Premier League players launch charity fund to raise money for NHS

Well. I was among those who criticised them for not acting.

It's only right I should applaud them when they do.

Fair play

Seemed to me that the only people benefiting from the pay cut were the club owners.
At least this way the NHS get the money direct

Yes it has taken a little longer than we all would have liked but by taking their time and doing it this way, they are trying to get their money to were its needed most. In the statement they go onto say this is besides what contribution they may be asked to make by their clubs which is also to be applauded.

I guess the biggest problem they have is finding a way to get the money to the frontline as is their aim. I assume that the government is buying and ordering all the protective equipment they can get their hands on, so it wouldnt be of any benefit for the players to try and buy protective equipment from the same sources. But whatever they do it has to be applauded so well done.

It has to be applauded that they are making a concerted effort to do something.

The whole witch-hunt against the players was unfair as there could be many more targets that received little or no criticism. It was easy meat. The matter of fair taxation is one for the government to tackle in general.

Other Premier League clubs furloughing staff and claiming taxpayers money should hang their heads in shame. How can they square it up, claiming 500k per week off the tax payer and at the same time paying that total to four or five of your top players.

It could be argued that those clubs are continuing to pay their staff as normal and using tax payers money to fund those 4 or 5 players wages. Depends how you look at it.

Very good gesture. But non playing staff still not getting paid.

Very good gesture. But non playing staff still not getting paid.

Very good gesture. But non playing staff still not getting paid.

Very good gesture. But non playing staff still not getting paid.

Don't know why that's happened. Sorry

Which non playing staff aren't getting paid? Everton's certainly are.

Spurs Newcastle Norwich Bournemouth

Is this a way for them to each offer a much smaller amount compared to having a wage cut?

I wonder what percentage of Premier stars will contribute to this voluntary donating scheme. My guess is a long way short of 100% as agents are already saying they have arranged private charities for their clients by which they can claim tax relief !

Tony J #2, I'm of the opinion that a lot of clubs will cease to exist if there's no pay cuts.

Derek #13, there's a limit to the amount you can claim as tax relief on charitable contributions. I expect most players already max that out.

Here's a couple of 'cheer-you-up' videos.

No doubt some of you have already seen two young Everton lads re-enacting great goals in their back garden.

The Beeb have put up a couple of interviews with them both and their dad on how they made it. A good watch.

I was impressed with the goal scorer's technique in all the re-enactments. They are just 8 and 7 years old!

Well done to all the family.

This one the dad does most of the talking.

Link

This one I enjoyed more as the focus is more on the two lads talking about it.
Link

Here's a couple of 'cheer-you-up' videos.

No doubt some of you have already seen two young Everton lads re-enacting great goals in their back garden.

The Beeb have put up a couple of interviews with them both and their dad on how they made it. A good watch.

I was impressed with the goal scorer's technique in all the re-enactments. They are just 8 and 7 years old!

Well done to all the family.

This one the dad does most of the talking.

Link

This one I enjoyed more as the focus is more on the two lads talking about it.
Link

Jay - I saw those clips too. Lovely skill for the recreation of Henry v Man Utd where he swivelled and volleyed from miles out. I think the dad came through Everton youth ranks some time ago.

I am not sure who posted this the Day before our neighbours did a uturn on furlong.

The posters called it spot on, that they would reverse it, that they listened to supporters and end up back in the media.

Well bang on again, this coming together of players hilighted just one player in Jordan Henderson, in his gleaming Red shirt, no mention of any other players.

Yet nothing on Steven Naismith who weeks ago offered up 50% of his wages.

Back up there in there media love in as the do Gooders.

Well done posters, you called this early.

Anyone who knows anything about Liverpool FC, could have predicted what would happen imo Brian, but I’ve been very disappointed, more-so with the English players who appeared to be doing nothing with regards to doing there bit in this hour of great need, so respect for everyone who takes part in these donations, which is more than just about money imo!👏👏

Pay cuts interesting. A lot of tax would be paid on their wages.

