‘We don’t need Messi – we are best league already’
Htop-flight chief Masters says he rates a title race with several contenders as a higher priority than having the biggest names
Richard Masters, the Premier League chief executive, says that he prizes the highly competitive nature of the English top flight over the signing of Lionel Messi, whom Paris St-germain have brought to Ligue 1, one of many European leagues which are dominated by one or two clubs.
Speaking ahead of today’s start of the 2021-22 season, when promoted Brentford take on Arsenal, Masters was asked whether the Premier League had greater value in its unpredictability on any given match day rather than one team boasting the talents of Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe – as is the case with PSG.
“It does, if you look at what the Premier League has established its comparable success on,” he says. “Supporting the pyramid, supporting in-season sporting merit [where you finish in one year the only factor dictating a potential European place], supporting competitiveness, supporting equitable distribution. You have to be on point every season.
“That is what separates the Premier League from other European leagues – how competitive it is from top to bottom. It’s always good to have the biggest names, but it is not built on individuals.”
Masters adds: “No one was anticipating that Messi would become a free agent overnight. It would have been nice had he come to the Premier League in the autumn of his career. He has chosen to go to Paris [who finished second in Ligue 1 last season].
“We will survive. We have always had our fair share of the world’s best players mixed with really good English talent coming through the system. We will be fine. I am expecting next season to be as competitive as ever. I do think it’s a problem for those leagues [which lack competitiveness], and it is part of the malcontent that has been exacerbated by the pandemic that leagues need to be competitive if they are to be successful long-term ...
“I think we have four clubs this season, maybe five, who can win the league, and then you have a real chasing pack for the European spots.
“For some, it is about winning it, for others, it’s Champions League football, or making progress, or staying in it. There is a part in the soap opera for everybody. There is hope instilled in the pyramid and I can’t see what hope there is in some of the other leagues.”
It has been a remarkable two years for Masters, who has guided the 20 clubs through the pandemic that has meant supporters being locked out of stadiums and £2billion lost in revenue. Over that time, he has seen off the threat of a “Big Six” power grab in Project Big Picture and helped defeat the European Super League breakaway. The domestic broadcast contracts have been renewed at the same value for another three years, starting in the 2022-23 season, and now he is mending relations between the Super League rebels and the rest after civil war last season.
The 20 clubs for this season were able to gather in person in June for the first time since the start of the pandemic in March last year. Masters hosted them all for an annual meeting in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, that allowed them to exchange views and air grievances.
“Clearly, the European Super League was a bad idea, poorly executed, and the clubs have apologised to everybody, particularly their fans,” Masters says.
“That it came and went in 48 hours was the only good thing I could say about that. In terms of bringing the clubs back together again, putting in place new rule changes, having a cathartic eight hours [of talks] at Harrogate where a lot of things were discussed out in the open, was a good process.
“From the top down, look at the change and disruption within football at the moment. Fifa looking at a new [biennial] World Cup scenario; a new [Fifa] Club World Cup; changes to the match calendar; Uefa post-2024 reforms [changing European club competitions]; potential revision of Uefa Financial Fair Play, domestic issues, meeting the demands of the media market and change in consumption.
“They are all coming down the track in order at the same time. The Premier League has to have a clear idea on where it needs to get to in 10 years’ time. The real purpose of the strategic review is to get clubs aligned on that.”
As well as that review, Masters has also been asked to contribute to the independent supporter-led review of football governance led by Tracey Crouch, MP, which was launched in the wake of the Super League episode. He says that the Premier League “recognises some of the issues have dented faith in the governance structures of English football” and that the organisation is not “resistant to change”.
There is no appetite for an independent regulator underpinned by legislation, but Masters can see the merit, as Crouch has suggested, of a regulator within the Football Association. A regulator with that oversight, stepping in when the rules of the league are broken, would help his role. He is obliged both to develop the revenues of his shareholders and then discipline them when they step out of line.
As part of the league’s own governance review, there is an appetite to give fans more information on club takeovers – including those which have been rejected. He is not able to discuss the situation at Newcastle United, where the club are taking the Premier League to a tribunal over its rejection of the proposed takeover by the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund.
“The owners’ and directors’ test, when clubs are subject to takeover, there is a rightful expectation of confidentiality,” he says. “We get involved when conversations are mature. Our job is to apply the [Premier League] owners’ and directors’ test and not to do that in a public way. But I do think it is possible we could be more transparent on an annual basis about discussing the number of approaches that have been made.”
In the meantime, the return of a full house for the first time – at Brentford’s new Community Stadium in west London – will be the end of a long wait.
Unlike Spain, none of the league has been sold off to private equity. Unlike France or Germany, one team are not expected to dominate.
“I hope fans being back will be permanent,” Masters says, “and that will see the Premier League economy return to something near full health.”