Portsmouth players to be placed on furlough leave along with most staff

The Blues are placing all ‘non-essential’ employees on leave at 100 per cent of their wages, as they take advantage of government support amid the coronavirus crisis.

And The News understands all staff and players have been advised they will remain on full pay no matter how long the economic impact of the Covid-19 virus is felt.

Pompey are to apply the job retention scheme which allows staff to claim 80 per cent of their wages to a maximum of £2,500 per month.

The club will then cover the remaining 20 per cent to ensure those affected do not lose out on any of their money.

The plan is for the club to continuing paying their staff and then access the scheme to claim back money they will be entitled to.

Pompey have taken appropriate advice and been in dialogue with the Professional Footballers’ Association before the latest developments.

The majority of staff were made aware of developments this afternoon with a number of conference and video calls taking place.

Chief executive Mark Catlin explained why the club are accessing the scheme and stressed all staff will continue to be paid in full.

He said: ‘Portsmouth Football Club in line with businesses and other football clubs I’ve spoken to, have been exploring the government’s job retention scheme or ‘furlough’ initiative.

‘This is to encourage businesses who have workers who aren’t currently working to not make them redundant.

‘We are currently consulting staff and players on this and have done so for the past two days - and will be accessing the scheme.

‘Our approach is that we are committed to paying our staff in full.

‘It doesn’t affect the players’ salaries. It doesn’t affect the staff salaries.

‘It’s important people realise the staff will be paid by the club in full and we will access the fund on a case-by-case basis.

‘There are a huge amount of our staff at home at the moment with no work to do. That’s why the government have developed this scheme.

‘If you roll through the company structure there are key personnel and people such as ground staff who will not be furloughed.

‘It has to be selective and on a case-by-case basis to see if there’s a genuine need to furlough someone or not.’

Pompey’s approach is in contrast to a number of clubs, including Premier League Spurs who today put 550 non-playing staff into the scheme.

Those people are being forced to take a 20 per cent paycut, while chairman Daniel Levy last year received £7m in wages and bonuses.

Newcastle were the first top-flight club to go down the same route yesterday, with clubs throughout the English game now doing likewise.

MK Dons announced five days ago they were placing non-playing staff on furlough, while Championship sides Leeds and Birmingham have asked their players to defer their wages.