PFA Comment

So the PFA are trying to use the NHS as their reason for players to keep their full pay.

Make me angry how out of touch they are ?.




PFA says Premier League 30% pay cut plans would harm NHS

By Dan Roan

The Professional Footballers' Association says proposals for a 30% pay cut for Premier League players would be "detrimental to our NHS".

The PFA also called on the league to increase its own £20m charity pledge.

The government has said it is "concerned" by what it called "infighting".

The league wants players to take a 30% salary cut in order to protect jobs, amid the coronavirus pandemic.

But the union says that equates to more than £500m in wage reductions, and a loss in tax contributions of more than £200m to the UK government.

The union also questioned Health Secretary Matt Hancock's public criticism of footballers' salaries during a news conference on Thursday.

"What effect does this loss of earning to the government mean for the NHS?" the statement read. "Was this considered in the Premier League proposal and did the Health Secretary factor this in when asking players to take a salary cut?"

Oliver Dowden, the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport tweeted: "Concerned about the turn football talks have taken...People do not want to see infighting in our national sport at a time of crisis.

"Football must play its part to show that the sport understands the pressures its lower paid staff, communities and fans face."

Liverpool furlough some non-playing staffWhat is each Premier League club doing on pay?

The PFA said all Premier League players "will play their part in making significant financial contributions in these unprecedented times".

England manager Gareth Southgate is reported to have made such a gesture by agreeing a 30% pay cut, although the Football Association declined to confirm when asked by BBC Sport.

Top-flight professionals have been coming under increasing pressure to take a drop in pay, especially with five Premier League clubs - Liverpool, Newcastle, Tottenham, Bournemouth and Norwich - now placing some non-playing staff on furlough leave under the Government's coronavirus job retention scheme.

However, clubs themselves are understood to have financial concerns, with Burnley saying on Saturday they they faced a shortfall of £50m if the Premier League season was not completed.

Brighton chief executive Paul Barber, meanwhile, said the Premier League was not ignoring the plight of the general population during the coronavirus pandemic.

The PFA statement came hours after a conference call with the Premier League and the League Managers' Association (LMA), the managers' union, to discuss the wage cut plans.

Saturday's call, which featured a Premier League presentation of the wage cut plans, was concluded in less than an hour with no agreement reached.

The Premier League is not mandated to make a decision on wage cuts, as it has to be agreed by the players and coaches. Clubs and players are now set to discuss the plan, with talks set to go into next week.

As part of the proposals, the Premier League would advance £125m to the English Football League (EFL) and National League, and give £20m towards the NHS.

The PFA says it is happy to continue talks with the Premier League, although it added: "£20m is welcome, but we believe it could be far bigger.

"The EFL money is an advance. Importantly, it will aid cashflow in the immediate, but football needs to find a way to increase funding to the EFL and non-league clubs in the long-term.

"Many clubs require an increase in funding just to survive. We believe in our football pyramid and again stress the need for solidarity between all clubs.

"Going forward, we are working together to find a solution which will be continually reviewed in order to assess the circumstance of the Covid-19 crisis.

"The players are mindful that as PAYE employees, the combined tax on their salaries is a significant contribution to funding essential public services - which are especially critical at this time."

During Saturday's conference call, the Premier League warned that it faces a £762m financial penalty if the season does not resume, and broadcasters demanded refunds on games they could not show.

It added that hundreds of millions of pounds could be lost in sponsorship and matchday revenue because the season has been suspended, and that the campaign will almost certainly be played behind closed doors if it resumes.

Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live,England defender Danny Rose - on loan at Newcastle from Tottenham - said that Premier League players were keen to give up a portion of their wages to help good causes, but felt their "backs are against the wall" regarding the pressure they had faced to accept cuts.

Captains of Premier League clubs, led by Liverpool's Jordan Henderson, have been in talks over a plan to make charitable donations.

"We sort of feel that our backs are against the wall. Conversations were being had before people outside of football were commenting," Rose told the Friday Football Social.

"I've been on the phone to Jordan Henderson and he's working so hard to come up with something.

"It was just not needed for people who are not involved in football to tell footballers what they should do with their money. I found that so bizarre."

The Premier League declined to comment on the PFA statement.

