A big stain on the Championship

Mr ‘Points Per Game’ Rick Parry has had his first good idea since becoming EFL chairman. Parry commissioned a report which has concluded Championship clubs receiving parachute payments have been three times more likely to win promotion in the last four years than those who don’t receive what is basically a handsome reward for failing at Premiership level.

It’s hardly Earth-shattering news. It’s like researching whether or not Vladamir Putin is off his rocker. We all know the answer, but it’s nice to have it confirmed in black and white by a couple of clever blokes with letters after their name.

Parachute payments have always been a stain on our national sport. They distort competition and they encourage reckless spending by other clubs desperate to keep up with the Fulhams and Russian-backed Bournemouths of this world.

Thus in this season’s Championship

we have a Fulham team able to pay a striker in Aleksandr Mitrovic (right), who barely scores in the top flight, an abhorrent £100k a week to chase 40 goals at Championship level and get his club back in the big time, probably for a season.

We also have Bournemouth, who have a lower average home gate than Posh this season, splashing out millions in January to cover for manager Scott Parker’s modest level of ability.

But we also have a Derby team docked 21 points for breaching financial rules and in danger of going bust.

It’s a typically self-serving piece of madness from the elite clubs, many of whom tried to ditch English football in favour of a European Super League not so long ago.

Of course, Posh have needed no help in stinking out the second tier this season. Their impending relegation is entirely self-inflicted.

But Parry’s commissioned report revealed clubs with parachute payments in their back pockets had a 22% chance of going up compared to a 7.3% chance of promotion for those forced to work harder for their money.

Non-parachute payment clubs are three times more likely to be relegated (15.9% to 4.9%) and the average points gap between the haves and the have nots has been 8.6, again over the last four seasons.

These numbers have all increased dramatically in the last four seasons, co-incidentally at a time when the average parachute payment has increased from £12.8 million to almost £26 million.

Despite this strong evidence don’t expect anything to change. The Premier League was created to protect and enrich the already wealthy. Fair competition doesn’t come into it. They’d probably ban promotion and relegation if they thought they could get it through.

And who helped develop the Premier League into the richest league in the world? Why Rick Parry of course. A shame he didn’t see the wrecking of natural and fair competition coming.