Perhaps more the principal+it’s them don’t know! (Football fans you gotta love,em) I’ve been in that situation re furloughed thankfully not made redundant, my company has taken full advantage of the situation regards Covid 19 and changed the rules accordingly to suit themselves and it leaves a bad taste. Football clubs are a law upon themselves that’s been made fairly obvious from the start more so with Covid 19 every other industry has suffered and yes I know the smaller clubs, non-league are in the same boat as hospitality etc it’s just when you’ve got “a” player getting in access of an average £70k a week possibly a full contract on 3years=9million and that can’t sustain them for the rest of their careers let alone 3years! The 55 who’ve been made redundant it will not make any difference to Woolwich fc non what’s so ever financially.
It does make a difference financially. One would also presume it would also make a difference to the Club (any club) on how it operates, I've not seen anywhere written on the functions of these staff, but one would presume they provide a service/function that warrants a salary in the first place. With them removed how is that function/service absorbed by the Club and how does that impact on the performance of the team. It's significant as it's 10-15% of their workforce.
There a ton of moral arguments to be had but, just like in the entertainment industry the money gravitates to the stars and rightly so, they are the entertainment, the reason why we are either their or watching them. We aren't there to watch Susan scrub the toilets or watch Dave cut the pitch but we understand that they are required for that performance to be made.
There was an argument not so long ago about the money that Clubs obtain via matchday wasn't relevant because for so many Clubs it was a small percentage of the revenue make-up, the argument extended further with many stating that fans could watch football for free and it will not make a difference. Safe to say we can now put this one to bed. Even for those clubs that take a small percentage from matchday compared to their overall revenue streams, without fans there isn't a product that's marketable, or certainly, without the value the product of the game pre-COVID demanded.
Are players overpaid = sure
Are actors overpaid = sure
But it's about them, we are there to watch them. The business is them.
The real focus should be on the agents and the lawyers who have their begging bowls out and filter money in their direction completly sucking it out of the game, it doesn't get re-circulated or reinvested in the game. It doesn't build new infrastructure, get the local playing fields maintained or provide dressing rooms to change in and it certainly doesn't find it's way back to a top ten world football club to pay its staff.
But I'm assuming these staff are related to the stadium and with football effectively shut (behind closed doors) why the fuck would you pay anyone to clean the toilets in your stadium when it's effectively shut?