IT’S a no brainer that footballers should take a pay cut and NHS staff should have a pay rise.

Just think about the difference in their roles they play in society…  Kicking a ball around a football pitch for 90 minutes versus NHS workers who have literally put their lives in danger to save others?

Health Secretary Matt Hancock has told Premier League footballers to take a look at the NHS staff members who have sacrificed their lives in order to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

He has called on them to “play their part” and take a pay cut to look after others who are less fortunate.

In my opinion, these so-called football stars should be on less money anyway, while these heroic key workers should get a pay rise.

And I don’t mean just now; I also mean when all this blows over.

According to the PFA (Professional Footballers’ Association) the average salary of a Premier League football player is about £50,000 per week.

Now compare this to the average salary an NHS worker gets – which is £26,000 according to Pay Scale. This is disgraceful.  Nothing will be the same after we’ve recovered from this pandemic.  I would like to hope this crisis has made us more grateful and appreciative towards our front-line workers who are keeping this country together. Although it took some time.

I for one can already see changes in society and our outlook on the world.

Over these past two weeks while our country has been in lockdown, we have gone from panic buying toilet rolls and pasta, queuing outside supermarkets to then find empty shelves, to finally acknowledging the enormous amount of effort our hospital staff have been putting in to protect us.  Many supermarkets adapted their opening hours to accommodate the surge in demand for essential items, with adjusted opening times and priority shopping hours for the elderly, vulnerable and key workers.

The panic buying had to stop, and we soon realised the least we could do was to support our front-line workers who each day are risking their lives to save someone else.  The country adopted the Clap for Carers which saw people across the UK paying tribute, saluting NHS staff and other key workers dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. The event is now expected to happen every Thursday at 8pm.