Funding in football is a concern at all levels
IWAS recently elected on to the Select Committee for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport by the other Members of Parliament. Select Committees are there to hold ministers and decision-makers to account on the important issues of the day. Past enquiries have included broadband and the road to 5G, which would have involved questioning the possibility of Huawei’s involvement in the UK.
I have joined as the committee are beginning an enquiry into Sport in our Communities and the first to be addressed is football.
Even before the pandemic, many of our clubs in the football leagues were struggling financially. At every level wage bills and expenses are high and gate receipts are nowhere near enough to cover them.
Coronavirus brought football to a standstill in March and, even now it is played behind closed doors. The loss of gate receipts has hit all clubs, especially those in the lower leagues.
The almost £1,300 million from Sky & BT almost all goes to the Premier League. The lower League clubs, the EFL, do get paid for televised matches, home teams getting around £100,000 and away teams £10,000.
The Premier League clubs do support the EFL with parachute and solidarity payments. When a club is relegated they receive reducing parachute support for three years in recognition that their income will fall even though their wage bill will still be high. Solidarity payments are equal amounts paid to all other clubs in the EFL.
Concerns have been raised about parachute payments relating to fairness and the impact on the competitive balance of the Championship. Locally we know only too well how difficult it is to get promotion from the Championship and many people feel the parachute payments give an unfair advantage to relegated clubs. Added to that, some Premier League Club owners question why, as independent businesses, they should support their competitors.
The issue of funding goes much wider than the football leagues, it is a huge concern for grass roots football too, and if we do not support the grass roots the whole pyramid of football would collapse.
The first people called before the committee were Richard Masters the chief executive of the Premier League and Rick Parry, chairman of the EFL. They were there to explain the delay in reaching an agreement on funding.
They were questioned about Project Big Picture, a proposal put forward by Liverpool and Manchester United which would completely restructure the way football is funded from the Premier League right down to our local clubs, as well as on other funding issues. On behalf of Maya Lee, of Hilton, I was able to ask them when local women’s football would be able to start again.
Other meetings of the committee will be with owners of clubs, football managers and some fans to ensure we get as complete a picture as possible before we produce a report and recommendations.
On behalf of Maya Lee, of Hilton, I was able to ask when local women’s football would be able to start again.
■The views and opinions of guest columnists do not necessarily represent those of either the Burton Mail or its staff