SOUTHAMPTON HAVE BECOME the first Premier League team to announce an agreement with their players over wage deferral during the coronavirus crisis.
Saints have announced measures to help the club and non-playing staff through the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
Southampton’s 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 non-playing staff during that three-month 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% of their pay, paid in the normal way until 30 June.
“Any decision on the future beyond this date will be made in advance of this, but only when more information is known.
“In these unprecedented times we are dealing with many challenges to our business model and day-to-day operations.
“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: “Everyone at the club remains fully committed to the community we value so highly in Southampton.
“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.
“We ask everyone connected to the club and the city of Southampton to listen and adhere to the Government’s advice.
“Meanwhile, we will continue to prepare our club for a return to the pitch and make sure that, when safe, we are ready to play and serve the people of Southampton again. Until then, We March On. Together.”
The top-flight clubs have come under pressure to reach agreements with their players, with Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden saying on Thursday that the Government scheme was only intended for their use as a “last resort”.
Mr Dowden told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “They need to think carefully about whether they really need to take advantage of this.
“This scheme is designed for struggling businesses to make sure that if they are faced with a position where they have to make staff redundant, rather than making them redundant they furlough them.
“So football clubs should only be using it as a last resort and I think the fans and the public at large are going to take a pretty dim view if they are not using it except in the last resort.
“This scheme wasn’t designed for people who have millionaire players and billionaire owners.”
On Wednesday evening, it was confirmed that a collective initiative called #PlayersTogether was working with NHS Charities Together to get funding to where it was most urgently needed during the crisis.
The letter, shared by a large number of Premier League players via social media, made clear that these contributions were “separate to any other club and league conversations” regarding wage cuts and deferrals.
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Shows serious squad depth when you can bring on a player of the caliber of La Touche Cosgrave
@Hugh: bench is fierce strong…boylan some man to catch a ball
Limerick and Kilkenny look to be very strong it’s a brilliant championship.
@Gerry W: Glad to hear your enjoying the championship Gerry. And it’s great to hear your back playing sport again after a long term injury.
@Flembomb: still in retirement yourself flembomb? Never fully recovered from that hamstring injury…
@Gerry W: c
@Gerry W: cork could have something to say about that. But that Limerick side are very good. Kilkenny are growing with every game. 3 really good teams. Did I hear it’s Kilkenny vs Antrim in the Semi and Munster winners vs Galway?
@Jason Pierce: ya thats it alright…no disrespect to antrim but thats Kilkenny in the final anyway…Limerick still have to beat cork/waterford and galway, its not a given yet
Limerick have six senior forwards Peter casey, Barry Nash, Cian Lynch, Kyle Hayse, Tom Morrissey, and Aron Gillane throw in Ronan Lynch and Sean Finn and you would expect them to land the All Ireland again.
I couldnt say we played well, despite the 13 point winning margin. We certainly did had some very good patches of hurling. That we left Clare get back to within five points despite being totally dominant in first half, is somewhat annoying/concerning. The game as a contest should have been finished at half time, we wont get away with missing all those goal chances against Cork/Waterford.
Limerick played in third gear throughout. It was like a challenge match for large parts, Clare were just not at the races, particularly around the middle of the park and on the 40.
Limerick have much improving to do if they are to stand up to the challenge of either Cork or Waterford in the final. Either of those sides will represent a step-up in quality from Tipp and Clare.
Limerick prob fav’s to repeat the feat of U21 Munster and All-Ireland again,but that Cork/Waterford and potentially Galway team have a seriously talented panel too, way too close to call tbh, some great games to be decided over the coming weeks
@Now or Never: a senior all Ireland win for Limerick in the next few years given the strength of the u21s …oh wait
@John Ryan: seen it all before John. Hard to be hopeful.