Liverpool have become the third Premier League club to commit to paying its staff, including match-day casuals, the real living wage.

The Merseyside club joins Chelsea and Everton in signing up to the RLW initiative.

As of June 2018, Liverpool’s employees can expect to be paid £8.45 per hour – 95p more than the legal minimum.

The real living wage exceeds the minimum wage, which is determined by workers’ ages, and is calculated by taking into account the costs of genuine working families’ needs.

Liverpool, who employ around 1,000 part-time staff on match days, have reached the agreement after discussions with the Living Wage Foundation and Steve Rotheram, the mayor of the Liverpool City Region.

“We hope that this development demonstrates how highly we value all of those who work for Liverpool Football Club in whatever capacity that may be,” said Liverpool chief executive, Peter Moore.

“During the course of our discussions with both Steve and the Living Wage Foundation we examined a range of issues but the intention of all involved, not least ourselves, was always the same – to reach an outcome which would be of greatest benefit to our workforce.

“As a club, we have paid the national minimum wage at the higher rate only for many years and in June this year we ensured that all directly employed staff were paid at least the real living wage. By taking the next step, we are not adhering to an obligation, we are doing it because we feel it is the right thing to do.”