Football is bust, it’s in crisis. Clubs have been coerced into gambling
ACCRINGTON OWNER HORRIFIED BY SKEWED FINANCES
Andy Holt is watching huge institutions crumble with crippling debt as the club he owns, accrington stanley, bob along just nicely in league one.
For Holt, a passionate lancastrian, there are too many clubs in the eFl desperately struggling to stay afloat.
With the Premier league’s chief executive richard scudamore set to be followed out of office by Martin Glenn at the Fa and shaun Harvey at the eFl, Holt believes the time is right to talk about how precarious the game is outside the top six clubs.
‘We’re changing guard with all three ruling bodies and it’s long overdue if you ask me,’ he said. ‘Because football is bust, in crisis.
‘they’ve all patted each other on the back about what a wonderful job they’ve done. When I look at the whole game, it’s a disaster. It’s in a worse place now than it has ever been. they’ve tipped the balance until virtually everyone is slipping off the bottom.’
that Mel Morris is looking at selling derby County has upset Holt. ‘ We can’t get rid of c**p owners but we can create a circumstance where a great owner has had enough and will walk away. that is the legacy of the three amigos.
‘If Mel is losing £3million a month it’s no wonder he’s sick of it. a lot are. look at the Championship issues that led to shaun going. It cannot be right that leeds against derby gets £3-4m a year from tV and Huddersfield against Fulham gets £100m.
‘Per viewer, the Championship’s getting buttons. there isn’t a man alive who can argue with that. that is what is driving that division to overspend. Championship clubs will lose a total of around £400m this year. only three go up and the prize for them is a basic of £300m in broadcasting rights. they can’t all go up. they’re mugs.’
Mugs in the nicest possible sense. Holt’s premise is that the Championship has been collectively coerced into gambling.
Bolton, for example, have been financially mismanaged for years and yesterday escaped going into administration... for now.
Holt’s view is that clubs in leagues one and two will follow suit if changes do not occur soon.
‘We need a proper distribution of funds, the cash gaps between leagues are far too big,’ he added.
‘the Premier league isn’t passing enough down. What they do pass on is effectively to their own clubs. of the £330m that comes from them, up to £250m can be in parachute payments. only £ 80m goes to the split between divisions.
‘that split, where the Championship gets 80 per cent, league one 12 per cent and league two eight per cent, needs moderating.
‘I want an independent regulator, someone who says, “We can’t have it like this — clubs incapable of moving up and down the pyramid without financial distress”.
‘everybody is chasing. Parachute payments are there because the drop is so high that you’ll be dead if you hit the bottom. that tells you the cliff edge is too big. It’s an awful set-up.’
the eFl’s new five-year broadcasting deal is one of very public contention. sky sealed the rights, but Championship clubs argued they had a better deal on the table. Ultimately, that led to Harvey’s exit, following a revolt.
and Holt says there are simmering tensions throughout the pyramid. It is his belief that the Premier league is now divided.
He revealed that solidarity payments league one clubs receive from the top flight are set to fall from £690,000 to £660,000 next season. Holt also suggested the Premier league is reaching financial saturation, with only some overseas markets left to exploit.
the Championship’s Financial Fair Play regulations need altering, he adds.
‘six Premier league clubs have chosen to be greedy,’ he says. ‘their previous model of a decent split was reasonable. now it’s broken. all of these self-anointed top- six clubs have been s*** at some point during my lifetime.
‘the whole thing is a game of p*****-up poker now.
‘this is the simple argument: the Championship is hampered by FFP. Clubs relegated from the Premier league get a parachute payment of £41m in the first year whereas a Championship club can only lose £15m a year under FFP rules.
‘they’re not allowed to compete. these clubs have lost absolute fortunes trying to get to the top. By the time they get there, we might be on netflix or amazon. that big prize might be gone.
‘I don’t agree with football’s finances but I don’t know who to talk to. Who do I tell? Who cares?
‘Chairmen tell me, “I’m losing £2m a year, every year.” Why are they doing it? none of it is stable. loans aren’t sustainable. If loans weren’t allowed, there’d be less gambling. Well-run clubs like Burton albion, who run a balanced budget, get relegated.
‘Many clubs are technically insolvent. you’re p****** into the Irish sea and trying to flood dublin.’