Fury as top Prem clubs plot big grab for power
Big Six want Prem reduced to 18 & fewer EFL sides
NOT since the advent of the Premier League in 1992 have such monumental proposals been put forward to change the face of English football.
The plan - named Project Big Picture - has been set out in a detailed document in what must be seen as a naked power grab at a time when football has never been in such serious danger.
It would give the Premier League elite even more say, the EFL would be left with little choice but to accept to save their own skins, and the domestic game would never be the same again.
The big, powerful clubs will welcome it, Liverpool and Manchester United are driving it, smaller top-flight clubs are likely to oppose it and civil war has broken out between the EFL and Premier League.
It has a long way to go, but the plain truth is change is coming and the EFL have jumped aboard because it appears the only way they will secure a financial rescue package. The key proposals are:
⬤ Premier League clubs would hand over the £250million bailout needed by the Football League to stave off a financial disaster among its 72 clubs.
⬤ The top flight would be cut to 18 teams, the League Cup would be overhauled with clubs in Europe exempt from the competition, and the Community Shield scrapped.
⬤ The current Premier League voting system, which needs 14 clubs to get any motions through, would be changed. The new format would see the big six (Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea,
Arsenal, Tottenham) plus the other three longest-standing clubs (Everton, West Ham and Southampton) get a bigger say – and could allow them to veto other clubs being taken over.
⬤ Championship, League One and Two to keep 24 clubs in each division, but would initially have two more than usual drop out to accommodate the two teams coming down from top-flight. Championship play-off would involve clubs finishing third, fourth and fifth and the 16th team from the Premier League.
⬤ The FA would receive a £100m “gift” to help with grassroots football.
⬤ EFL clubs would receive a greater share of cash, even for help on stadium development, and there would be a shake-up of how TV money is distributed.
⬤ Away tickets could be capped at £20, away travel subsidised and visiting teams would receive eight per cent t of available tickets.
⬤ A shake-up of the loan system, with capacity to loan more players, and a later start to the Premier League to allow for big, lucrative summer tournaments overseas.
The ideas are in line with a revolution in football on the Continent, where the powerful European Clubs Association is spearheading a shake-up of the Champions League with more games, while UEFA- style Financial Fair Play rules would be adopted.
They could be brought in by the 2022-23 season, with four clubs being relegated from the Premier League and two promoted from the Championship.
The revolution was masterminded by Liverpool and Manchester United.
Liverpool’s owners, the Fenway Sports Group, came forward with the initial plan, which has been worked on by United co-chairman Joel Glazer. Now is the time to strike because EFL clubs are struggling to survive. At a recent meeting, EFL chairman Rick Parry ( left) seemed very confident neither League One or Two would have to go into hibernation and that there would be a bailout package.
Not all will be on board, as the EFL will end up with less power, potentially one club fewer going up to the Premier League each season, while they would lose the League Cup in its current form.
However, Parry has insisted no survival package can come without a degree of pain.
“Do I genuinely think it’s for the greater good of the game as a whole? Absolutely,” he said. “And if the six are deriving some benefit then why shouldn’t they? Why wouldn’t they put their names to this otherwise?
“It’s definitely going to be challenging and it’s an enormous change, so that won’t be without some pain.”