Since the 13th of March, when all premier league games were cancelled for the foreseeable future, all premier league clubs have been left wondering what is next in terms of their season and if they can possibly get it back on track. There have been constant questions in the media about how the football pyramid will be able to maintain finances amongst smaller clubs that do not have funds to pay all players and staff members at the club, from the manager right down to the cleaners.
There is a pressure and slight demand on premier league clubs to help clubs within their regions, to help pay the bills and steady the books after all clubs will receive no match revenue. There was a suggestion that the two Manchester powerhouse premier league clubs, Manchester City and Manchester United, should do this in the Greater Manchester region with clubs like Wigan, Blackpool, Bolton, Salford and other clubs in the Manchester region. Clubs in the premier league have all responded to the coronavirus in ways that give back to others, with clubs like Crystal Palace, Brighton, Arsenal, Manchester United and a few more have either promised to pay all match day and not match day staff or have donated money towards the NHS. However, sadly enough not all clubs are in this positions as teams in League One and League Two, England’s third and fourth tier teams, are not in this position and do not have this luxury.
Recently, pay cuts have been proposed in the world of football, and has already been embraced in other fields of sport, all across the world. New Zealand rugby coach, Ian Foster, has took a pay cut and says the players will follow, Eddie Jones, the England rugby coach, has took a 25% pay cut and the German football league, the Bundesliga, has took this action with most clubs following suit. The PFA (Player’s Football Association) have said “as with other industries, the current Covid-19 crisis is having a severe impact on the finances of the game. Several clubs have already approached players with a view to imposing pay deferrals”. They also said in a joint statement with the Premier League “difficult decisions will have to be taken in order to mitigate the economic impact of the current suspension of professional football in England and agreed to work together to arrive at shared solutions”.
To conclude, in these difficult and hard times football is not the main priority of society at the moment and there are many more important matters. However hundreds and thousands of staff members who are employed by small clubs and part-time clubs will tell you that football is high up on their worry list as they have their income to worry about.
Louis Walshe
