A Norwich fan says football bosses face tough task in levelling the financial playing field
A two-day meeting is underway - where they'll discuss a new deal between the Premier League and the EFL
A Norwich fan tells us football bosses are facing a tough task trying to level the financial playing field.
A two-day meeting is underway - where they'll discuss a new deal between the Premier League and the EFL- and if clubs will get more financial help if relegated to the championship.
"A lot of clubs are going to have to realign their expenditure"
Gary Field is treasurer of 'The Canaries Trust' - a Norwich fan group with a share in the team:
"Trying to regulate the position of the EFL with the rest of football is going to be really, really tricky. I think a lot of clubs are going to have to realign their expenditure, especially if these new proposed rules come in, and it will just make the gap will just get bigger.
"Clubs tend to lose a lot of money when they are relegated to the championship. So then the only real option is selling players or getting funding from the ownership, which is far from risk free.
"The Premier League will become more of a set group"
"High-end Championship clubs without parachute payments probably have turnover of £30/35 million.
"It automatically goes up four-fold to about £130 million- when promoted. But then it's a question of how do you spend the money and also importantly, if you're then relegated straight away, how do you manage the reduction in short-falls.
"The gap is going to get bigger if nothing changes, the teams that get promoted to the Premier League are probably going to get less chance of staying up.
"Teams who come down will no doubt suffer as a result of that. I think the Premier League will become more of a set group and it will be more two-tier between that league and the championship."
"There's an area of disagreement"
One major sticking point in the Premier League's New Deal discussions with the EFL centres on the top flight's support for clubs relegated to the Sky Bet Championship.
The EFL's chairman Rick Parry says that Premier League clubs outside of European competitions being allowed to spend around 85 per cent of their revenue, along with the continuation of parachute payments will widen the gulf between these clubs and the rest of the Championship who are set to work to a much tighter limit, closer to the 70 per cent UEFA mark.
"That system has to be properly regulated"
Richard Masters, Managing director of the Premier League, said: "Some of the issues that are still at debate between (the EFL and the Premier League) and internally within the Premier League itself are about trying to find a resolution on exactly how the financial regulatory system will work in the future.
"There's an area of disagreement between us on how cost controls are going to work. Because obviously if you're going to put more money into a system, that system has to be properly regulated. That system has yet to be fully agreed on how Championship clubs, how relegated clubs and how Premier League clubs operate a common system."
Richard also admitted there was also still a debate among his clubs over how extra funding to the EFL should be paid: "The existing mechanisms that are in place don't cover this particular formulation that we're trying to do. So it needs to be a fresh agreement on how this is funded.
"We have made proposals to clubs, they are considering them, we don't yet have a unified position on it. Our proposals are in broad terms to use some of the existing mechanisms and cost allocations within the Premier League rulebook at the moment, and also to increase the transfer levy by a small percentage to pay for part of it."
EFL chairman Rick Parry is on record saying he is prepared to accept an amount that would equate to 14.75 per cent of the two competitions' net media revenues, which he said worked out at an extra £125million a year.
Last month the EFL announced it would continue with the two-leg format for the Carabao Cup semi-finals next season.
Votes are not expected to take place on extra funding at this week's meetings.