Eddie Howe: Bournemouth manager becomes first Premier League boss to take coronavirus pay cut

Bournemouth become fourth top-flight club to begin furloughing staff

Eddie Howe has become the first Premier League manager to take a voluntary pay cut as Bournemouth became the fourth top-flight club to begin furloughing staff.

A club statement released on Wednesday afternoon announced that Howe, chief executive Neill Blake, first team technical director Richard Hughes and assistant manager Jason Tindall had taken “significant” reductions in pay by choice.

Bournemouth also revealed that “a number of staff” across the club have been told that they will be temporarily furloughed in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

Furloughed staff will continue to receive their full salary, with the club "topping up" salaries after claiming 80 per cent of wages up to £2,500 under the government's job retention scheme.

“These measures have been taken to safeguard the financial stability of the club during what is such an uncertain period, not only in football but for businesses in all industries across the world,” the statement read.

Bournemouth join Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur and Norwich City in announcing that they will begin to furlough non-playing staff.

Top-flight clubs have been criticised in recent days for taking government money to support multi-million pound businesses, while attention has gradually turned to the subject of player wage deferrals.

The Professional Footballers' Association - the players' trade union - held a meeting on Wednesday with officials from the Premier League and EFL to discuss potential ways forward on the matter.

Players at top European clubs including Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Juventus have already agreed to significant wage reductions or to go without pay entirely in the months ahead.

Leeds United's first-team squad volunteered to take a wage deferral, while players earning more than £6,000-a-week at financially troubled Birmingham City have been asked to accept a 50 per cent reduction.