Club Statement
Plymouth Argyle Football Club has today (Wednesday, July 8) begun an organisational restructure programme in order to secure the long-term future of the club.
In the months that have passed since the EFL season was interrupted, it has become increasingly clear that the global COVID-19 crisis will have a significant impact on the football industry, particularly for clubs in the lower leagues.
As detailed in our recently published accounts for the six-month period up until June 2019, 60% of Argyle’s revenues come from match-day activities alone. With ticketing, hospitality and commercial opportunities limited in the medium term, the club faces a significant and unprecedented financial shortfall before the end of the 20/21 EFL season.
The club has undertaken a number of infrastructure improvements in recent years in order to support our ambition of becoming a self-sustaining Championship club. However, as discussed in the recent note to supporters by club Chairman Simon Hallett, Argyle is not immune to the very present existential threat that comes from no match-day revenues.
As such, the club has been forced to realign the structure of the organisation to ensure survival in the short-term, and growth towards the ambition of becoming a financially sustainable, upwardly-mobile football club beyond that.
Since the beginning of this crisis, the club has aimed to be transparent and supportive in its dealings with staff members and supporters. As previously outlined, this support included topping up furloughed employees’ salaries beyond the government Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme funding until the end of June.
Although no final decisions have been taken on individual roles at this stage, the club anticipates that a number of jobs will be placed at risk during the consultation process, and, unfortunately, in some cases, redundancies will be necessary.
Argyle prioritises its duty of care to staff during this period and will ensure that all affected colleagues are engaged with transparently, fairly, and supportively, throughout the process.
Although the club’s aim has been to remain as open and communicative as possible during this crisis, we will be offering no further comment on this matter, and ask that supporters and media remain respectful of club employees’ right to privacy.