Leading Liverpool supporters’ trust Spirit of Shankly have clarified their stance on the club’s decision to furlough non-playing staff.
Liverpool courted controversy on Saturday by announcing they would turn to the government’s job retention scheme during the suspension of the Premier League.
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They followed the lead of Tottenham, Newcastle, Bournemouth and Norwich in doing so, despite declaring pre-tax profits of £42m for last season in February.
The SOS group said that guaranteeing lower-paid staff would continue to receive their wage in full “has got to be seen as a positive”, which was construed as praise for and defence of the club’s actions.
But they released a further statement on Saturday evening to clear up the confusion, describing it as “wrong” that the scheme was to be used, but that their priority was for all non-playing staff to be paid their wages in full.
“Spirit of Shankly want to make it clear that we have not refused to criticise the club,” it began. “Our chair has been misquoted and misrepresented by a journalist on Twitter looking for clicks.
“Today, Saturday 4 April, Liverpool announced they are to furlough non-playing staff. We know no details, yet were asked for a statement. One was given in good faith saying for us the priority is LFC staff being paid 100% of their regular wage.
“During this crisis, many workers have lost or will lose their livelihoods. When it began, SOS contacted LFC to seek assurances that all non-playing staff would be guaranteed to receive 100% wages. We were told this would happen and we made a statement. This was and continues to be our priority.
“Many of our members and the committee have raised concerns that the club intend to use taxpayer’s money to pay staff. We can all agree this is wrong, but again for SOS the prerogative is protecting jobs. It is the club who made the decision on how to pay their staff and they are the ones who need to answer why, if they decide to furlough.
“Our belief is that no profit-making organisation should be relying on tax-payer subsidies in times of crises, yet football as a money-making industry has been singled out. It is an easy target for the authorities. We are contacting the club now and asking them to explain their position and reasoning. We will report back as soon as we hear back.
“SOS have been working tirelessly in our communities over the past couple of weeks delivering food bags to those most in need and being here for people. Where were the journalists then looking for quotes?”
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