Project Big Picture

[AidanO]

https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... oid-crisis

Surprised this hasn't been discussed yet, thoughts?

[AidanO]

Summary:
- 250 million immediately to the EFL to compensate its clubs for lost matchday revenue, deducted from future television revenue earnings and financed by a loan taken out by the Premier League
Special status for the nine longest serving clubs – and the vote of only six of those “long-term shareholders” required to make major changes, including amending rules and regulations, agreeing contracts, removal of the chief executive, and a wide-ranging veto including on club ownership
- Premier League to go to 18 clubs from 20
- £100 million one-off gift to the FA to cover its coronavirus losses, the non-league game, the women’s game, the grassroots
- 8.5 per cent of annual net Premier League revenue to go on operating costs and “good causes” including the FA
- From the remainder, 25 per cent of all combined Premier League and Football League revenues to go to the EFL clubs
- Six per cent of Premier League gross revenues to pay for stadium improvements across the top four divisions, calculated at £100 per seat
- New rules for the distribution of Premier League television income, overseas and domestic, including proposals that base one portion on performance over three years in the league
- The abolition of the League Cup and the Community Shield
- 24 clubs each in the Championship, League One and League Two reducing the professional game overall from 92 clubs to 90
- A women’s professional league independent of the Premier League or the FA
- Two sides automatically relegated from the Premier League every season and the top two Championship teams promoted. The 16th place Premier League club in a play-off tournament with the Championship’s third, fourth and fifth placed teams.
- Financial fair play regulations in line with Uefa, and full access for Premier League executive to club accounts
- A fan charter including capping of away tickets at £20, away travel subsidised, a focus on a return to safe standing, a minimum away allocation of eight per cent capacity
- Later Premier League start in August to give greater scope for pre-season friendlies, and requirement for all clubs to compete once every five years in a summer Premier League tournament
- Huge changes to loan system allowing clubs to have 15 players out on loan domestically at any one time and up to four at a single club in England

[JimbO]

Can see bits of this being acceptable but would suspect that the voting rights leaning towards the big six will be the main stumbling block.

Have wandered what the point of the community shield is for a few years now, it's just a glorified friendly.

As someone pointed out Villa have actually spent more years in the Premier league than Man city.

[Smendrick Feaselberg]

The votes thing presumably to allow for change to broadcasting of games (imagine they want to sell their own streaming packages for more lucrarive sums and cut the likes of Sky out) and to enable them to play more European games or breakaway.

[Mistadobalina]

Wouldn't trust anything that concentrates power within the big 6. Deal is attractive from an EFL perspective for now but would we really trust the top clubs to stick to their word?

[RientO]

Puzzling that Southampton and West Ham are in the elite of 9, whereas Leicester City aren't. The latter have won the league in recent years and are in Europe. The likes of Newcastle and Villa are bigger clubs.

Abolishing Community/Charity Shield is just to allow the big 6 to have an extra week on their lucrative travels. I think it should remain.

League Cup should have been abolished 50+ years ago, has been pretty meaningless for most of its history.

18 club top league should have happened long ago.

Play offs reverting back to what they were is preferable to current play offs and should be replicated in all divisions.

And the distribution of money along with salary caps in lower leagues will be beneficial to the likes of Orient.

As for the fans charter, the capping of away fans to £20 is all well and good, but there should be fairer access to away tickets. Plenty of supporters have away season tickets with no obligation to buy a home season ticket and sell the tickets on for profit. Some never go. It becomes a closed shop as you have to have enough away credits to buy the few tickets that remain.

[Beradogs]

If you want to help the smaller clubs wouldn’t making the football league 3 divisions be the way to go and only play everyone once a season (except prem where it stays as twice ) 18 in the top league. 36 in championship and 38 in league one. 2 promoted each year only. 2 relegated from league one to conference. Yes. There will be less going up and down like yo yos but going up and down like yo yos is what is breaking clubs. The carrot will still be there though. For a club like ourselves it would be a bell of a job to get out of league one but there would be much bigger clubs in our division to compensate. Am I missing a big problem with that?

