries, totalling more than £200,000, to those in need in Norfolk. PM
Sheffield United
All employees have been paid as normal and have not been told to expect that situation to change imminently. PD
Southampton
Southampton’s players, management team and wider staff continue to be paid in full as the club await the outcome of the Premier League’s video conference between stakeholders on Friday before taking any possible action. The club’s pool of hundreds of casual matchday staff are yet to be affected by the shutdown owing to an absence of home matches in recent weeks, and most full-time employees are working remotely. BF
On the day when Spurs reduced the wages of their 550 non-football staff by 20%, in some cases by placing them on furlough, it emerged that their chairman, Daniel Levy, earned £4m plus a deferred £3m bonus in the last financial year. Levy wants players and coaches to accept lower pay. JS
Watford
Every member of Watford’s playing and administrative staff remains on full pay before Friday’s Premier League video conference, during which pay will be discussed and following which the club’s policy may be reconsidered. Savings have been made through a review of the club’s supplier base, with activity at Vicarage Road now minimal. Simon Burnton
West Ham United
All non-football staff are being paid their full salaries while working from home, and casual and matchday staff are also being paid as normal. The club, who are in favour of players deferring pay, are also supporting requests from employees who wish to volunteer for the NHS. JS
Wolverhampton Wanderers
When announcing the closure of almost all the club’s facilities the day after the Premier League’s suspension, Wolves’ chairman, Jeff Shi, vowed “all of our staff will of course continue to be paid for the duration of the club’s closure and this period of uncertainty”. That remains the case, with no furloughing. It is not clear what arrangement will be made for casual matchday workers. PD