Premier League football clubs are being urged to pay their staff the Real Living Wage after a report found many matchday staff are "left on the breadline".

Community organising charity Citizens UK said that despite Premier League clubs making a combined £4.2bn last year, an estimated 42% of all workers in sports clubs and facilities currently earn below the voluntary Real Living Wage.

It reported that only five Premier League clubs - Brighton, Everton, Liverpool, Chelsea and West Ham - are currently accredited with the Living Wage Foundation, meaning they are committed to paying all staff and any third-party contract workers the voluntary rate of £9 an hour and £10.55 in London, higher than the statutory figure of £8.21.

Other clubs outside the Premier League, such as Championship side Luton, also pay the voluntary rate.

Matthew Bolton, director of Citizens UK, said: "Today we're urging Premier League clubs dragging their feet to..... do the right thing, step up and pay the Real Living Wage for all workers."


A cleaner who works at Manchester United's Old Trafford, and wishes to remain anonymous, said: "I currently get paid £7.80 per hour. At the moment I struggle to put food on the table for my family and I often have to have cut-price meals.

"Considering the amount of money in football, it would be great to see the club paying all their staff a fair and decent wage."

The Right Reverend John Arnold, Catholic Bishop of Salford, said: "Football clubs have a rich history in our communities and the Premier League has become a global export, yet too often clubs seem to have lost touch with the lives and struggles of workers and their families.

"Solving poverty can't be left to faith and civil society alone and big clubs and their wealthy owners must do their bit."

Gary Sweet, chief executive of Luton Town FC, said: "We became the first club in professional football in England in December 2014 to become an accredited employer, yet five years on there are still only seven clubs in total in the UK that can call themselves one.

"We hoped that our commitment would have a knock-on effect across the leagues, which it has slowly done, but, given the amount of money that is now in the Premier League and the EFL, it is a sorry state of affairs to see clubs aren't ensuring staff are living above the poverty line."