Leeds volunteer to defer wages to ensure non-football staff can be paid

Leeds’ players, management and senior staff have volunteered to defer their wages for the foreseeable future.

The Championship leaders – seven points clear of third with nine games to play when the season was halted by the coronavirus pandemic – say they have made the move so that all non-football staff can be paid during the sport’s shutdown.

Director of football Victor Orta said that his players and head coach Marcelo Bielsa had “demonstrated an incredible sense of unity and togetherness” in making the offer, at a time when the club is losing “several millions of pounds a month”.

In a statement entitled ‘Side Before Self, Every Time’, Leeds’ first-team squad said: “Leeds United is a family, this is the culture that has been created by everyone at the club, from the players and the board to the staff and the supporters in the stands.

“We face uncertain times and therefore it is important that we all work together to find a way that the club can push through this period and end the season in the way we all hope we can. In the meantime, let’s work as one to listen to the government advice and the health service and beat this virus.”