THE STAFF AND players at Shamrock Rovers have taken a 25% pay cut to mitigate against the economic cost of the Covid-19 shutdown.

Rovers have not played a game since beating Sligo Rovers on 7 March, and in a statement today, the club say they cannot sustain the club’s current budget without matchday income.

To that end, the club have confirmed that all first-team players and staff have taken a 25% cut in their wages.

“After a collective consultation with our Sporting Director Stephen McPhail, our first team staff, club captain Ronan Finn and subsequently the rest of the players we can announce that the first-team squad and staff have accepted to take a 25% wage reduction”, said Rovers manager Stephen Bradley.

“We recognise that they represent the most special football institution in the country and…we have a responsibility collectively to play our part in safeguarding the club’s future.

“We’ve been in football a very long time and they are absolutely one of the best groups of people that we have ever been lucky to work with. They do not earn huge salaries. Like us all, they have mortgages to pay and bills to worry about. But despite that, they have shown the compassion, foresight and capability to recognise that it falls on us all to help protect a football club which is very close to our hearts.”

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The club’s board put on record their thanks to players and staff, and added they will make “whatever decisions are required to sustain the club into the future.”

The clubs and the FAI have provisionally agreed to restart the League on 19 June, although this is subject to the approval of the government and public health officials.

Rovers are not the first Irish club forced to react to the crisis, as Cork City and Sligo Rovers have both temporarily laid off their players for the duration of the shutdown.