I think I read that Jordon Henderson kicked off this charity drive among club captains.

Fair play. They do earn a lot, but so do a lot of bankers and executives.

Kudos to those contributing but yet another smokescreen for the well-off to hide behind and protect their members/clients.

I proposed a one-off wealth tax of say 50% for those earning over 1 million a year and all proceeds to go to NHS fund.

Credit where it's due, I have to applaud them. But what sticks in my gut is the arrogance of Levy, on £7m a year, and Ashley, and the other clubs, including the redshite, who only did a uturn, because they were shamed into it, thought so little of there non playing staff who most are probably on the minimum wage, to treat them like dirt. It stinks.

Wankers. First they wouldn't take a pay cut. Now they give money to the NHS. Dickheads.

Very nice. Then I leafed through the Good Book and happened on the parable of the widows mite. Check it out.

Alan 27 exactly

Good for the players. This has been in planning for a while and I'm glad they made it happen. Special kudos to Henderson.

I never understood why the players were taking so much abuse for not taking giving a paycut. If there are some clubs that say they may go bust without a cut then those clubs should disclose the financials to the players and any accounting entity they choose. If the players really believe the club will go under I have no doubt they will agree to take a cut in pay. The same if staff will not be paid - the players can be asked. ALL players taking a cut is a horrible idea. I believe Rooney said something like this and I totally agree.

Billionaire owners get no relief - none.

Great gesture. Now how about that parasite Richard Branson and all the other tax dodgers with more money than they will ever spend in a lifetime helping out? The silence is deafening.

Let us just be thankful for the footballers and ANY people who try to make things better. It is never too late to do a good turn. The only enemy at this time is Covid 15. Anger, criticism and envy will never be good substitutes for kindness and action.

Maybe it's the sceptical or cynical side of me, but can't help wondering that if there hadn't been such a public outcry over Spurs, Newcastle, Norwich and Bournemouth, and more recently Liverpool's actions, (who revoked after severe criticism saying it had been a mistake) would they have voluntarily offered?

Of course it had to be that Neanderthal, Henderson who enticed Harry Kane, (from another disgraced Club) to champion the cause. As Bob Parrington mentioned earlier, they are still appearing to be charitable whilst contributing less than a pay cut.

Andy@30 Good point you made ref. Branson and the rest.

We're in Adelaide, South Australia and we had, I think, 1 new case on 9th April. So My wife and I feel very lucky just now. Don't want the population in Australia to think it's all over though because this COVID-19 seems to have a habit of fighting back for at least a second round.

Coming back to the main theme of the thread, it would be interesting to have been be a fly on the wall at the board meetings of Spurs, Newcastle, Norwich and Bournemouth, and more recently Liverpool.

I'll try not to hang too much on this to LFC but they have possibly been the largest disgrace.

From my experience, many directors get on the boards through the old boys club but they have sweet fanny adams (that's the polite version) common sense, compassion or understanding only a massive over the top ego. Don't get me wrong, some are good but they're more interested in filling their own pockets than helping the employees or investors or customers etc. This may be why I admire DBB, who has great heart, understanding, compassion and is a clever lady, too!

So, back to the players. I laud their decision (late or not) to do something but it does mean that none of us will know which players put in how much. Some will say it is none of our business. But I disagree. We support these guys with heart and soul. The correction I would like to see, as we come out of this, is that TV rights $$$$ are reduced substantially, players wages $$$ are reduced substantially+, Director payments are $$ are reduced substantially, agents are brought completely under control and, although there are other things, most importantly, ticket prices are reduced substantially for all of the supporters. I have a feeling that Everton leads the pack on the latter to some extent but some of you on here might correct me on this.

Be careful, stay safe!

At last, they are doing something, the pressure has worked. I would have prefered they had done more for their Clubs' local communities since it should be the Government that is providing money for the NHS. But there is a PR element involved.

