Football: English football fails its biggest test - will the public ever forgive?

MANCHESTER - Among the multitude of viral videos flying around social media during Britain's coronavirus lockdown, is one which ridicules Premier League footballers in a brutal, unsubtle fashion.

After a week of public arguments about Premier League players, who earn an average salary of £240,000 a month, refusing to take a pay cut while top clubs use public money to pay their furloughed non-playing staff, there is little doubt that the game - and its players - have suffered a serious blow to their image.

There is no question that many footballers do help out good causes generously, just as most clubs are engaged with effective community programmes all-year round. On Wednesday , a group of Premier League players announced a"Players Together" charity initiative to help raise funds for NHS related causes, but the reputational damage may be hard to recover from.

Southampton are the first club to buck the trend, announcing on Thursday that their players and coaching staff will defer part of their salaries while saying they would not be using the government's job retention scheme. "They should be working out a way to carry on paying the wages of club staff without resorting to taking money from the government scheme."

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