Financing football 2020/21

[Observer]

This is going to be a difficult year for many clubs, some are already in distress and some have already fallen by the way side.

There have been mutterings of some support from elsewhere to the EFL, but short term fixes are not a solution for the long term. Most fans of EFL clubs will point to how the riches do not filter down from the cash riddled Premier league who it seems at the moment have only made token short term contributions. It is time to press for more, before more community clubs fall foul of the impact of the virus.

I do not belive it is right for the Govt to spend taxpayers money on resolving the issues when there already is enough money swilling around within the game for an internal solution.

Annual premier league staff wages run at about £2000 million a vast sum that many clubs would not generate during the whole of their existence. Whilst the Govt should not spend taxpayers money , they could respond, if the Premier league do not do so voluntarily, by imposing at levy / tax on the amount of those salary payments at each club. A rate of 2 to 5% would resolve many of the issues at EFL clubs or below.

That should be paid directly at EFL level to the EFL to be held in escrow individually for each club, who can draw on it not for purposes other than transfer fees and wages but for community projects, ground improvements, or as a last resort used in crisis situation like we are in today. To benefit clubs must have previously provided as they should now fully audited and justified financial projections etc.

Clubs within EFL are of different size and rather than equal share of the sums , it could be shared with an alignment to turnover, net of such things such as turnover and financial propriety...but preserves to some extent the hierarchy but still provides a small step towards closing the gap between the EFL and Premier league.

At the stated percentage, it would have little impact on the quality of the Premiership product .... so these are my thoughts. Whilst I have not gone into the finest detail do you support the thoughts or debunk it entirely ?

 

[masi51]

My thoughts football money should be shared from the football family [television money]
The country cannot afford to subsidise wealthy footballers.

 

[THE LAST WALTZ]

My thoughts football money should be shared from the football family [television money]
The country cannot afford to subsidise wealthy footballers.

Wealthy footballers? In Leagues one and two?
Besides the government wouldn’t be subsidising the footballers they would be looking after the businesses.
Businesses that employ thousands of people from the players and managers to physios, groundstaff, catering staff, receptionists, sales staff and many, many more.
These businesses also have a huge impact on many other trades in the local area.
This government has already given hundreds of millions of taxpayers money to subsidise the arts and theatres but couldn’t give a toss about a working mans sport.
I assume you think it is OK to subsidise wealthy actors, airline pilots, hotel chain owners etc.?

 

[masi51]

Wealthy footballers? In Leagues one and two?
Besides the government wouldn’t be subsidising the footballers they would be looking after the businesses.
Businesses that employ thousands of people from the players and managers to physios, groundstaff, catering staff, receptionists, sales staff and many, many more.
These businesses also have a huge impact on many other trades in the local area.
This government has already given hundreds of millions of taxpayers money to subsidise the arts and theatres but couldn’t give a toss about a working mans sport.
I assume you think it is OK to subsidise wealthy actors, airline pilots, hotel chain owners etc.?

Yes wealthy footballers....Millionaires our game was ruined by money,dont give me this working class game....that ended with Jimmy Hill
Every industry has other workers that depend on them functioning. Most theatres are closed,nobody is flying...and around here the hotels are closed

 

[TractorBoys]

Subsidising from the Govt. would be a ridiculous solution, and thankfully this seems unlikely.

Issue can, should and inevitably will be resolved internally.

Whether that comes quickly enough for some clubs, I doubt it.

 

[masi51]

Subsidising from the Govt. would be a ridiculous solution, and thankfully this seems unlikely.

Issue can, should and inevitably will be resolved internally.

Whether that comes quickly enough for some clubs, I doubt it.

At last someone with a bit of sense.......Money needs to drip down from the top.
This may be radical but footballers should not earn above £500 in the national lge 1k in lge 2 2k in lge 1 and 4k in the championship its never going to happen but football has to change

 

[THE LAST WALTZ]

Yes wealthy footballers....Millionaires our game was ruined by money,dont give me this working class game....that ended with Jimmy Hill
Every industry has other workers that depend on them functioning. Most theatres are closed,nobody is flying...and around here the hotels are closed

How many footballers in leagues one and two do you really believe are millionaires?
Nobody flying? Only last week BA were moaning that they only flew 187,000 people in that week.
We all agree that the greedy league should be helping the EFL but I don’t get why the government are happy to throw money at other areas of the hospitality sector, particularly those ‘elite’ pass times but football should be ignored.
I don’t particularly want my taxes paying for the arts whilst I watch my club go bust.

 

[masi51]

How many footballers in leagues one and two do you really believe are millionaires?
Nobody flying? Only last week BA were moaning that they only flew 187,000 people in that week.
We all agree that the greedy league should be helping the EFL but I don’t get why the government are happy to throw money at other areas of the hospitality sector, particularly those ‘elite’ pass times but football should be ignored.
I don’t particularly want my taxes paying for the arts whilst I watch my club go bust.

