Jamie MacDonald: 'I took 50% pay cut at Hearts but footballers are not loaded like people think'

Goalkeeper saddened as former club take drastic action

Jamie MacDonald knows the feeling of wage cuts at Hearts.

Jamie MacDonald will never forget being asked to take a 50 per cent wage cut by Hearts. His heart sank last night when news emerged that Tynecastle Park employees have been asked to do the same again.

Owner Ann Budge has offered all staff the choice to halve their salaries or leave their job as the Coronavirus impacts the club severely. Matches postponed indefinitely and no income have prompted Budge to take drastic action.

It is a familiar tale for MacDonald – currently on loan at Alloa from Kilmarnock – albeit triggered by very different circumstances.

A Scottish Cup-winning legend in 2012, the goalkeeper found himself in a no-win situation just 12 months later after Hearts entered administration with debts approaching £30m.

Along with team-mates Ryan Stevenson, Jamie Hamill and John Sutton, he was asked by administrators BDO to reduce his money by half or leave the club. Sutton chose to move on but the others accepted.

“It was really difficult,” recalled MacDonald. “I was fortunate in the sense that I only had a small house with a small mortgage at that time and no children. It was just me and my wife and I had some savings. I’ve got three kids now and it’s a completely different situation compared to seven years ago.

“You looked at other people in the Hearts dressing room back then who had young families and larger mortgages. You saw the impact on them and how much more difficult it could have been.

“The most notable one at the time was Ian Black. It was well-publicised that he was away working with his mate to earn extra cash. People said things but, at the end of the day, he was just trying to look after his family. You respect him for that.

“Everybody sees football players and thing you're rich and loaded. That’s not the case. People see the money in the English Premier League and assume we all earn that kind of money. It doesn’t work that way.

“Even the guys who do earn good money in Scotland, you still live within your means. It will be difficult for everybody at this moment in time.”

Non-football staff hit hard

Financial reductions will hit non-footballing Hearts staff hard as their wages are nowhere near the level of first-team players.

Budge stressed in a statement last night that none of her employees will be left earning money below the Real Living Wage following the cuts. So nobody’s wage should fall below the £18,135 threshold.

MacDonald knows only too well it is a dilemma for everyone as personal circumstances vary from one person to another.

“For the Hearts players asked to take that wage cut, it might not be a problem for some but others might have personal finance issues,” he said. “Then there’s the other club staff and the impact it will have on them.

“We went two or three months without being paid in 2012, then came administration the following year. Emotionally it’s difficult when you’re asked to make that choice. I sat and spoke with my wife and it was something I was happy to do to help the club at that point.”

Potential chain reaction

Hearts are the first Ladbrokes Premiership club to adopt such measures so far. As the Coronavirus and ongoing lack of matches takes a stranglehold across the country and beyond, the fear is that others may be forced to follow suit.

A potential chain reaction is something MacDonald is conscious of. When administration hit Gorgie seven years ago, Hearts were solely the architects of their own downfall due to the reckless financial mismanagement of then-owner Vladimir Romanov.

This time the effects of the global pandemic are being felt by everyone.

“It was different circumstances with administration in 2013 but our option was simple: Leave or take a 50 per cent wage cut.

“It was a difficult decision to make at that time because the other option was to leave the club altogether,” said MacDonald, who came through the Hearts youth academy before finally becoming the club’s established first-choice keeper.

“These circumstances are totally different to anything that has ever happened before. You just have to hope everyone at Hearts and every other club can get through it but it’s just so unprecedented.”

Uncertain future ahead

MacDonald is facing his own uncertain future. His Alloa loan ends concurrent with his Kilmarnock contract at the end of May, and he will then become a free agent.

However, no-one is able to tell him if football will definitely resume before then, or if he will be left hanging for months until matches can start and clubs begin looking for a goalkeeper.

“It’s not just football, everything is affected right across the whole world,” he said. “It’s quite scary times for everybody right now. For myself and other footballers, there is that worry that other clubs might take the same stance and ask you to take a 50 per cent cut.

“Nobody knows what will happen, how quickly this virus is going to disappear, or when football will be back. The unknown makes it all the more scary. You can cope with things when you know what’s happening.

“You can work round it but, right now, nobody knows what is going on or how to deal with it.”