Sunderland and Pompey against salary cap

SUNDERLAND and Portsmouth are the only League One clubs to oppose new salary cap rules proposed by the EFL, according to a report.

A flat salary cap across all three divisions has been mooted by EFL chairman Rick Parry, and the Sun on Sunday reports the vast majority of clubs are in favour of the concept.

Bristol Rovers, the Bristol Post understands, are in favour of wage control after the coronavirus pandemic exacerbated the financially instability of EFL clubs.

But the Black Cats and Pompey are reportedly firmly against the idea of a flat salary cap, which they feel be an unfair “levelling of the playing field”.

Sunderland’s wage bill is among the largest in League One, and they comply with rules which see clubs spending on player contracts capped to a percentage of their expected turnover.

But the new proposals from the EFL would see a universal salary cap, which would force the likes of Sunderland to be tied to the same wage bill limits as much smaller clubs like Accrington Stanley despite attracting tens of thousands more supporters to games.

The EFL hopes a salary cap would reduce the risk of more clubs going to the wall after Bury were expelled from the FA last season.

But Sunderland CEO Jim Rodwell made his opposition to the proposals clear in a recent interview with Chronicle Live.

“We don’t think that the proposed flat cap on salaries makes sense,” he said. “We are all for running sustainable football clubs, but sustainability is not the same as levelling the playing field. Next thing you know there will be conversations about sharing gate receipts like they did in the early 1980s. I think the EFL are oversimplifying the sustainability issue.

“For a lot of clubs in League One, a £2.5 million cap on wages is highly attractive, but our argument is that as a big football club we can generate more revenue and therefore we should be able to spend that revenue on players while remaining sustainable.

“This issue is not supposed to be about level playing fields, it is supposed to be about sustainability and trying to avoid what has happened to Wigan this week, and to Bury last summer. We agree with sustainability, but this is not the way forward at all.”

Bristol Rovers manager Ben Garner