ELITE URGED TO HELP OUT
Barnsley chief executive believes that Premier League have moral obligation
JUDGING BY on-pitch events at QPR on Saturday, Barnsley’s plan to instigate a second miraculous ‘Great Escape’ from Championship relegation in seven years may have already begun in earnest.
As far as planning for the future goes off the pitch, chief executive officer Dane Murphy is not yet afforded that luxury.
Barnsley do not know when the next campaign will start, let alone what division they will be in and some clarity regarding next season’s timetable is craved.
Budgeting for the future is currently on hold while the club wait to hear when 2020-21 will begin and more information regarding the prospect of when fans will potentially be allowed back into stadiums is received.
Club sponsors are also waiting to hear clarification on those dates before committing with Barnsley – deprived of gate receipts of between £600,000 to £700,000 for lost home matches in 2019-20 – having taken a hefty financial hit through the introduction of behind-closed doors games due to Covid-19.
Murphy told The Yorkshire Post: “You can try to plan and budget for all scenarios – League One or Championship.
“But when you have no idea of the elements of either as opposed to the past seasons, then you take your planning and budgeting and you throw it out of the window because you have no idea what it is going to look like.
“If the Sky deal changes for the Championship, what does the solidarity deal look like for everybody else? If we don’t have fans for the first half (next season), where is the revenue coming from, how do we put games on, how do we pay for everything?”
“This is a completely new world we are in and there’s two different roads you can go on – whether it is Championship or League One, it is still very difficult to budget for.”
Confirmation of next season’s start – with mid-September mooted as the most likely time – is expected to arrive next month.
But for many clubs, especially in the lower-divisions, the main priority in July is survival first.
Barnsley continued to operate viably in June, but July will be more financially testing. Or ‘closer to the edge’ as Murphy puts it.
He continued: “The smaller teams in the Championship have some concerns, which are valid. But the teams in League Two and League One have day-to-day ‘are we going to be here or not’ types of concerns.
“It is scary for everyone because if League Two are not able to play, there are teams in League One who are needing to play to survive if they are going down to League Two.
“What is the answer or solution? I do fear for any number of clubs, some are vocal, some aren’t. But there are more (clubs) than people know that are in serious trouble.
“I have heard early September as being kind of the marker of when 2020-21 will be starting up. I still think if it pushes beyond that or if we don’t have clarity on where outside revenue is coming in, it is going to be difficult, not just for Barnsley but from the top and on through.
“Except maybe for the Championship teams promoted to the Premier League and those that are coming down. Financially, they will be able to sustain (things), I would think.
“Outside of that, if supporters were on EFL calls, there would be a lot of calls for concern.”
Back in early May, EFL chairman Rick Parry’s warning that its clubs face a £200m financial hole by September due to revenue streams being crippled by the Covid-19 was a stark one.
Solidarity payments of £125million advanced by the Premier League to EFL and National League clubs provided a brief sticking plaster, but that revenue has quickly been used up.
Strict salary caps based on turnover will help in planning going forward, but before that many EFL clubs, particularly in the bottom two divisions, will require an emergency bail-out to survive.
For Murphy, there is a moral obligation for the Premier League to provide a greater financial stimulus to prevent clubs going under further down the pyramid.
Murphy added: “I hate to sound like the guy who says: ‘The Premier League has so much money, you have to help everyone else’. But the fact of the matter is we are facing a situation which noone can have foreseen.
“The Premier League has a lot of money in reserve and part of the element that makes it is the pyramid below it which is exciting, as these clubs always think there’s an outside chance at some point it could reach that division.
“I am not trying to raise the fear levels here, but will that same element of adherence from the Premier League remain if 20 or 30 clubs go out of business? I don’t think so.
“I am not saying that’s going to happen, but if the Premier League can help out – and I know the government has asked it and had some discussions in putting aside a bounty of money to help out the Championship, League One and League Two – that would significantly help out. Definitely in the short term and long term.”
There are more (clubs) than people know that are in serious trouble. Barnsley chief executive Dane Murphy issues a warning on football’s financial concerns.