‘ This fiasco shows need for changes’
the season. Loans to clubs in the Championship are capped at £ 8.33m per club.
This is on top of the £ 50m grant package the Premier League had already announced to help smaller clubs cope with the coronavirus crisis.
Loans will have to be repaid by the end of June 2024, but the headline amount now equals the sum put forward as a bail- out after Rick Parry’s secret negotiations with Liverpool and Manchester United as part of the ill- fated ‘ Project Big Picture’.
That scheme involved a power grab which threatened to split football and talks seemed to be stalling because of clubs’ self- interest.
But agreement has been reached weeks after the various parties were called to a meeting led by Julian Knight, chairman of the Digital, Culture Media and Sport Committee.
Knight said: “We welcome this news, which offers a ray of hope to football fans, along with the limited return to stadiums.
“Our concern has always been for those lower league clubs at risk of survival.
“However, what is most concerning is that this deal could have been reached months ago and we share the frustration of fans that it has taken this long.
“It cannot be right that in a pandemic the Government has been drawn into sorting out wrangles at the top of the game because football chiefs were incapable of doing it themselves.
“This fiasco is evidence of a lack of accountability within football’s governance structure, demonstrating the urgent need for a review of how the business of football can be better managed in the interests of the clubs, fans and the nation.”
Both parties yesterday focused on what they had achieved.
EFL chairman Rick Parry said: “Our over- arching aim throughout has been to ensure all EFL clubs survive the financial impact of the pandemic.
Premier League chief executive Richard Masters said: “The Premier League is a huge supporter of the football pyramid.”
Their focus for now turns to the return of fans and clubs yesterday insisted fans should wear face masks.
The Premier
League will push for bigger crowds on a pilot basis than the 2,000 allowed in Tier
Two.