Individual players may step up in such communities where they are already contributing and doing very good work.

Bob #34,

Thanks for the information on the virus in Adelaide. I have a daughter there, raised an Evertonian. Keep Safe.

Can they use any “charitable contributions” for their tax returns? Like some others have already said, this contribution will probably be a helluva lot lower than a wage cut. Footballers might be thick but they aren’t that thick!

I am cynical as I don’t think the super-rich do anything without strings attached or without ulterior motives. These guys have agents, accountants and lawyers to advise them so over the long haul any “contribution” will be refunded.

Jay @16..thanks for the links, great stuff! I would like to see them when they tried to do the Zlatan overhead shot. I'm sure it must have been hilarious.

Alan (27), the widows mite, with her very meagre offering, more than she could afford, she put all the rich to shame, I’ve thought about that parable quite a lot recently.

Colin #36, read my post at #14.

Dave #38. That parable says it all. If there is a God surely he would have given up on us all by now. The American million heiress who stated that tax was only for the poor people should of been struck by a bolt of lightning. If only !!! And don't all the rich get paid through the Cayman Islands and are (for tax purposes) earning £200 per week

Dave..on a lighter note, regarding attitudes to charitable giving.
Tony Hancock..The Blood Donor.
" come on..how much did YOU give to the Arab refugees ?"
Look it up if you haven't seen it.

Alan (41), yes it’s best to stay on the funny side, I go along with that.

I saw the Tony Hancock in The Blood Donor when it first came out, blimey, how long ago was that? very funny though, he gave an armful of blood !! I was watching the Marx brothers this morning in “ Duck Soup” made around 1937 but still funny and I’ve seen it 268 times, then you come across Michael Armitage and Johnny Bishop, alternative comedians !! They are alternative comedians alright, they never make you laugh, sorry, just got serious again!!

Alan (41), that comedian( ?) his should have read Michael McIntyre not Armitage, don’t know where I got Armitage from, a comedian by any other name stills stinks, to coin a phrase.

Take comfort, Gentlemen, you haven't seen any camels passing through the eye of a needle recently, have you?

I agree totally Dave. There is one secret to being a good comic. You have to make people laugh.
It isn't enough to bill yourself as a disabled transgender refugee from Patagonia. You have to be funny.
Btw I can never get enough of the Marx Bros.
Stay safe

Alan (44), Alan, don’t take all those parables too literal, that one doesn’t mean the way it sounds.

LOL - The Marx Bros. There should be a "sanity clause" in every footballer's contract.

Jerome@35 Any way we can help, just let us know. Evertonians together!

Seamus Coleman has just donated £15K to a fund for a child in my area, who needs treatment in America, just saw it on RTE news. He's a credit to his profession and EFC a true humble gentleman.

It has never sat easy with me why, of all industries, professions and tax payers, that the spotlight of high income earners fell almost exclusively on footballers.

Populist click bait, I guess.

You won't get any argument from me that at the extreme end of footballers' salary scale, the numbers are absurd. Even academy players who will never see the first team can take home 4-figure WEEKLY salaries.

It is not the players' to blame that with the drying up of regular income that many a club is now teetering on the abyss. That responsibility lies very much with the club owners. And look at how some of them have responded, furloughing low-paid staff at the bottom of the pyramid rather than starting at the top.

But then contrast the football industry to other big-earning industries.

The aviation industry has exploded in recent years, not just earning billions, but leaving a huge carbon-footprint around the planet.

A knight of the realm, Richard Branson of Virgin Atlantic, initially did 'a Liverpool.' He employs 70,000 people and immediately asked them to take EIGHT WEEKS unpaid leave. Poor little Dicky! He's only worth $700 million.

Like Liverpool, only after an onslaught of criticism did he reel that back and say he was putting together a $250 million 'rescue package' funded by himself and the Virgin group.

