English football was plunged into civil war this weekend after the Football League Chairman Rick Parry, in collaboration with leading clubs Manchester United and Liverpool, presented an extraordinary proposal to reimagine the sport in this country.
Under a string of radical proposals that the Premier League warned could have a “damaging impact” on the national game, a leaked document entitled “Project Big Picture” suggested reducing the number of top-flight clubs from 20 to 18, ditching the Community Shield and Carabao Cup, reinventing the Championship play-off system and removing equal voting rights in the top-flight.
On the flip side, the proposal, described by EFL Chairman Parry as “the right way forward”, would also immediately hand Football League clubs a £250 million bailout to cover lost matchday income, hand £10 million grants to the Women’s Super League and Championship, and provide a £35 million grant to the FA for the National League and the grassroots game, and £55 million to cover the governing body’s operational losses.
However, the idea has immediately provoked fury from the Premier League and the British government, who have both negotiated with the Football League in recent weeks to secure a bailout. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport launched a scathing attack on the proposal, saying it was “surprised and disappointed” to hear about a “backroom deal cooked up” by the respective parties.
It is understood Manchester United’s owners, the Glazer family, have been in talks with Parry, and the same is true of Liverpool’s lead owner John W Henry, as well as shareholder Mike Gordon. The talks have been ongoing for three years between the parties, and Parry claimed on Sunday that Chelsea have also been involved in talks for some time. Liverpool and United fully informed their top-six rivals Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham and Manchester City of the proposals last week and on Sunday, the news of the groundbreaking plan broke in the Daily Telegraph.
As things stand, any change to Premier League regulations requires fourteen votes or more under a one member, one vote system. Yet Premier League clubs were further incensed by suggestions that Parry had encouraged leading top-flight clubs to simply resign from the top-flight and join the Football League in the event they lost the vote.
Parry, remarkably, refused to comment on this allegation during a hastily-organised press conference on Sunday and several sources admitted that the nuclear option of breaking away from the Premier League is possible in “extraordinary times”. Due to ongoing contractual obligations, this would leave leading clubs such as Liverpool and United open to legal action from their Premier League rivals. Neither club were prepared to comment on Sunday. Sources close to the top six insisted there have been no threats at all to break away.
At the heart of the issue is that the leading six clubs believe they deserve more power at the table because they generate the majority of revenue and interest in the English game. The fundamental obstacle is the bottom 14 clubs and persuading them to vote for something that appears counter to their own interests.
Premier League clubs below the top six were said to have considered this plan a “hostile takeover” rather than a proposal, as they were kept out of the loop. One source close to the big six conceded it should be seen either as a “coup or a revolution”. The big fear among opponents is that the concentrating of voting power in the hands of a select group of clubs could see them renege on promises of solidarity made within these proposals.
Those are not the only objections, though. One source described the Premier League, its leading clubs, the Football League and the government as being in “nuclear warfare” on Sunday evening, while there were also question marks over what the proposals mean for the women’s game. As English football licks its wounds, The Athletic sets out the proposals, who is in favour and who is steadfastly opposed to the game-changing plans.
What is Project Big Picture?
On Sunday morning, the Daily Telegraph published details of an 18-page document that set out a new vision for football in England.
English football is currently beset by an economic crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic and negotiations between the Premier League, Football League and government have been rumbling on for several months as lower league clubs, shorn of matchday income and reduced sponsorship income, are threatened with extinction.
On the face of it, Project Big Picture includes several encouraging proposals. Most crucially, it would immediately present £250 million to the Football League, as well as a cumulative £100 million fund to the FA to cover losses and provide investment for the women’s game, the National League and grassroots football. This would provide a short-term cash injection to resuscitate an ailing sport. On a long-term level, EFL finances would be boosted by a new way of sharing the Premier League’s vast income.
Premier League clubs currently receive 92 per cent of distributable revenues but this would be reduced to 75 per cent under the proposals, as 25 per cent would instead go to the EFL. This would raise Championship income per club by £15.5 million, League One income by £3.5 million and League Two income by £2.3 million. While handing such a large share to the EFL would be a historic move there is no guarantee that finances would remain as appealing as they are at present, given an 18-team Premier League would have fewer of its own games to sell.
For supporters, away tickets would be capped at £20, away travel would be subsidised and there would be further exploration of safe standing.
The big six clubs, however, will be getting plenty in return. The Community Shield and the Carabao Cup, often seen as a burden to leading sides, will be axed altogether. In addition, the number of Premier League fixtures will be reduced from 38 to 34 in an 18-team division. The revised Premier League relegation system would see the bottom two clubs automatically relegated and the top two clubs in the Championship promoted. The third bottom Premier League side would then enter a four-way play-off with the third, fourth and fifth-placed Championship sides to secure a place in the top-flight the following season.
Parry speculated on Sunday that there would be a single campaign, ahead of the proposed 2022-23 start date, where the Premier League would relegate four sides and the Championship would only promote two. “This would be give-and-take from the Premier League and Championship,” he explained.
Controversially, the new proposals would guarantee voting rights to the nine clubs who, at any given moment, have spent the longest extended period in the top-flight. This would currently be the established top six, plus Southampton, West Ham and Everton. The document says that it would take only an agreement of two-thirds of the “long-term stakeholders”, in effect six teams, to legislate over several key issues, including vetoing prospective new owners of other Premier League clubs, the Premier League CEO position itself and how broadcasting income is distributed, as well as competition rules.
The proposal also suggests a hard salary cap for the Championship, League One and League Two, while clubs would also be forced to comply with UEFA-style Financial Fair Play regulations. There are further advantages proposed for top clubs, for instance how a Premier League side would be able to loan out fifteen players at once, including four players to the same club and recall loanees if the manager changes. Clubs would also be allowed to sell exclusive rights to eight of their live matches per season direct to supporters via digital platforms in all international territories.
www.telegraph.co.uk
