NEWCASTLE and Southampton expressed their commitment to gender balance yesterday after reporting pay gaps between male and female employees in excess of 80 per cent.

Both the Magpies and the Saints published their gender pay gap reports — as all Premier League clubs are required to do — today.

Newcastle recorded a gap in mean pay during the reporting period — in their case, the 2015-16 season — of 83.3 per cent, although the difference is reduced to 16.1 per cent when the salaries of manager Rafael Benitez and the club’s players are taken out of the equation.