Throw into the equation that the biggest slice of the US relief package declared last month is destined for big business. The airline industry ALONE is getting $59 BILLION. Not million, BILLION.

Before the bill was passed, one of the big carriers United threatened unless the industry got a bail out, they would start firing staff. (which has happened, anyway!).

Why - again! - in times of financial meltdown do Governments prop up Big Business, effectively endorsing their self-serving bad business practices?

The airlines are big enough to arrange rock-bottom interest rates on their own loans. Their planes and landing slots are more than adequate collateral.

We hear that airlines are not 'cash rich' to weather this storm. That's because of their own policies over the last decade. They spent 96% of their cashflow, including billions in tax savings from the Trump tax cut, to buy back shares of their own stock.

And who were the winners in this manouver? Executives earned big bonuses and investors dividends, but it did nothing to strengthen the airlines for the long term.

And more. The four biggest carriers cornered the market, jacked up prices on popular routes and slashed services. How quickly does the initial price of an air ticket rise now with all the 'add-ons' for previously free, included services? Selecting a preferred seat, checking in your own baggage, etc?

And Branson and the aviation industry is just one example. Then you have Tim Martin of the Wetherspoon pub chain, initially saying 'the coronavirus doesn't spread in pubs', to lamenting the closing of pubs, to blithely telling his 40,000 staff that 'Tesco supermarkets are recruiting 20,000 people. Get a job with them!'

And what of other sports people and high earners, taking refuge in tax-havens?

On balance, I think footballers have had a rough deal with the media and the public compared to other industries and high profile individuals.

Dave (#46); Not been checking your shares again, have you, Dave?

How come there hasn't been a fuss over Big Dunc buying a new TV for the old fella who got robbed? You just know that staff at certain other clubs who had done that would have been all over the telly.

Alan (51), can’t check what you haven’t got, my health is my wealth so I can’t complain on that score to be honest.

Jay #50. A rare day for me today, to pop into the TW zoo. Superb post @50.

John Barnes called this similarly and correctly in my view. As he says, footballers are largely working class guys who have made big money through what they have to offer, and are being called on to make big financial contributions in the present circumstances (and I have no problem with that) at the same time as the other usual suspects of big business and big finance get off scott-free. Witness just one example - Ruffer Investment has made £2.4 billion to date out of this pandemic, a hedge fund that makes what actual contribution to society? And what part of their gains will be donated to those in need currently?

As somebody above said, a one-off BIG contribution from big business is called for. Interesting the way the UK government can suddenly turn on the tap of financing its coronavirus strategy (Mr Average Joe will pay for all this ultimately), when for the last 10 years we've been told the national debt of 60% of GDP was unsustainable and had to be rapidly reduced through their "austerity" programme (funny, they no longer talk of debt but deficit, as debt went up to 85% of GDP). USA been carrying a debt of 100% + of GDP for a long time. Japan over 200%. Austerity was just a way of shrinking the state and the public sector

Right, back to writing my latest political polemic. Looking for a snappy title. "Das..." something? "The [something] Manifesto"? - I'm struggling to come up with a full title.

Das 'Kaput' Manifesto!!

Possibly, Robert. Do you think it would sell? I want to make some capital out of this.

Brent. Do I think it would sell? Possibly but you better hurry up 'cos your target market is dwindling fast. Ovid (no relation to Covid) wrote an epic that he called 'Metamorpheses" – although I doubt that would sell much these days – what do you think/ your 'manifesto' may need transforming!!

Dave @42, I have to agree with you with regard to these so-called comedians, I don't think half of the audience think they're funny either, they laugh when everyone else does (forced) and feel compelled to join in.

Maybe it's an age thing, Dave, not that far behind you, but the comedy of yesteryear in my opinion was far superior to this tosh we get subjected to before we can find the remote control, and escape.

