TECH PLAN TO KEEP CLUBS AFLOAT
Ex-Brighton chief’s weekly tracker idea to control spending
DICK KNIGHT, the businessman who saved Brighton, has put forward a revolutionary new plan to save crisis-hit EFL clubs going out of business.
Knight has taken a new governance programme to EFL chairman Rick Parry (below), who is considering the proposals to stop clubs overspending, breaking wage caps and following the way of Bury and Macclesfield out of the Football League.
It could be an important new step with several League One and Two clubs facing financial ruin as they are in serious danger of going bust with no fans because of the pandemic.
The EFL is now looking at ClubView, which has also attracted serious interest from other major leagues.
It allows the EFL to keep a weekly track on clubs and their finances and spot the early warning signs rather than end up at crisis point with no way of saving clubs from going under.
They have trialled it at League One’s Oxford United so clubs can report back on costs, wages and revenue, revenu whereas currently the only contact from week to week is when clubs submit their takings to the EFL.
Former Brighton chairman Knight saved his beloved club in the 1990s and spots many similarities of the dangers facing EFL clubs now, especially when they fall into bad ownership who try to hide financial details until it is too late.
Knight, who is Life President of Brighton, said: “The EFL started last season with 72 clubs, ended it with 71 and how many more will we lose this time? Maybe seven or eight?
“I know what it feels like. I went to a meeting where 17 clubs voted to kick Brighton out. It’s the same here. We’ve got to do something to protect the clubs and the football pyramid.
“We’ve put together ClubView with some very impressive tech guys and it is the first tech product which monitors performance and cost control in real time. This system would have spotted the problems at Bury before they happened. “They can see the issues and be proactive. It’s easy, costeffective, with little margin for error – whereas you can easily put in wrong info on a spread sheet.
“One very forwardthinking league is already close to signing up.”