ENGLISH football must fix its financial issues “while the sun is shining” – rather than risk “collapse”.
That was the stark warning from the new body set up
In its 245-page draft “State of the Game” report, the outlined the scale of the looming crisis if football does not heed the danger signs.
While Prem clubs, led by the Big Six, have enjoyed unprecedented growth in a “virtuous circle of success”, the rest of the food chain has risked its very survival trying to catch up.
In its landmark findings, the IFR found FOUR Prem clubs and “60 per cent” of and National League outfits are “technically insolvent”.
Some 32 clubs in the top five leagues “would not survive 30 days without owner funding”, while clubs collectively owe £3.4bn transfer fees.
Remarkably, 17 clubs – 11 in the EFL and six in the National League – would be in the red each week even if their players played for FREE.
Despite revenues of more than £9bn this year, and a total estimated Prem player squad valuation of £12.5bn, 94 per cent of English clubs are LOSING money.
Regulator chiefs gave the clearest signal yet that the EFL SHOULD accept the new £320m per-season package on the table from the Prem or face missing out on two YEARS worth of cash.
Yet Richard Monks, chief executive of the new body, warned: “We have the most popular league in the world, the deepest pyramid in the world and Premier League club revenues have grown 10 times more than the UK economy since 1992, truly spectacular growth.
“But the report describes a game which is loaded with financial risk. That risk is increasing.
“We’re not saying football is a house of cards and about to collapse but that financial risk is increasing and there needs to be action taken.
“When things go wrong, when a club is on the brink or when a club goes into administration or is docked points, it’s the fans that suffer. We are here to protect and support those fans.
“We’re absolutely not doomsayers. There’s a chance that the sun continues to shine. But let’s not take that chance. Let’s fix the financial holes in football when the sun is still shining.”
The launch of the report comes with Prem and EFL bosses still to agree a new long-term funding deal.
While Regulator chairman and report co-author David Kogan spoke of his willingness to use his “back stop powers” and impose a settlement, he signalled the latest Prem offer is one the EFL should be looking to ratify.
That will see an increase from the current £138m per season solidarity fund to around £320m each year, with Prem clubs overseeing a reduction in the value of parachute payments, currently worth £55m in the campaign after relegation.
Kogan said: “Both the Premier League clubs and the EFL clubs have got to the point where they are recognising that it is better to strike an agreement than not.
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“Having a Regulator come in and impose a deal on football, frankly, would be a real failure on the part of the football authorities to do what they should have done five years ago.
“They’re at the point where they wish to actually reach agreement. So their number is their number, and who am I to argue with them?
“The Premier League is not wrong about parachute payments because the impact of relegation is colossal, but as Rick Parry and the EFL have said, they do have a massive distortive effect.
“The leagues are pretty much agreed on the need to reduce the level of parachute payments over the three years that they’re paid, so there’ll be less money going to relegated clubs.
“But as you’re giving more money to the rest of the pyramid, and it is much more money, then how that is distributed within the changes, a merit rake, so the top 10 in the Championship receive more.
“That does not achieve everything that the EFL might have wanted three or four years ago but it actually goes a long way towards addressing the issue.”
