LONDON — parachute payments to the three relegated clubs each season should stop
and the English Football League receive a bigger share of Premier League
revenue, according to EFL chief executive Trevor Birch.
اضافة اعلان
The trio relegated in
the just-finished season, Sheffield United, Fulham and
West Brom, will each
receive £60 million ($85 million) over the next three years.
These payments are
based on the Premier League’s broadcasting revenue and were introduced when the
Premier League was formed in 1992.
However, Birch says
this money and more besides could be put to better use in closing the gap
between the haves of the Premier League and the have nots from the leagues
outside it.
“In simple terms, the
football pyramid’s financial future is under threat,” Birch wrote in
Wednesday’s Daily Telegraph.
“We need a system that
can ensure EFL clubs survive and thrive without incurring collective losses of
£243m pre-COVID in 2018-19 and the need for owner funding across the EFL of
approximately £400m a year.
“Our model needs to be
about sustainability, rather than philanthropy or speculation.”
Birch, a qualified
accountant who has been associated with seven clubs including Tottenham Hotspur
and Leeds, says if EFL clubs were to receive more from the EPL it would be
beholden on them to use the money wisely and not all at once.
“In our view, the only
way to achieve this sensibly is through implementation of a series of
stainability measures,” he said.
“This includes EFL
clubs receiving 25 percent of pooled revenues, abolishing parachute payments
and implementing effective cost control mechanisms across the league.
“Quite simply, it is
no use spreading money around in a fairer way only for it to be spent as
quickly as it comes in.
“Narrowing the gap
between the haves in our domestic super league and the have-nots throughout the
rest of the pyramid will lead to more stable ownership models and ultimately
better relationships with fans.”
Birch’s demands, he
hopes, will be a longer-lasting solution to financing than last December’s
agreement over the EPL’s £250 million bailout package to the EFL due to the
devastation wrought by the coronavirus pandemic.
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