Bradford face wage cuts again

Bradford City have asked their players to take a 50 per cent pay deferral as the club attempts to avoid having to go into administration.

The First Division side, who are currently in the relegation zone and eight points from safety, made their request yesterday, but the squad are reluctant to accept the proposal just 18 months after they went through a similar process.

Bryan Robson's team have run into fresh financial problems, but the playing staff believe that this latest request is making them pay the price for problems that should have been sorted out by the club's board.

Some of Bradford's new signings are on reasonably low-salaried contracts, but there are a few who are still on the high wages from the contracts they signed when Bradford were a Premiership club.

The Professional Footballers' Association will be consulted about the club's proposal, but it has concerns of its own about the development because it loaned City more than £1m during the club's previous crisis.

Wimbledon, the only team below Bradford in the First Division, also received some bad news yesterday when their goalkeeper, Paul Heald, was forced to retire at the age of 35 because of a serious knee injury.

The Wimbledon manager, Stuart Murdoch, said that Heald, who needed surgery and has not played since November, will continue in his role as the club's goalkeeping coach. "Paul has had to retire. He won't be coming back from his injury," Murdoch said. "The main thing for him is to get through the rest of his life without any pain."