All Barnet staff laid off because of coronavirus pandemic
All staff will be affected, but not the players
Written by Simon Austin — March 17, 2020
BARNET have put all their staff on notice of redundancy following the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.
This will affect about 60 employees, 15 of them in the Academy, although not the players, as footballers’ contracts are protected. Head Coach Darren Currie “has a long notice period” and “will remain in charge until at least the end of the season and possibly beyond”, the club said.
Academy staff had expected to be made redundant at the end of the season, the club added, because EPPP funding will end then due to relegation from the Football League in 2018.
Tony Kleanthous, who has owned the club for 26 years, said: “It is my responsibility to ensure Barnet FC continues to survive and remains financially stable and therefore, I have had to make difficult decisions.
"I have to be open and honest with the staff and it’s been a difficult past few days having to deliver the bad news but it’s something that had to be done.
“I have not had time to think about plans for next season yet but we will have to find a way to move forward based upon our current crowd attendance because existing National League rules limit any signings we can make or players’ salaries we can commit to going forward.
“The knock-on effects are of course heart-breaking for me personally as I am fully aware of how this will impact my phenomenal team of hard-working support staff across the group.”
PFA chief executive Gordon Taylor told TGG that if any of the staff are ex members of his union, then they will be entitled to legal advice from it.
"If you're made redundant, then your position cannot be replaced," he said. "If any of the staff are former members of the PFA, then we will take a look at their situation and try and help them. As ex-members, they are still entitled to legal advice from us."
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