Southampton Become First Premier League Club To Agree Wage Cuts With Players

Manager Ralph Hasenhuttl and members of his coaching staff have also agreed with the club to forego portions of their salary in these trying times.

The wage reductions with take effect for the months of April, May and June which will enable members of the club’s non-playing staff take home the full complement of their salaries.

Southampton will therefore not be taking advantage of the government job retention scheme which would have seen the tax payers’ money used to cater for up to 80 percent of the non-playing staff’s salary.

Premier League players on Wednesday launched the PlayersTogether initiative to help generate funds for the National Health Service after initially rejecting a proposed 30 percent pay cut.

A statement from the club read: "Southampton Football Club has agreed to put in place the following measures as part of its ongoing response to the coronavirus pandemic.

"In keeping with government advice, all activity at Staplewood Campus, St Mary's Stadium and our other sites continue to be suspended except for essential activities. This situation will be reviewed at the end of April.

"In addition, the board of directors, the first-team manager, his coaching staff and the first-team squad 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.

"Furthermore, the club can confirm that it will not use the government's Job Retention Scheme during April, May and June.

"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 30 June. Any decision on the future beyond this date will be made in advance of this, but only when more information is known.

60,733 Coronavirus cases have been recorded in the UK so far while over 7,000 people have died.