Sunderland players face 40 per cent wage cut if they go down
EVERY player at Sunderland has agreed to take a 40 per cent wage cut should they be relegated.
All the club's new signings - including star names such as Darren Bent, Lee Cattermole, Lorik Cana and Michael Turner - have the wage reduction written into their contracts.
And players who have been at the club for longer have had the cut included in any new deals they have signed.
Chairman Niall Quinn revealed the figures as he explained that even in the worst case financial scenario, Sunderland would not implode if they were to go down this season.
And he said part of their "survival and revival" strategy would involve every player as well as himself as chairman, Steve Bruce as manager and Steve Walton as chief executive, would take the pay cut in order to safeguard the future of the club.
Quinn said: "Obviously, everything is now geared around making this club into a top 10 Premier League club – that is our goal and we are working to make sure that happens.
"But we have made moves to ensure that, should the worst ever happen, there will be no financial Armageddon-style crisis at this club.
"If we were relegated, all the football staff would take a 40 per cent pay cut.
"There would undoubtedly be one or two players - probably those who have international ambitions - who would want to move on and who would have no problem finding a Premier League club. That is only natural.
"But with the 40 per cut and the sale of those couple of players, it would enable us to finance the rest of the wage bill and make sure we could keep the rest of our squad together and give us a real good go at winning promotion again.
"No one likes talking about relegation but, with all the talk about football finances of late, I think it is important that our fans know that this club has a stable foundation and will be covered whatever might happen in the future."
Walton added: "People said a few years ago that it would be impossible to get big-name players to agree to a relegation clause, but I certainly haven't found that.
"In fact, I've been surprised at how easy it has been to get players and their agents to agree.
"When we are looking to sign a player and we speak to his agent to get an idea of the wages he would want, I mention the relegation clause and if they are not willing to accept it then it is the end of the conversation."
The new contracts will ensure that should Sunderland ever be relegated again, they will not have to deal with the potential financial meltdown which faced Bob Murray on the club's last relegation.
Nor will the club be faced with the catastrophic wage bill that could have crippled Newcastle United on their demotion last season, or the financial problems which all but overwhelmed once high-flying Leeds United.
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Friday 10 February 2012
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