Southampton: Saints involved in superb Premier League financial pledges

Southampton will be involved in a range of new financial pledges that the Premier League has committed to during the Coronavirus outbreak.

Top-flight shareholders held a meeting today to decide the plans that they will be putting in place to ease the burden on both football and the country as a whole.

The first point mentioned in an official statement released on premierleague.com earlier regards the season restart.

It tells that the current season will not resume until after May, and that the resumption will only come when it is absolutely safe for the go ahead to be given.

This may not be telling us much but is useful because it shows that the Premier League are in the same situation as everyone else – unsure when our normal lives can get back to normal.

The second involves player wage cuts, which have been a big talking point over the last week or so.

According to the statement, shareholders will be conferring with governing bodies, players and their clubs and will look to put a 30% reduction on remuneration/salaries.

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This is an important part of today’s meeting because it potentially allows clubs to keep functioning properly and ensure stability into the future – vital given how much football plays a part in people’s lives.

With so much still to be decided and players unable to give their views directly to fans without scrutiny, any criticism of players is unjust with so much still to be decided through the help of clubs, representatives and those who run the league.

Another excellent measure to come from today is the release of funds down to the EFL and National League.

£125m will be committed by the top-flight towards helping out clubs below them in the English football pyramid and hopefully preserve the heart of the game in this country.

This covers the five levels below the Premier League and could go some way to helping out.

Revenues for Premier League clubs are so huge in comparison to those in the Championship and below because of the television rights deals that Sky, BT and Amazon Prime hold.

The most important service for the English public at the moment is clearly the NHS since it is helping protect them from the Coronavirus, and another measure will see £20m provided by the Premier League to keep the NHS continuing to fight.

Points five and six of the statement refer to the importance of clubs spreading messages about health and helping those who need support from the community.

This would cover the work of charities like the Saints Foundation that provides so much for the people of Southampton.