Leeds United's protective gesture in stark contrast to Premier League Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United

There could not be a starker contrast between the good will and the good PR that came out of Elland Road last week and the noises coming from a small number of their far richer Premier League counterparts this week.

The instinct in Leeds was a protective, familial one, entirely in keeping with the ‘side before self’ ethos we hear so much about.

Those in a more comfortable financial situation – the first-team players, coaching staff and the senior management – took a decision to safeguard the employment of 272 non-football members of staff.

Adam Forshaw, as honest a footballer as you would hope to find, admitted that the players’ own financial security was a motivating factor – defer part of your wages now and ensure you’re still receiving something two or three months down the line if the coronavirus pandemic continues to keep us and football locked down, rather than taking full pay.

He also pointed out that this was a decision taken with the Elland Road cleaners in mind, the local people who make up the fabric of Leeds United and who do not take thousands out of the club in wages each week.

Birmingham City were the first to go public with proposals for a wage deferral, but Pep Clotet admitted on Sunday they were still discussing it.

It was Leeds United who blazed a trail for the Championship and set an example that others may now follow - if they can afford to.

Sadly, others have decided not to follow and, from the outside looking in, their instinct, when faced with ‘financial difficulty’, appears not to have been to prioritise those earning the least.

Step forward Tottenham Hotspur.

Chief executive Daniel Levy, who earned £4m in salary last season as well as a £3m bonus for the completion of their shiny new stadium, announced that his club’s 550 non-playing staff had been placed on furlough, enforced leave that will see the government pay 80 per cent of their salaries, up to the monthly limit of £2,500.

Quite whether that is what chancellor Rishi Sunak had in mind when he announced the job-retention scheme to help businesses trying to cope with the financial impact of the pandemic, is debatable.

There are complex discussions to be had between the Professional Footballers Association and the Premier League, of course, about player wages and Leeds took their decision only after securing the agreement of the playing staff.

It is only natural, however, to look at Spurs’ wage bill and some of the sums being taken home by top players and wonder how fair it is for non-playing staff to suffer any kind of wage cut at all, and why Spurs could not wait until such a time as the PFA and Premier League came to an agreement, like a collectively bargained deferral, before announcing their news.

Furthermore, if a club like Burnley can say all matchday and non-matchday casual workers will be paid during the current football shutdown, why can Spurs not also?

As the joint statement from the game’s authorities said this week, we all have a part to play in keeping communities safe.

We are all affected by this in some way, many of us have been affected financially and for some it will be devastating but a gesture like the one the Leeds players agreed to at least held a sense of everyone being in it together.

No such sense has come from Spurs just yet, nor from Newcastle United, the first Premier League club to furlough non-playing staff.

Leeds themselves did take a PR hit last week by waiting until season-ticket renewal deadline day before intimating the deadline would be extended for those whose circumstances did not allow them to purchase.

But had they announced a wage cut for cleaners, while players on thousands of pounds per week received full pay, they would have delivered a punch in the mouth to the people of this city and received one back, with interest.

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