Cats owner in joint plea to EFL for season to continue
WARNING ON FINANCES
SUNDERLAND co-owner Charlie Methven is among the signatories to a letter sent to the FA and EFL calling for the League One season to be completed – and warning that without urgent financial support, lower league clubs will start going to the wall within weeks.
The letter was sent by Damian Collins MP, and was sent to chairman of the FA Greg Clarke, chairman of the EFL Rick Parry, and to Oliver Dowden MP, Secretary of State for the Department of Culture, Media, and Sport.
It outlines a six-point plan that he believes the authorities should adopt to address the financial crisis that football faces due to the Covid19 pandemic.
And it also calls for the season to be completed at all levels above League Two, whose clubs have already indicated unanimously that they want to end the campaign early. The plan also has the backing of 18 MPs, two former FA chairs, the Football Supporters’ Association, and the chair and co-owner of two EFL clubs – including Sunderland shareholder Methven.
Collins’ letter says: “We may only have a few weeks to save professional football in this country as we know it.
“The shock of the Covid-19 crisis has badly exposed the weak financial position of clubs in the English Football League (EFL), many of whom were already on the edge of bankruptcy.
“For clubs in Leagues 1 and 2 in particular, the loss of matchday revenue and money from the sale of season tickets is a major blow that some will not be able to survive.
“We want to see football return as soon as possible and for the current
season to be completed in the divisions above League 2.
“Without matches being played, the salary costs of clubs are too high to make it viable for them to mothball their operations, even if the existing government support and furlough schemes continue.
“Also, the cost of the Covid-19 testing protocols needed to ensure the safe return of players and staff will cost clubs around £140,000 each, a significant figure for some in the lower leagues, given the circumstances they face. “Overall, if nothing is done to provide financial support to football, clubs with old and famous names will almost certainly go into administration within weeks.
“More communities will go through the agony that Bury suffered
last year and see a beloved sporting and cultural institution taken from them.”
In the longer-term, the plan seeks to establish a Football Finance Authority (FFA) which would be created by the FA and backed by the Government.
The plan would involve supporters in football governance and, in some cases, club ownership.
The FFA could provide financial support to clubs, providing a number of conditions are met.
Funds provided by the FFA would be for operational liabilities only and must not be used to finance transfers or infrastructure spending.
In return for receiving funds clubs would have to give minority shareholdings to nominated bodies such as supporters’ trusts.
Independent directors would also be appointed to club boards and report back to the FFA who, ultimately, would have power to place clubs into administration should they prove incapable of managing their own affairs.
The shock of the Covid-19 crisis has badly exposed the weak financial position of clubs
Damian Collins MP