Scudamore’s plan to keep PL clubs united
THE Premier League are countering the threat of a Big Six breakaway with a series of strategy meetings to keep all their clubs on side.
There has been strong concern at the PL about Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Tottenham, Chelsea and Arsenal deciding policy between them.
This reached a head when the six disrupted a PL clubs’ summit to have an unscheduled huddle about a proposed Chinese TV rights deal — leaving disgruntled representatives from the other 14 sides kicking their heels.
PL executive chairman Richard Scudamore has now responded by inviting groups of five randomly chosen clubs to discuss long-term plans in a more relaxed environment than the chairmen’s gatherings — the next of which is on Thursday.
And there is no secret that the purpose of these meetings is to underline the importance of the 20-club collective to the PL’s future, as opposed to the wealthiest clubs dictating.
IS fortunate for England rugby centre Jonathan Joseph that head coach Eddie Jones doesn’t monitor social media. The Australian would not have been impressed by Joseph’s blatant puff for his Nike trainers on Twitter and Instagram so soon after his Bath side lost 53-10 to Saracens. Joseph (right) tweeted: ‘Performance not where it needed to be today. But its air max day! #kissmyairs @nike’.
SWATHES of empty seats in wembley’s corporate ring for the world Cup qualifier against Lithuania demonstrated the huge task facing the FA to re- sell 17,500 season tickets bought on 10-year contracts in 2007.
But the governing body, who are now selling mainly three-year extensions, are understood to have enjoyed a take-up of around 70 per cent.
That is way more than the FA could have forecast when so many qualifiers feature unattractive opposition. Club wembley insiders had believed only 20 per cent of ticket-holders would stay on.
FA chairman Greg Clarke, who impressed guests with his eloquent Wembley speech at the official lunch before the Lithuania game, wasn’t known as an orator when he was Football League chairman. The explanation for the dramatic improvement must be his new teleprompter.
Atlanta calling for Green
ALAN GREEN is swapping Match of the Day commentaries for joining Atlanta United’s in-house team in their inaugural Major League Soccer season. The 64-year-old starts by calling Atlanta’s match against Columbus on June 17, to be televised by the Fox Sports South and Southeast regional channels. Sports Agenda revealed last week that Green had quit his BBC TV job because he was well down the pecking order of commentators. And it looks like MLS duties will limit his Radio 5 Live work in 2017-18, the last season of his BBC contract.
WEMBLEY patrons are being asked to report anybody among the prawn sandwich brigade guilty of anti-social behaviour. Promotional literature for the Lithuania game included a hotline for reporting foul language, homophobic and transphobic chanting, smoking in the stadium, racist language, drinking alcohol in view of the pitch and standing up.
THE recent FA cull of 100-plus jobs doesn’t seem to have affected the England football operation. There were more than 30 tracksuit, administrative, ambassadorial, media and commercial staff with the team in Dortmund last week.
progressive Football League regularly invite the press into the Wembley VIP suite for lunch before their showcase matches. By contrast, the FA are only now welcoming journalists who covered the 1966 World Cup final into the same room — 51 years after the match.