[StillSpike]

Special status for the nine longest serving clubs – and the vote of only six of those “long-term shareholders” required to make major changes, including amending rules and regulations, agreeing contracts, removal of the chief executive, and a wide-ranging veto including on club ownership

This bit means that the rest of it is entirely meaningless. Once the voting structure is changed to give the power to the big six, they can simply renege on the rest of it by changing the rules.

Scotland has an arrangement that essentially concentrates all the power in the hands of 2 clubs. Enough said.

[Max B Gold]

Monopoly capitalism and cartels fixing markets to extract value from the masses.

But where is any mention of how this new set up will enable England to win the World Cup for the 1st time in 54 years!!

[AidanO]

Special status for the nine longest serving clubs – and the vote of only six of those “long-term shareholders” required to make major changes, including amending rules and regulations, agreeing contracts, removal of the chief executive, and a wide-ranging veto including on club ownership

This bit means that the rest of it is entirely meaningless. Once the voting structure is changed to give the power to the big six, they can simply renege on the rest of it by changing the rules.

Scotland has an arrangement that essentially concentrates all the power in the hands of 2 clubs. Enough said.

I believe this, they promise all these positive financial and probably uphold their word for a few seasons then slowly the taps turn off at their own discretion. Am also mindful of the Big 6 branch off to this European League and the beginning of B teams to which i am not keen on

[Adz]

I liked the gist of it until I got to the power grab bit, then it all became clear that they're not being as philanthropic as it first appeared

[Omygawd]

Clearly they are starting to feel threatened by the resurgence of Clubs like us and want to keep us in our place. Seriously though it just seems like yet another power grab without any justification.

[tuffers#1]

9 longest serving clubs ?
From the start of the EPL or
The start of the EFL ?

[Rich Tea Wellin]

I don't mind some of it.

But with extra voting rights it will be a matter of time until they decide to stop relegation and make the premier league a closed shop.

[gshaw]

Sounds like a short term cash bribe in exchange for the big clubs to do whatever they want in the longer term. No doubt they've costed it between them knowing a European Super League or extra calendar space for Dubai-esque fixtures would make that £250 million back easily.

Once they've given the bailout the big clubs can then say they've done their bit and watch lower league football wither away as they rewrite the rules to suit their own ends.

Moi, cynical?... never...

[Top of the JES]

Be like selling your soul to the devil but they have the EFL over a barrel and they know it. If the EFL don't accept this deal or something very close to it clubs will start to go under in the next few months. Having six clubs effectively dictate the future of English Football is IMHO extremely dangerous. B teams, reorganisation of the pyramid and no relegation from the premier league would be in place within a couple of years with little to stop it.

[redintheface]

Potential stitch up of enormous proportions imho. If power was concentrated in the hands of the so called “ big six” what is to stop them forcing through any change (s) they feel benefits them to the detriment of everyone else in perpetuity?

[Real Al]

Nigel in favour

[slacker]

https://twohundredpercent.net/rick-parr ... ssion=true

Good analysis from 200% on this. Caveat Emptor, EFL...

[Real Al]

Nigel floundering at the end there.

He's seeing $$ and understands that what goes on in the Premier doesn't affect us at all

[gshaw]

Very surprised at Travis there, seems happy to sell the future of the game down the river for the cost of an artificial pitch and investing in the Hearn family pension pot (ground)

[Oiram]

Nigel floundering at the end there.

He's seeing $$ and understands that what goes on in the Premier doesn't affect us at all

True , nobody in business enters into a business to lose money.

[StillSpike]

Nigel in favour

If that's true then he's gone way down in my estimation. Turkeys voting for Christmas.

[StillSpike]

If the big 6 don't intend to do anything that the rest of football will hate, then there's no reason at all to demand changes to the voting structures that would mean that they can.

If they do (they do!) then the rest of football needs to be very afraid.

[slacker]

And wtf is Parry doing cheerleading this? At least consult your EFL “stakeholders” first, you tit.