'I think everybody needs to play their part in this national effort and that means Premier League footballers too. The first thing that Premier League footballers can do is make a contribution, take a pay cut.’ - Matt Hancock, April 2, 2020
Football and footballers have long been an easy target but when the Secretary of State for Health laid down the gauntlet to the nation’s most popular sport, few could have predicted just how impressively it would respond.
April 2020 was a different era, back when lockdown felt like unprecedented times rather than Groundhog Day.