West Bromwich Albion Chief Executive Mark Jenkins has revealed that he will take a 100 per cent pay cut in his salary in order to help the club’s other non-playing staff during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The EFL club executive will also be joined by other members of the senior management team who have taken ‘significant reductions in their remuneration’ as the side looks to lower costs.
He stated: “I think it is only correct that for the duration of this lockdown I take a 100 per cent cut in my salary and other members of the senior management team have also offered to take significant reductions in their remuneration.
“Like many other clubs. We have considered using a Furlough approach with non-playing staff who are now unable to work owing to the lock-down and we have made plans for this eventuality.
“At present we have not been required to sanction this action, but if the lockdown continues and football remains ‘on-hold’ then this decision may have to be changed. What we will pledge is to ensure none of the staff affected suffer a reduction in pay; the club will make up the 20 per cent shortfall not covered by the Government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.”
A multitude of clubs, leagues and athletes are coming to terms of the financial implications suspending sporting events is having on the industry, with many sides having to furlough staff, such as Tottenham, Liverpool and Newcastle.
Moreover certain teams have also created funds in order to secure the long term future of the sporting landscape, which includes Bayern Munich’s joint €20m rescue package.
Jenkins assured supporters that currently West Brom remain in a good position, however the executive is aware that situations could always change.
He added: “At the moment, the club is financially stable and remains so for the foreseeable future.
“But everybody is fully aware these are very uncertain times in which we simply cannot forecast what the future holds. Until we regain a level of certainty, we cannot be sure if planned income will actually be received or if we will be forced to utilise cash the Club already holds to refund existing commitments.
“What we do know for fact is that our operations are almost completely closed down and we are receiving virtually no income. Almost all of the Club’s usual costs still need to be paid, the majority of which are wages whether this be admin staff, maintenance teams, management or, of course, the first-team players.”
West Brom are currently in a strong position to get promoted to the Premier League, and with that comes huge financial benefits. Nevertheless, the FA has yet to reveal a concrete plan on how the campaign will be completed, causing insularity around The Hawthorns.
