Revealed: Four London Premier League football clubs NOT accredited with Living Wage scheme

Just three of London’s Premier League football clubs are accredited with a scheme that ensures they pay staff a “real living wage”, LondonWorld can reveal.

Chelsea, Crystal Palace, and West Ham are among the capital’s four football clubs accredited as Living Wage employers who pay the “real living wage” of £11.05 in the city.

Sixth tier South London team Dulwich Hamlet FC are the fourth club accredited by the scheme, calculated by the Living Wage Foundation, as of Wednesday, November 17.

While the capital’s other Premier League teams Arsenal, Brentford, Spurs and Watford are not among the 9,000 UK employers listed as paying the LWF recommended hourly rate.

Spurs and Arsenal both insist they pay staff the London Living Wage, but LondonWorld was not able to verify this, while the other clubs did not respond to requests for comment.

Arsenal currently pays its best-paid player, striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, £250,000 a week - or £13m a year - while Brentford pays its centre-back captain Pontus Jansson and goalie David Raya the club’s top rate of £25,000 each a week - or £1.3m a year.

England captain and Spurs striker Harry Kane is paid the club’s highest salary of £200,000 a week - or £10.4m a year - while centre-back Kurt Zouma receives West Ham’s best salary of £120,000 a week - or £6.24m a year - according to sports database Spotrac.

It comes as more than 30,000 people employed by the firms signed up to the Real Living Wage campaign see their pay boosted by 40p to £9.90 an hour - a 20p rise in London.

The wage is higher than the UK’s mandatory National Living Wage, known as the National Minimum Wage before 2016, which is currently £8.91 an hour for workers aged over 23.

Katherine Chapman, LWF director, said: "We’re delighted three of London’s Premier League clubs - West Ham, Chelsea and Crystal Palace - are accredited with the LWF.

“Because of the commitment of those clubs and the 2,500 other London Living Wage employers, 100,000 Londoners will get a pay rise this month to the new London Living Wage rate.

“We would love to see the remaining football clubs follow their lead, do the right thing by workers and their families and commit to always paying their staff a wage based on the true cost of living."

An Arsenal spokesperson said: “We offer competitive rates of pay at every level of the club and employees and workers are all paid an hourly rate at or above the London Living Wage.

“For example, our matchday stewards are paid £10.85 an hour or more.

“We will be reviewing this to ensure our continued recognition of the levels indicated by the Government and the Living Wage Foundation.

“The rates for our employees and workers already exceed the government’s 2020 national living wage target.

“In terms of third party contractors, pay conditions form part of our discussions as those contracts come up for renewal.”

A Spurs spokesperson said: “The club is a responsible employer and pays all of its permanent staff and casual workers the London Living Wage.

“The club is audited every year and considers this a robust and transparent method of confirming it pays the London Living Wage.”

They added: “Our third-party suppliers are also committed to paying the London Living Wage.”

Brentford and Watford have been contacted for comment.