Just noticed that the furlough scheme has now been extended until the end of April. This hopefully will be helpful for the clubs - in my opinion the end of April/May time will be the absolute earliest we'll get decent crowds back in stadiums. Does anyone know the extent to which clubs can utilise this? Can they furlough players for example in the off-season? I imagine all clubs have been maximising reductions in staffing costs by furloughing all but those who are essential to keeping the business running and getting the team on the field. Any development/marketing/academy/performance staff likely won't be in that category. Clubs without wealthy/generous owners will have to prioritise cutting costs over on-field performance although I suppose that was always the case even prior to Covid.

As Furlough means that no work can be done for the employer, I would imagine any player who is not involved in PR would be on it until the day they report for pre-season training. I note that Bateman was in a PR shoot the other day, so he probably wasnt at that point.

30 man squad at £2500 a month is potentially £150K in wages saved over December & January.

I would imagine almost all the non-playing staff are already on furlough and have been for most of the year.

It makes perfect business sense to put everyone you dont need but want to retain on furlough.

Could be wrong but I doubt the players are on furlough. They still need to train in pre season, get involved in marketing campaigns etc. The maximum they can claim is also well below most player's salaries.

You may well be right, but apart from John Bateman photos and Liam Marshall visiting an NHS Centre, the only PR on the official site from the players over the past 3 weeks appears to be a Jackson Hastings tweet. That suggests to me that most of the first team squad are not doing anything on behalf of the club.

Sure, re-hire them on the day they report for pre-season, but in the meantime, there is a Govt scheme which will pay up to £2500 per month and the club would be mad not to utilise it.

I'm sure the sport and the clubs will be considering whether to delay the start of the season by a month or so in light of recent Covid developments. It would mean sacrificing a proportion of the TV money again but would keep everyone safer and perhaps enable the clubs to utilise furlough for a longer period. No chance of crowds by March 11th and who knows how elite sport will end up being affected in the next couple of months.

Surely that isn't enough when some of the players will be bringing home double that and more. Players still have mortgages etc. Just because you earn more doesn't mean you have more disposable income.

The furlough scheme covers up to £2500 per months, so if someone earns £5000 per month, the club would pay half and the Govt would pay half.

It would still save the club £2500 a month.

If only it worked like that in the real world. Having been furloughed myself for four months earlier in the year. The furlough scheme should not be abused, if they are going to top up the wages then it’s wrong as that money could have been used to stop other employees from being made redundant