Radical plans for Premier League not dead yet despite swift opposition
Send a link to a friend
[October 12, 2020]
By Simon Evans
MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) - Radical
proposals to change English football backed by heavyweights
Liverpool and Manchester United have been met with swift criticism
but Football League (EFL) chairman Rick Parry insists he will push
forward with the plan.
The proposals would give more power to the big Premier League clubs,
reducing it from 20 teams to 18 for the 2022-23 season and scrapping
the League Cup and Community Shield.
The plans would also see the Premier League commit to providing 25%
of the league's revenue to EFL clubs and a 250 million pounds
($325.58 million) rescue fund to help with the immediate impact of
the COVID-19 crisis.
The Premier League, the UK government and the Football Supporters'
Association (FSA) were quick out of the blocks to condemn the plan,
which was leaked to the Telegraph on Sunday.
But former Liverpool and Premier League CEO Parry, who has so far
been the only public face of the plan, insisted that the proposals
were by no means dead in the water.
"Clearly there will be a huge amount of debate but this is about
coming up with a bold plan for the future and if that doesn’t please
everybody, frankly, so be it," he told reporters.
Much of the criticism has been focused on the 'special voting
rights' that would be given to the 'Big Six' Premier League clubs --
Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Tottenham
Hotspur and Arsenal.
POWER GRAB
Oliver Dowden, the UK Culture Minister, who is responsible for
sport, said he feared the plans were a power grab by the big clubs
and warned of a review of governance of the game if no move was made
for COVID-19 relief for the lower leagues.
"They should be getting together to sort the sport out and I am
afraid that if we keep having these back-room deals... we will have
to look again at the underlying governance of football," Dowden told
Sky News on Monday.
He said the government was elected in 2019 with a manifesto
commitment to a "fan-led review" of football governance.
Henry Winter, Chief Football Writer, wrote in The Times: "Everybody
can see through what the 'big six' are up to, wanting to run English
football, ruining the dreams of those who aspire to the heights,
diminishing the power of the FA further, and setting the scene for
the European Super League."
EFL chief Parry was criticised by name in an unusually strong
statement from the Premier League, and the fact that he originally
helped create the breakaway league in 1992 was not lost on his
critics.
"(The 'Big Six') want to make the rules, shape the game, decide who
gets what, who gets in. And Parry, once again, is their willing
accomplice," wrote Martin Samuel, Chief Sports Writer, in The Daily
Mail.
[to top of second column]
|
Rick Parry, the new EFL Chief Executive (L) in the stands Action
Images/Paul Burrows
However, while the increased power for the 'Big Six' was never going
to be a vote winner, there could be backing for many other ideas in
the wide-ranging plans.
"There are parts of the proposal that require negotiation but there
is too much good in this plan to dismiss it," said ex-Manchester
United captain Gary Neville, now a Sky Sports pundit and co-owner of
League Two (fourth tier) club Salford City.
'FINANCIAL STABILITY'
Lower division clubs are unlikely to be against the proposal for a
one-off 250 million pounds COVID-19 rescue fund for EFL clubs and
for 25% of Premier League revenues to be distributed to the EFL, up
from the current four percent.
The plans also call for an end to the 'parachute payments' which
help teams relegated from the Premier League for the following three
seasons and which have been criticised for distorting competition in
the second tier.
Dale Vince, chairman of League Two club Forest Green Rovers, has
backed the plans, saying they will bring "financial stability" to
the EFL.
"Really exciting changes may be in the offing - and we may see
greater (financial) sustainability in the top four leagues as a
result. I hope so," he wrote on social media.
"Better funding and the end of parachute payments are two big things
that come from this plan. Positive changes".
Andy Holt, chairman of League One club Accrington Stanley said he
was not ruling out a deal if changes were made to the plans but was
sceptical of the increased power for the 'big six'.
"They take control of the pyramid and there’s not a man on earth
that can convince me they won’t abuse their position thereafter," he
said.
($1 = 0.7679 pounds)
(Reporting by Simon Evans; Editing by Ken Ferris)
[© 2020 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2020 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |