They all turned out for Scudamore’s big bash, but who’ll vote for his £5m goodbye today?
‘He’s been amazing’ David Gold — West Ham ‘He deserves it, he’s done a great job’ Ken Choo — Cardiff
LIVERPOOL are under huge pressure from their fans to join a number of Premier League clubs in rejecting a proposal to give outgoing executive chairman Richard Scudamore a £5million golden farewell.
The request by Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck for all 20 Premier League clubs to donate £250,000 as a thank-you for the job Scudamore has done during 19 years at the helm has sparked widespread outrage since MailOnline revealed the plan on Tuesday.
And the response of Liverpool fans has registered with the Anfield hierarchy, even though they did not comment when asked if they would agree to the payment at today’s Premier League shareholders meeting in London.
In a post on social media, The Spirit of Shankly supporters trust, which boasts 130,000 Twitter followers, were scathing about Buck’s proposal.
‘The idea that any club should be asked to give such an amount would be laughable if it weren’t so infuriating,’ they said. ‘Any club even considering it, let alone doing it, should hang their heads in shame.’
That certainly had an impact at Anfield, with the club unlikely to support the Buck initiative.
Yesterday Sportsmail canvassed the opinion of all 20 clubs and only Cardiff City came out in support of the payment. Cardiff chief executive Ken Choo said: ‘He (Scudamore) has done a great job. He has moved the Premier League on to another level and he has allowed someone new (his successor, Susanna Dinnage) to take it further. He deserves the recognition.’
Most declined to comment but Wolves said: ‘We are currently in discussions with the Premier League and our fellow league members and a decision is yet to be made. There will be no further comment at this time.’
Newcastle are thought to have serious reservations, with some of the promoted clubs from the last couple of seasons also believed to be concerned.
Scudamore has declined to comment. Last night he was trying to enjoy his farewell party among 100 guests at the German Gymnasium restaurant in King’s Cross but he knew nothing of the proposal until Buck had contacted the clubs and is upset by the controversy.
That said, Buck and Scudamore have developed a close friendship in the 15 years Buck has been Chelsea chairman. The American lawyer headed up the search for Scudamore’s successor, TV executive Dinnage.
After arriving at the party in a red and white Rolls-Royce, West Ham co- chairman David Gold said: ‘ Richard has been amazing. I remember when we were in the Championship many years ago and he was the chairman of the Football League and then he got this promotion, as it were, and we were all devastated he was going to leave. He stood up and he said, “I’m only doing what all of you would like to do — go to the Premier League”.’
Gold added that the public scrutiny surrounding the golden goodbye had left Scudamore in a ‘difficult’ situation.
Robert Elstone, the former chief executive of Everton, added: ‘It’s an amazing legacy of long service.’ When told Everton were apparently reluctant to pay the £250,000 to Scudamore, he said: ‘ That is absolutely up to them. I am surprised.’
David Sheepshanks, the former Football League chairman who appointed Scudamore as the organisation’s chief executive, said: ‘It’s enormous, it will never be repeated.’
On the £5m pay package, he continued: ‘All I will say is that he has led the commercial revolution of the Premier League and made an awful lot of clubs extremely wealthy and given them an opportunity to flourish. Of course there will be people who will question it.’
High on today’s agenda will be the debate around whether to introduce video assistant referees next season. The potential impact of Brexit on the Premier League will also be discussed, with the possibility of increasing quotas for English players in first-team squads debated. But once the official business has been completed, the 20 club representatives will discuss the mess Scudamore’s proposed pay-off has become. Because it is not official shareholders’ business, the proposal does not need to be passed by the usual 14- club majority. And for that reason one senior Premier League source told Sportsmail yesterday they believe Scudamore will receive the money despite the negative response. Another club source did, however, say they did not believe Buck’s request would be granted unless everyone was in agreement, and last night there was certainly opposition from some clubs.