Scu’s big bucks stop with Bruce
BACK in June, Bruce Buck had this to say when it was announced that Richard Scudamore would be leaving his post as executive chairman of the Premier League.
“When he [Richard] eventually leaves later in the year, it will be with our sincerest thanks and gratitude for a job well done. Oh, and with five million smackers,” said the Chelsea chairman.
Actually, he did not say the last bit but delivered it anyway.
Some of the social media outrage has included suggestions Scudamore should have declined the £5million golden farewell or given it to grassroots football. Yeah, right.
You can imagine the scene in Scudamore’s house when he gets home to his wife Catherine and his children Patrick, Lara, Jamie, Chloe and Ned (if they are all still in the nest) after his last day at work.
Did they get you anything nice, love? Well, they wanted to give me £5m but I told them to put it to better use. Put the kettle on, will you?
Scudamore is not greedy and those who say this will taint his legacy are barking up the wrong money tree. If fans are angry about this, and I’m yet to be convinced they are, then it is the chairmen and chief executives who sat and nodded through, without a vote, Scudamore’s goodbye agreement who should be getting the flak.
And it seems like the Chelsea chairman was instrumental. The executive who recently said he was “not in favour of dumbing down the large clubs in order to make all the clubs the great unwashed”.
This is the executive who chairs the Premier League’s audit and remuneration committee. For this distasteful episode, the Buck stops with Bruce.