Anyone who has played some part of there career at Premier or championship will be.
A rank standard lge 1 player will be on 100k a year 2k a week
No way should they be subsidised

 

[PuB]

Surely you’re missing the point, it’s not about subsidising players wages, it’s about keeping our clubs going as businesses?

 

[Boletus Edulis]

I still struggle to understand how Spurs we’re eligible for a £175 million loan from the Bank of England and the Government. Money goes to money eh.

 

[THE LAST WALTZ]

Anyone who has played some part of there career at Premier or championship will be.
A rank standard lge 1 player will be on 100k a year 2k a week
No way should they be subsidised

Fuck me this is hard work.
No one is talking about subsidising footballers.
In the same way as if we support the airlines we are not subsidising pilots who earn six figure sums.
In the same way as if we support theatres we are not subsidising wealthy actors.
We are talking about saving local businesses that employ thousands of people and are an integral part of the local community.
If nothing is done clubs will go, disappear forever.
I guess you will be alright with that though.

 

[masi51]

Fuck me this is hard work.
No one is talking about subsidising footballers.
In the same way as if we support the airlines we are not subsidising pilots who earn six figure sums.
In the same way as if we support theatres we are not subsidising wealthy actors.
We are talking about saving local businesses that employ thousands of people and are an integral part of the local community.
If nothing is done clubs will go, disappear forever.
I guess you will be alright with that though.

Yes agreed with that...furlough paid for that. Clubs have screwed local business over for the last twenty years.
Including my own.
To easy to run debt up and then shaft the local business man. Football needs a radical re think. Clubs cannot keep living like they do.

 

[masi51]

Fuck me this is hard work.
No one is talking about subsidising footballers.
In the same way as if we support the airlines we are not subsidising pilots who earn six figure sums.
In the same way as if we support theatres we are not subsidising wealthy actors.
We are talking about saving local businesses that employ thousands of people and are an integral part of the local community.
If nothing is done clubs will go, disappear forever.
I guess you will be alright with that though.

I have pointed that out, football is at a crossroads .Yet few if any budgeted for no fans coming through the gates this winter.
I think Carlisle talked about going part time and another club are playing kids.
If clubs are given £1m each to get through this winter,very few will spend it on anything but making there squads better.

 

[PuB]

I have pointed that out, football is at a crossroads .Yet few if any budgeted for no fans coming through the gates this winter.
I think Carlisle talked about going part time and another club are playing kids.
If clubs are given £1m each to get through this winter,very few will spend it on anything but making there squads better.

Utter nonsense.

 

[Ben D]

I think it has to be a case of letting fans back in so the clubs can start getting some revenue in. Chances are the fans will be more willing to spend on food and drink to support clubs.

 

[PuB]

I think it has to be a case of letting fans back in so the clubs can start getting some revenue in. Chances are the fans will be more willing to spend on food and drink to support clubs.

Unfortunately that doesn’t look like it’s going to happen any time soon though.

 

[redjed]

Boris I think has done a pretty good job with the hands he's been dealt........ but it f*****g irritates me that you can go to a pub get pissed and forget about social distances and face masks but cannot go to a football match where your not confined in a enclosed room but out in the fresh air..... even if your club limits attendances to say 20% of capacity you are not going to be in close proximity of anybody else!

 

[PuB]

Boris I think has done a pretty good job with the hands he's been dealt........ but it f*****g irritates me that you can go to a pub get pissed and forget about social distances and face masks but cannot go to a football match where your not confined in a enclosed room but out in the fresh air..... even if your club limits attendances to say 20% of capacity you are not going to be in close proximity of anybody else!

You do realise, despite being able to go to an enclosed place like a pub, that it’s illegal for 7 people to meet up outdoors?

 

[TractorBoys]

Furthermore, the face masks still apply in free houses now whenever you're away from the table / group of 6.

 

[Boletus Edulis]

Boris I think has done a pretty good job with the hands he's been dealt........ but it f*****g irritates me that you can go to a pub get pissed and forget about social distances and face masks but cannot go to a football match where your not confined in a enclosed room but out in the fresh air..... even if your club limits attendances to say 20% of capacity you are not going to be in close proximity of anybody else!

You Say Boris has done a good job and then you rightly point out the contradiction about going indoors in pubs, but that fans cannot watch their clubs live outdoors. Where do you think this contradictory policy has come from?
By the way I have now come to the view that the end to this contradiction is not to allow fans to live events, rather it is to shut bars/restaurants and the like. Things are going to be very rough for the next six months or more.

 

[Deepcut Cobbler]

Boris I think has done a pretty good job with the hands he's been dealt........ but it f*****g irritates me that you can go to a pub get pissed and forget about social distances and face masks but cannot go to a football match where your not confined in a enclosed room but out in the fresh air..... even if your club limits attendances to say 20% of capacity you are not going to be in close proximity of anybody else!

