April 7 – Under pressure from supporters and the public at large, European champions and runaway Premier League leaders Liverpool have reversed their decision to furlough around 200 of their non-playing staff amid the spread of Covid-19 with CEO Peter Moore apologising to fans.
Under the scheme implemented to help businesses survive the national lockdown, staff can receive 80% of their salaries from the government, up to a maximum of 2,500 pounds a month.
Liverpool’s original decision was made after the Premier League was suspended last month with no clear date for when it can resume. The club said they intended to apply to the British government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme to reclaim a percentage of the wages.
But they were forced into a u-turn following two days of fans and former players denouncing the furloughing plans.
Liverpool is the seventh wealthiest club in the world making a pre-tax profit of 42 million pounds on a turnover of 533 million pounds last year. The club reportedly stood to save up to £1.5m by putting staff on furlough.
“We believe we came to the wrong conclusion last week to announce that we intended to apply to the coronavirus retention scheme and furlough staff due to the suspension of the Premier League football calendar, and are truly sorry for that,” said Moore.
“Our intentions were, and still are, to ensure the entire workforce is given as much protection as possible from redundancy and/or loss of earnings during this unprecedented period.”
“We are therefore committed to finding alternative ways to operate while there are no football matches being played that ensures we are not applying for the government relief scheme.”
Tottenham Hotspur, however, have disregarded a backlash from its supporters and politicians by pressing ahead with plans revealed a week ago to furlough its own non-playing staff. Most other clubs insist they will not seek government assistance or use public funds to make savings on the wage bill.
The Tottenham Hotspur Supporters’ Trust urged their club to follow Liverpool’s lead. It tweeted: “We are now saying it clearly and in public – do not further damage the Club’s reputation, listen to your fans.”
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