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Elgin City 2019/20


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14 hours ago, Thom & Gerry said:
Players will be covered by the government scheme to cover self employed. That will certainly help clubs.


Players are not self employed.

 

Edited by beaver1
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Either way they would be entitled. You are of course correct re self employed players only getting if their playing wage is greater gross than their other earnings which is unlikely at p/t level. I must admit I overlooked that when I posted. Not quite so good then!

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Well, I have just checked the guidance and it seems that you can have more than one employment and receive a furlough  payment...

If you currently have more than one employer

You can be put on furlough by one employer and continue to work for another, if it is permitted within your employment contract.

If you’re put on furlough by more than one employer, you’ll receive separate payments from each employer. The 80% of your normal wage up to a £2,500 monthly cap applies to each job.

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Yes, ECFC & other clubs will be able to make 80% grant claims under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, which applies to anybody on PAYE. As a business owner I spent much of yesterday going through the scheme with my accountant & payroll people to make sure that we understood it, & to determine how we could best utilise it in order to do the best for both our business & our employees going forward.

For most clubs at Elgin's level, it's worth remembering that it won't be the majority of players that would be hardest hit by any wage cuts if the Clubs hadn't had this opportunity, being that football is generally a lower paid second job for most, but rather the Clubs' full-time staff who will mostly have their jobs at the Club as their only, or certainly main income. At least now they'll be able to be furloughed & get 80% of their usual income, as opposed to the 67% cut that had previously been tabled at Elgin for instance. And if the Club was still going to pay 33% of their wages, then they could actually still top up the other 20% & actually still save a few quid, & that way everybody still gets all their money, or the option of it at least. Up to individuals then, or a collective agreement if any Club's employees - staff & players - wish to 'put something back' into the Club to further help the ongoing viability of their employer. 

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To all our supporters.  This is the sixth iteration of this statement which was started 10 days ago.  Every time we have attempted to release it the information is out of date.  This time we are releasing it and if required we will follow up with an updated version. 

In response to the current situation I feel it is incumbent upon the Club to give you all an update as to where we stand, and what steps we are taking to see us through this extremely difficult situation.

Firstly, may I confirm that our Club was in a sound financial footing prior to the suspension of games on March 13th.   We were in a position to increase the managers budget for season 20-21 and assumed that the performances on the pitch would have put us into the play offs, where we were confident that we could be very competitive.  With the extra games of the playoffs we would have increased revenue not only of the football club but the social and supporters club too.

Unfortunately, Covid-19 has put an end to all that and we are now in a extremely challenging position. 

The board have discussed numerous ways to improve the situation but circumstances have fought against us as the virus took a hold, i.e. no social club, no hires for the venue and no games.  

There is no clarity as to when football will commence, autumn is what most people seem to think, there is no decision on the completion of the season and no way forward on the contractual situation with players.  All of these factors lead the Club into a situation where we would run out of funds sometime before September.

Therefore, after long and in depth discussions the board decided to ask all players & staff to take a 67% reduction in salary, we put all merchandise on a 50% reduction sale and opened a JustGiving crowd funding page.

Our fans are supporting us well through the JustGiving page and other mediums, and we can’t thank them enough for this, several supporters have also offered to purchase their season tickets early.  The majority of the staff accepted the need to reduce wages but the players require the PFA to be part of the agreement and that has not been forthcoming.  However events took a turn for the better following the introduction by central government of the job retention scheme.  

The players & staff will be asked to accept a furlough agreement and if they do so they will be placed on leave with 80% of their salary.  The requests were  issued on Tues 31 Mar, the significant movement on salaries is essential for the survival of the Club and this scheme is a life saver for all the lower league clubs, possibly for all of the SPFL.  

Moreover, the SFA have assisted with early issue of Licensing and Youth Football payments which gives us a little more breathing space.  

We have been well supported throughout the year and that continues in various guises and I believe we are in a better financial position than many other Clubs.

I can assure you all the Board of Directors are working tirelessly to ensure we have a Football Club in a position to play once this terrible situation eases.

One must put it all into perspective, we are a football club trying to survive but there are people losing the livelihoods and worse.

Please stay healthy and care for each other.  Follow all the guidelines associated with this shocking virus and I am sure we will come out the other side.   

Graham Tatters – Chairman

 
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1 hour ago, Thom & Gerry said:

I could be wrong but my reading is the 67% cut was asked for before the go ahead for furlough was given by the government. The cut was not agreed to by some players on the advice of the players Union. I think it would be 80% of there normal wage.

That would be my reading of it, too, but who knows?

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After the SPFL vote today it looks like the league is finished now with the average points rule being used.
Cove to go up and Brechin to stay in the league and the play off abolished.
There was probably no right and wrong in this situstion. But seems like a kick in the teeth for us given the momentum we were building.

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Can’t see any other way forward personally but It is still subject to a vote from all the clubs which needs 75% majority.  Always going to be winners and losers and unfortunately we could be seen as losers as we won’t get a chance in the playoffs.  Will miss Cove next season for the extra revenue and have Stranraer as lost revenue. There is talk of league reconstruction with Brora and Kelty being admitted which would be different. I also read there is going to be relegation from the HL in the near future which will shake that league up.

I suppose all the above is pretty irrelevant at the moment. I personally can see a scenario which won’t see us watching football this year! 🤞 

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Can’t see any other way forward personally but It is still subject to a vote from all the clubs which needs 75% majority.  Always going to be winners and losers and unfortunately we could be seen as losers as we won’t get a chance in the playoffs.  Will miss Cove next season for the extra revenue and have Stranraer as lost revenue. There is talk of league reconstruction with Brora and Kelty being admitted which would be different. I also read there is going to be relegation from the HL in the near future which will shake that league up.
I suppose all the above is pretty irrelevant at the moment. I personally can see a scenario which won’t see us watching football this year! [emoji1696] 
Aye I would say a big positive to come from this would be league construction if it happened. IMO it would be a huge shot in the arm for the whole country to not be playing the same teams 4 times a season.
But as you say all this talk is pretty irrelevant with what is happening right now.
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I must admit I think the format we have at the moment is the best we have had in years in terms of the lower leagues, the play offs have been a great boost as has potential relegation, there are very few meaningless games now. I would not like to have too many teams In the league. I read somewhere someone suggesting a league of 12 with a split top and bottom after 3 rounds of games like the SPL. That way we won’t have 44 games, which is too many but keeps the league competitive.

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Not complaining about the decision as I don't think any of them were ideal but a shame this team never got the chance to finish the season as I think, playing as we were, we would've had a good chance in the play offs had we got there. There are bigger things in life though and a first trip to Stranraer is now on the cards for whenever the new season starts.

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