'An unprecedented crisis' - analysis

Dan Roan, BBC sports editor

Rarely has the relationship between the Premier League's stars and their employers been so fragile. In an unprecedented crisis, the country's top footballers have found their voice like never before, exacerbating an unseemly row over money, and fracturing the unity of the sport in a way not seen since the threatened players' strike of 2001.

Saturday's remarkable statement represents an attempt by the players and the PFA to go on the offensive against not only their own clubs, but also their critics, including even the government.

They argue that the clubs' proposed 30% cut in wages would be counter-productive and detrimental to the NHS because of the loss in tax revenue it would result in. Privately, some Government officials accept the validity of this argument, but are dismayed that the sport is embroiled in such a squabble when Premier League players earn on average £3.5m a year.

The Premier League had hoped Saturday's conference call would convince the players of the need to accept the cut in pay that many politicians and members of the public have been calling for.

It seems that hope has proved naive however, and with clear tensions between the two sides, negotiations are now set to extend into next week.

You have to laugh otherwise you'd cry.

Can you imagine being asked "so, how did you help during the biggest health and economic crisis in peacetime history" and the answer being "I refused to take a pay cut".

LeSoupeKitchen said:

You have to laugh otherwise you'd cry.

Can you imagine being asked "so, how did you help during the biggest health and economic crisis in peacetime history" and the answer being "I refused to take a pay cut".

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"....so I could fund the NHS and save lives"

It wont stop 99% of the people still turning up at the gates and renewing their sky sports subscription when it does reopen.We created this monster and only we can stop it but we wont.

I'm not sure that the pfa are going to come out of this very well, nor the players.
This also shows that, although he got a lot of stick for it, Levy was doing what he felt he had to do to protect the club.
People across the world are having to take pay cuts, why are footballers any different?

McFlash said:

I'm not sure that the pfa are going to come out of this very well, nor the players.
This also shows that, although he got a lot of stick for it, Levy was doing what he felt he had to do to protect the club.
People across the world are having to take pay cuts, why are footballers any different?

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I can see the players doing something themselves. I am sure I heard that Henderson is talking to a lot of players about cutting wages (not just from Liverpool) but can't think where I heard/ seen this.

spursfan1991 said:

It wont stop 99% of the people still turning up at the gates and renewing their sky sports subscription when it does reopen.We created this monster and only we can stop it but we wont.

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Well I’m in your 1%. I’m tied in for 9 more months and then Sky is gone. I had a season ticket for 12 years and still love watching Spurs. But it has governed my life too much and as I survey the greed and everything wrong with it, I now see the perspective of it all. Sorry, I will still trawl through this brilliant board, still to talk about with my mates and kids, but no more stopping everything just to watch Spurs v Bournemouth.

many things way more important than football and Spurs. My family for a start.

Yid-ol said:

I can see the players doing something themselves. I am sure I heard that Henderson is talking to a lot of players about cutting wages (not just from Liverpool) but can't think where I heard/ seen this.

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While I think it's great that players are donating money to the NHS, they're still taking the money from the clubs and that's the problem.
Didn't Burnley recently say that they are at risk of going under?
The players need to take a cut to protect their employers.

As out of touch as when Ashley Cole announced he was trembling with anger when Arsenal only offered him £55k a week.

McFlash said:

While I think it's great that players are donating money to the NHS, they're still taking the money from the clubs and that's the problem.
Didn't Burnley recently say that they are at risk of going under?
The players need to take a cut to protect their employers.

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Yeah I made this point earlier in the week, the footballers don't seem to be getting the point of how/why they would be taking a pay cut.

The suggestion seems to be that they get paid as usual, but then donate an agreed amount as a charitable cause to do their bit. A noble sentiment (plus would give them good press....), but doesn't address the real problem - that football clubs with declining incomes still have billions in wages to pay.

The players benefit the most from the football bubble. Any sacrifice made should be minded to help keep it intact, because if it bursts they (and the rest of us) will be much worse off.

I don't see what they said was wrong, If they take a pay cut then you inevitably cut their tax which is very true, all that's gonna do is allow them to contribute less tax back to the government which is counter productive.