Good to see one of the Everton stewards is going to donate his wages from the final five home games to the NHS. Can't see any mention of this on the BBC Sport website though!!

https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/popular-everton-steward-makes-heartwarming-18075732

Dave @ 42, spot on. John Bishop is hateful. Derek Knox sent me a What'sApp post link to Mick Millar at the club. If you get the chance watch it. It will give you a good laugh. Thanks, Derek, by the way, you have given me some good laughs.

Andy @ 60, you're welcome, I just wish I knew how to attach these links from a smart phone, as many could appreciate a good laugh, from a proper comedian. Especially at a time when a lot of people are in need of some mirth and a diversion from these trying times in lock-down.

Not one of these papier mache unfunny morons.

Derek (58), yes I think it is an age thing but comedians to me tell jokes and reel them off six or seven per minute. These alternative comedians take five minutes to tell one and there's no laugh at the end of it. They wouldn't have lasted very long in the clubs years ago. Definitely not my cup of tea.

Andy (60), Mick Millar, now you're talking, very good comic, by the way he was a professional footballer with Port Vale, if I'm not mistaken. Yes, Andy, I've seen that video of Mick Millar, you laugh as soon as you see him and don't stop until he finishes.

Dave, by the end of lockdown, I will look like him!!

Andy (64), I think when lockdown is over, quite a lot of us will look like Mick or Cat Weezle. I hope you and yours are okay.

It seems ages since we were discussing players taking pay cuts and/or deferring wages. We seemed to be slagging them and their union off repeatedly

A few announcements were made like the NHS contribution and it seems it's gone quiet. Have any of these pacifying announcements or anything else actually happened or are they all hoping it will all go away?

I just don't understand this "deferred" malarkey! What difference does it make if a club asked a player to defer 50% of his salary for three months or whatever?

How does that help the NHS or the vulnerable?

Haven't a clue, Brian. Very political if you ask me. Just that it seems we've heard nothing from Clubs, players, PFA, Premier League... nobody really.

Or maybe I've just missed it. Would be very interesting to hear what, if anything, football is doing.

Am I the only one who's a bit uneasy about this? It's letting the players off the hook. They should all be taking a pay cut because it's not sustainable for clubs to continue paying these huge wages with most income streams cut off.

Burnley have already stated they'll run out of money in August; how many other clubs are in the same boat?

As for donating to the NHS, how will that be done? What part of the NHS? Who decides where the money goes? A trust fund? Or just hand the money over to this inept government who should have properly funded the NHS in the first place.

Most of them could well afford to take a substantial pay cut and still have plenty left over to donate to whatever cause they wanted.

Are you going to take a pay cut, Bill?

Eric; footballers are, essentially, laid off. Many laid off workers have no other choice but to take a hit. If a footballer on £80k per week took a 30% pay cut, it would actually be much less than this as they'd save 40% tax.

For the last two years, Everton have been trying to reduce their unsustainable ratio of pay to income. All that effort has been blown out of the water as the huge wage bill stays the same with all income streams cut off.

Would I take a pay cut myself? I'm actually retired but, if I was working, and it would ensure I still had a job after this is all over, then the answer is Yes.

At the end of the day there are 25 players in 20 clubs earning an average of what? £40k a week? They may actually receive 50% of that so 500 x 20 = £10 000k or £10 million a week.

How much would be a donation that would make everyone think 'fair enough, they get loads of cash but when it counted they stood up and supported the NHS?'

Bear in mind many are not from the UK so will be thinking about their own families, and they are already paying half a billion to HMRC every year.

A couple of weeks wages to NHS charities could match Tom Moore's contribution, I think that would be a decent gesture. Let's see what happens.

It looks like Radio 4's Womans Hour is about to run a feature on the club's community efforts.

The program mightn't be to everyone's taste, but some good publicity nonetheless!

I assume it will be available on iPlayer for anyone who can't listen live.

Thomas #72 - Your calculation means we are paying as much to just the Senior Managers in the NHS as the players in the premier league.

So one set can't kick a ball in a straight line and the others can't organise their staff to get enough PPE for their staff.