Even if you were allowed to do what you are saying that you are prevented from doing, if the risk was still as is described by the scientists and professors, would you still want to put yourself at mortal risk by placing yourself in that environement?
It's not a game, this is a matter of life and death for a great number of people and you are complaining that you aren't allowed to increase the possibility of killing yourself and/or others?

 

[Kenneth E End]

Coronavirus: Government warned football structure at risk of collapse

Football is at risk of "the collapse of the national league structure that we have known for over 100 years", the government is warned.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[THE LAST WALTZ]

It’s OK though mate as the government have given one and a half billion pounds of our money to prop up the arts and theatre but football can sort itself out.

 

[Luke Imp]

Just posted this in the NL forum but I'll put it here as well.

Sounds like there are a fair few caveats to anything from the PL.

A Championship wage cap seems to be one, no relegation from the PL if the season is curtailed in the future (they still haven't voted curtailment through yet) is another and there also seems to be a reluctance to help club's out who, in their opinion, don't need it and whilst I can understand the view they're taking on that, why punish those who've run the club well and/or have made good money through player sales, particularly from their youth system (thinking Birmingham/Bellingham and Exeter/Watkins to Villa windfall).

A loan is better than nothing, if that's what it turns out to be, but still just kicks a can down the road. Ok, they might do it over 10 years, which is a long period of time but it's still money club's have to find. For arguments sake, £500k to Ipswich and £500k to Accrington means completely different levels of a bailout. I'm sure they'll also want to ensure any money finds itself in the right hands and not elsewhere...

I don't think it's just up to the PL to help, it needs government intervention as well - I don't think we're going to see Tesco bailout the local corner shops if something happens to them so why this falls squarely at the PL's door I'm not sure. They've got no fans either, loss of earnings, TV rebates etc to pay for, too. Football is worth a lot of money, but there are very, very few cash rich club's.

EDIT - And just to add, of course, that football has a big impact on the local communities. The pubs, takeaways, schools/businesses who make money through offering their parking spaces on a match day etc etc. It's in the Governments interest to keep them going, not the PL's.

 

[Observer]

Good to see my first post has added to the healthy debate, so thought would come back on Luke Imps post. I think I alluded to both Govt and Premier league help to overcome this issue.

Govt by way of legislation, Premier league by way of funding.

Simply and using my suggestion above, given the wages the Premier league pay on the back of the TV deal and the clubs own cash generating efforts, it would need govt legislation to do that. The Premier league will never pay willingly without "conditions". So take their choice away with a wage levy on each club.

Using the 2% figure a levy generates £40 m with total wages of £2000 m

The top payer would contribute £6m on wages of over £300m, the lower payers around £1m.

There is enough money in the game to resolve the issue and to squeeze the Premier league clubs for just 2% of their wage bill would not cripple the teams, the league from it's ambition to be a world leader. They cannot be that without a degree of generosity.

I would not support the tax payer through the Government subsidising successful self sufficient industries when there are many others who need support

 

[LadyWomble]

I would not support the tax payer through the Government subsidising successful self sufficient industries [football] when there are many others who need support

This, with bells and whistles. There is NO justification for the taxpayer subsidising any football club/s, certainly whilst so many industries/businesses/normal people suffer and there is SO much money sloshing around the top flight. But that will come at a cost. As EPPP showed, they will demand conditions - their kids playing in L1/2 for instance? What will our clubs decide? Personally, I hope we tell them to piss off but not sure that will be popular and we just know the government will wring their hands and do whatever the big boys tell them to do :-(

 

[PuB]

I’m not so sure, I have more of a problem with the government handing out tax payers money to companies who reside in offshore tax havens.

 

[Luke Imp]

This, with bells and whistles. There is NO justification for the taxpayer subsidising any football club/s, certainly whilst so many industries/businesses/normal people suffer and there is SO much money sloshing around the top flight. But that will come at a cost. As EPPP showed, they will demand conditions - their kids playing in L1/2 for instance? What will our clubs decide? Personally, I hope we tell them to piss off but not sure that will be popular and we just know the government will wring their hands and do whatever the big boys tell them to do :-(

It's not 'sloshing' around at all. It's all relative to the level of course but football club's aren't cash rich, which is a different debate about the running of football clubs but let's not forget that the government policy is also having an impact at the top of the game.

The government are preventing football clubs from trading despite allowing people to watch it in a pub. I'm not getting into the Covid rights and wrongs but you can't have one group stopping football club's trading and then expect another group to bail them out. There's obviously the other debate about the distribution from the top level but that's for another day.

 

[Observer]

Seems an announcement is coming soon ..we can but hope it does and without strings atached

 

[masi51]

Seems an announcement is coming soon ..we can but hope it does and without strings atached

no relegation from premiership......prepare for carnage