What they should be doing (the PFA) is encouraging the players to contribute out of their own pockets, maybe setting up a scheme so they can voluntary pay into or setup a charity and ask them to donate money into it, seeing as they are both on each other's side I think the PFA should be doing more for them and I generally think that footballers would want to contribute as long as there are controlled measures in place.

I think it's equally shitty of Matt Hancock to point the finger at PL footballers when there are many millionaires in this country who haven't even lifted a finger but I guess it's easy to single out the working class and PL footballers in general who have always been easy targets.

So they can only see it from that one angle, from their own perspective and won't/can't see the bigger picture.

It's like they think the 30% will just vanish into thin air rather than stay in the clubs and allow them to continue paying dozens of workers for every 2 or 3 footballers furloughed and likely generate enough tax to make up a large chunk of that. Why is it so important that the money comes first to the players and then to the tax man? Why can't it come from the workers that pay cut would fund the wages of? I can only imagine it's an attempt to get the numbers into the accounts, collect the interest and then move it on? I have no idea, no head for numbers, but once this has subsided to the point we can look at getting back into some sort of normalcy, I would much rather be doing it with thousands of people who were able to keep their jobs, rather than rely on the funds of a few dozen super rich people.

I get that many make huge donations and support charities and stuff, but a lot of that is hard to quantify and, right now, I think the country could really use a stock-take of where money is and where it's moving. Countries that are spunking a ton of money, everyone talking about the huge national debts that are being built up - debts with who? This is a global pandemic, if countries are going short then they need to look at where it's leaking out - I wonder how many of those footballers wages are actually taxed in the UK and how many happen to prefer an account with a bank on a remote island in the Pacific with questionable tax laws.

Pretty vile stuff

We really expect anything different from a trade union?

They exist to protect their members' interests and only their members' interests. And that means money.

Can you imagine any scenario in any universe where the economy was on it's arse and RMT would actively negotiate a pay cut for it's members? The PFA aren't any different really.

McFlash said:

I'm not sure that the pfa are going to come out of this very well, nor the players.
This also shows that, although he got a lot of stick for it, Levy was doing what he felt he had to do to protect the club.
People across the world are having to take pay cuts, why are footballers any different?

Click to expand...

Because they're members of the PFA.

This problem is not going to be solved very quickly because all sides have their own highly prized vested interests. What annoys me more than almost anything else is when people and organisations base their arguments on purely financial terms, blaming each other, when the situation the whole world is in, is due to a pandemic which has no cure and is running rampant across the planet, with possibly hundreds of thousands of people dying.

If football disappears up it's own arsehole as a result of all these heated discussions and accusations being hurled at each other, while the average Premier League player is earning around £3.5 million per year (and is still earning even when there is no football...) with the national average wage being around £27,000 then so be it and good riddance to it in it's current format. Something has to change and I hope it does, dramatiically.

.

I do agree with Rooney that the clubs need to be transparent with the players about the financial hit of the pandemic and what is needed to survive. A 30% cut across the board is a simplistic answer to a very complicated situation.

For example there needs to be some communication internally on what might happen if the season can be finished and the loss in tv revenue does not happen.

So you cut their wages 15% and they give 15% of their wages to the NHS.

Even better.

Let's see if they like that.

The sad thing is the players are so scared of going against the PFA that even if they wanted to they probably wont break ranks and announce they are freezing or taking a cut of their pay.

Could you imagine Kane being labelled a scab for halving his wage

theShiznit said:

So you cut their wages 15% and they give 15% of their wages to the NHS.

Even better.

Let's see if they like that.

The sad thing is the players are so scared of going against the PFA that even if they wanted to they probably wont break ranks and announce they are freezing or taking a cut of their pay.

Could you imagine Kane being labelled a scab for halving his wage

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Exactly. Say something we'll take a 20% pay cut and will pay 10% to NHS to offset loss of tax. Rather than saying they're saving lives by receiving full pay.

As others have said, I think they are confused as to what the pay cut is for though. It's to protect their employers.

I am no economist but this sounds like your classic example of trickle down economics. Argue that it's good for society if the wealthy remain wealthy.

Their whole tax argument would be more convincing if loads of them weren’t using all sorts of creative accounting to dodge as much of it as they can.