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Interesting results – Fans polled if Newcastle United players should accept Coronavirus pay cut if asked to

4 years ago
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The question we asked NUFC fans on Saturday was: ‘Should Newcastle United players accept pay cut if asked to, due to Coronavirus situation?’

The football industry (along with so many others) is facing an unprecedented situation.

Nobody knows for sure when football will be played again, so should players be prepared to take a hit as well, as so many Newcastle fans are having to do in their various walks of life?

Swiss club FC Sion asked players to take a pay cut to help the club get through this Coronavirus crisis, nine refused (including former NUFC loan striker Seydou Doumbia) and have been sacked by the club.

Meanwhile, former FA Chief Executive Mark Palios has said football players also have to step up to the plate and do their bit, because if they don’t, ‘they will not have an industry to play in’ after the worst of the current crisis is over.

Palios is no longer with the FA and instead is now at the sharp end of things at Tranmere Rovers as co-owner and executive chairman of the League One club. He has said that all kinds of measures are needed, especially clubs lower down the league, in order to survive this crisis, including football players taking pay cuts.

The Tranmere co-owner says he is asking their players to take a 10% pay cut until some kind of ‘normality returns’ for football.

Looking for positives in a very difficult situation, Palios hopes that this could and should at least help to bring in a new reality when it comes to the wages of football players, the proportion of club revenues that goes on wages at most clubs is unrealistic and that was the case before the extra financial concerns brought about by this Coronavirus crisis.

So should Newcastle United players be prepared to take a wage cut and if so, under what circumstance?

Very interesting results as Newcastle fans had a choice of one of three options and thanks to everybody who took the time to participate:

24% – Yes if the club asks them to, to do their bit to help

69% – Yes but only if money goes to good cause (charity, help pay players at smaller clubs etc)

7% – No, not under any circumstances

So only 7% of Newcastle fans taking part, thought under no circumstances should the NUFC players accept taking a hit on wages if asked.

We split the options for ‘Yes’ because of the Mike Ashley factor obviously. With the NUFC owner running the club with no ambition and using it simply to benefit himself and his retail empire, it was predictable that many fans would think why ask players to take less money if it simply could/would benefit Mike Ashley.

Bottom line though is that 93% thought that the Newcastle United players should accept a pay cut in certain circumstances.

No reason to think this NUFC squad wouldn’t be prepared to do the right thing if asked. It would be very disappointing certainly if any Premier League player on typical PL wages wasn’t prepared to do something to help others and show solidarity in these difficult times.

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