Northampton the eighth Premiership club to confirm player salary cut
Northampton have become the latest Gallagher Premiership club to confirm its players and staff are taking a 25 per cent pay cut from April 1.
English rugby has been in turmoil since last week’s suspension of the Premiership season with nine rounds of fixtures still to be played.
Squads at six of the league’s dozen clubs had agreed to a 25 per cent wage cut before last weekend, Bristol, Gloucester, Leicester, Saracens, Wasps and Worcester all confirming they had taken drastic action to combat the sudden stop of matchday revenues flowing through the game due to the minimum five-week fixtures suspension which is likely to be extended.
Harlequins followed suit on Monday and now Saints have made it an eight-strong band of clubs taking the draconian action of hitting players and coaches where it hurts most – in the pocket.
In an open letter to supporters on Tuesday, Northampton CEO Mark Darbon explained: “These are incredibly challenging times for individuals, communities and businesses. We are all facing a great deal of uncertainty, but now is the time for me to provide an update for our supporters regarding the future of the club.
“The coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic has come midway through a comprehensive five-year plan for the club. We have been making good progress, both on and off the pitch, but the outbreak is now creating significant stress on our business model, as it is for other clubs in our league and, indeed, for sports and entertainment businesses more broadly.
“In short, we are faced with a significant slowdown in our income. Whilst the clear intention of the league and the clubs remains to get back to playing rugby as soon as possible, if we were to lose our remaining home games and the other major events we are due to stage at Franklin’s Gardens it would have a severe financial impact, despite our relatively strong balance sheet.
“Whilst we are extremely confident we can weather this storm, on the basis of these unique circumstances the club’s board are unanimous that we have to make timely and difficult decisions in order to protect Northampton Saints for the foreseeable future.
“Alongside a number of other financial management measures, the board have therefore taken the decision to reduce salaries for all of the club’s players and staff by 25 per cent, effective from April 1. This reduction will not apply to staff remunerated below a certain salary threshold to ensure they are protected.
“Clearly, this is not a decision that was taken lightly, but it was a necessary adjustment to make to reduce our cost base with immediate effect.
“I consulted with our director of rugby Chris Boyd, our club captain and RPA representative Alex Waller, and several senior members of the playing squad on Friday afternoon before communicating this decision to the rest of the club’s staff.
“I could not be prouder of how the playing group, support staff and commercial team reacted to the news. We have a wonderful environment at Saints and I am incredibly grateful for the superb work our staff are continuing to produce through these challenging times. The decision will be constantly reviewed as circumstances change.
“In the coming days and weeks, the club will continue to support the local community, doing what we can to assist and support those who need our help. As well as trying to put a smile on people’s faces, our social channels will be used to share health and fitness information to help everyone through this difficult period.
“These are extraordinary times but everyone at Saints is relishing the thought of the day in the not-too-distant future when we re-open the gates of Franklin’s Gardens and see our stadium packed to the rafters once again. We need you, our loyal supporters, to stick with us now more than ever.”
WATCH: Premiership Rugby considering midweek matches in order to finish the season
Comments on RugbyPass
Good to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
16 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
7 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
16 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
4 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
4 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
26 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
16 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
26 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
16 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
84 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
4 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
16 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
14 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
16 Go to comments