Parry’s pet project fails to see the bigger picture
TIME for a confession. I haven’t watched an English Premier League game in years and to be honest, much of the excitement that enthrals millions across the globe has been lost on me for some time.
Maybe I picked a poor time to fall out of love with The Best League In The World. True, the lack of fans in stadia detracts from the overall spectacle but on the pitch, it has been an exhilarating start to the new campaign.
Aston Villa, who only pipped Bournemouth to remain in the top league by a point last time around, thrashed the champions 7- 2 at Villa Park a week ago. That same day, Jose Mourinho returned to his old stomping ground as Spurs manager and hammered Manchester United 6- 1. Only a week earlier, Manchester City surrendered an early lead before losing 5- 2 to Leicester City.
It’s all getting a bit bonkers but that will suit neutrals down to the ground, even if defensive coaches will be pulling their hair out because of the kamikaze defending that has often been on show.
Supposedly, the Premier League has it all now; the world’s greatest managers, some of the most exciting players on the planet and clubs that are able to pull their weight on the continental stage – and bring the odd trophy back to England, too.
Shock results and eye- catching defeats will go a long way to creating an entertaining product to sell all around the world and there is no question that the marketing gurus employed by the Premier League are some of the best in the business.
But if reports in yesterday’s Sunday Telegraph are to be believed, it appears the suits have taken a rare mis- step – one that could result in a few more neutrals joining me in my one- man boycott of the world’s most popular league.
In a nutshell, the story is this. EFL chairman Rick Parry has an idea that would see top- flight clubs provide a one- off financial package of
£ 250 million to support lower league teams, but with a couple of significant caveats to sweeten the deal for the big boys.
The Premier League will reduce from a 20- team competition to one featuring 18 sides and half of the remaining clubs will be afforded a greater status than the rest. It should come as no surprise that the
“Big Six” – Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Spurs and the two Manchester clubs – are included, while Everton, West Ham and Southampton will join them.
These nine clubs would essentially run the English top flight. Any proposal put forward would require six of the nine to support it and once that bridge has been crossed, it becomes law.
Under Parry’s “Project
Big Picture”, the Premier League would finally become what many like myself have suspected it has been transforming into for some time: an old- fashioned plutocracy.
The “Big Six” already have tremendous power in England
and compete in a different financial stratosphere to everyone else. All six are in the top 10 most valuable clubs in the world and this latest proposal simply maintains that financial dominance and, given time, will accelerate it. The already gaping chasm between the haves and havenots will stretch ever wider as the fundamental principle that underlines sport – namely, competition – erodes.
Lest we forget, the “Big Six” are already playing cards with a loaded deck. They exist in a state where just about everything is geared towards further success for themselves at the expense of the rest of their domestic league and there are few real- world consequences for failure. What does it matter if you can finish 10th one season then spend a nine- figure transfer kitty in the summer and go on to win the league, as happened with Chelsea not long ago?
If you are Pep Guardiola and can afford to spend almost half a billion pounds on defenders ( honestly, he’s not far off) then what does any of it even matter? Okay, you might not win the league but you will get the GDP of a small nation to rebuild over the summer and there will be a queue of superstars waiting outside to sign on the dotted line as you gear up for another tilt at it.
Handing ludicrously wealthy and powerful clubs the tools to make themselves more wealthy and more powerful will only form a cabal of teams that are virtually untouchable at the summit of the English game and create a permanence to football’s hierarchy.
The nine places afforded to these clubs would be set in stone, which raises serious questions over the ability to grow and be upwardly mobile within the English set- up.
For those left behind, the cases of Chelsea and Manchester City must be particularly galling. Lest we forget, these are two clubs whose vast cash reserves allowed them to muscle their way into the Premier League’s top table, and now they want to close the door to make sure that no- one else can follow suit.
These clubs have most of the money, top players and some of the best managers in the world but it still isn’t enough.
Like it or not, the sad truth is that football at the highest level is more financially orientated now than it has ever been. The elite clubs have already constructed systems of hoarding their wealth – the next stage, as any businessperson looking to build a dynasty of any sort will tell you, is to protect it from others and extend its longevity.
It feels like this latest proposal is the moment where English football’s biggest clubs have finally dropped all pretence – it’s all about the money, and it always has been. The proposed changes would ensure that the Premier League becomes a play thing for a privileged few, while the rest of English football is left to fight for scraps with no genuine prospect of improving their club’s standing in a meaningful way.
Enjoy the shock results and upsets this season while you can. If the big hitters get their way – as they almost always do – there might not be many more to look forward to.
The ‘ Big Six’ are already playing cards with a loaded deck