Man Utd lead the way to take pay cut, which leaves PL rivals embarrassed

Football is secondary right now. So too, for football clubs and players, is money.

These have become established and accepted facts in the past few weeks as the pure scale of the coronavirus crisis has revealed itself.

It's felt as though the world has tipped itself upside down. Suddenly, dozens of footballers are speaking with humility about the horror of the covid-19 situation, the pressure on the NHS and how the resumption of Premier League football - whenever it comes - is a mere after-thought.

Still, though, some clubs haven't got the message. Manchester United have.

They led the way for the Premier League to reveal all clubs had 'unanimously agreed' to consult players on taking a 30 per cent pay cut - an idea previously suggested by Harry Maguire to his United teammates - and won't be making use of the government's furlough scheme, continuing to pay all employees as normal. Around 900 staff have been reassured, told to work from home and stay safe.

United have recognised the privileged position they are in, as one of the world's biggest football clubs and a commercial powerhouse, and used it for the greater good.

Others were slow on the uptake.

Liverpool announced on Saturday that they planned to utilise the furlough scheme and were met with a furious backlash from their own fans and plenty of others, before being forced into reversing the decision. Tottenham, at the time of writing, are yet to change their decision to furlough some non-playing staff. Newcastle have also made use of the furlough scheme.

Some might think it's fair enough for mid-size clubs and those further down the Football League pyramid to use the scheme to save themselves. But there is little excuse for the truly top clubs with enormous revenues, as United have proven.

Along with Manchester rivals City, they have set the example for the rest of the league. The two have paired up to donate to food banks in the local area. Pictures emerged on Tuesday of United staff delivering 30,000 items of food and drink to Stretford Food Bank, Salford Royal, and other Manchester charities dealing with the impacts of the covid-19 pandemic.

These are small gestures for a club of United's size, but they go a long way and the club's dignity will be remembered long after the pandemic has been beaten.

Throughout it all, the likes of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Marcus Rashford have spoken well, the latter doing his bit for families struggling to feed their children without free school meals.

Solskjaer has defended footballers in the face of unwarranted criticism from government health secretary Matt Hancock.

"Football's an easy target sometimes, for me it's unfair to call on any individuals or footballers as a group, players do a great amount of work in the community, loads of players are doing a lot to help this situation," Solskjaer said, justified in what he was saying because of United's commendable behaviour throughout the crisis.

"We're all good people, I'm sure we all want this to be over with as soon as possible, for me it's about following the guidelines from the government as well.

"We're role models, sometimes we're heroes in football, at the moment we have to take a back step, the real heroes are the workers in the frontline, I think everyone appreciates and really admires that they're doing."

As well as Rashford, one of those helping out is Juan Mata, who revealed the Common Goal charity has established a coronavirus response fund.

There are more examples, as United continue to show they are arguably the classiest and most dignified club in the Premier League - if not the best on the pitch just yet.

But some things are bigger than football and United deserve every ounce of credit for recognising that through these tough times.