Those who follow me on Twitter or here on Patreon know that I am not prone to hyperbole. However, the latest proposal which is being pushed by Manchester United and Liverpool is nothing short of a radical fantasy and will strengthen the top 6 clubs of the Premier League (at the cost of everyone else) for generations to come. If you don’t know what I am speaking about, give this report by The Telegraph a read. What it basically says is that Liverpool and Man United are driving forward a controversial plan (controversial is the nicest thing you can say about this) which would essentially assure the dominance of the Top 6 for generations to come and that no other club will ever be in a position to challenge that. If this was something that was implemented in the crime world, we would be calling it a ‘cartel’.
Some of the proposals from the leaked report are: 1) The League Cup and Community Shield will be scrapped, 2) Premier League would be shrunk down to 18 teams, 3) changes to the loan system that would allow clubs to send 15 players out on loan domestically, 4) a women’s professional league independent of the Premier League & the FA. More egregiously though the most controversial aspect of this would be that there would be no more 1 club, 1 vote principle which has stood the test of time. Also, the minimum threshold of 14 votes to pass any regulation change would also be scrapped.
Basically, nine clubs will get to dictate how everything is run and will effectively have a veto on how everything is run. The nine clubs will be the Top 6 and Everton, West Ham United and Southampton (on the basis of how long they have been in the Premier League) and in the future, a vote from any 6 of those clubs will be enough for any regulation to pass.
Imagine a billionaire wanting to take over Sheffield United which will radically change the short-term future? What do you think will happen then? Does anyone really think such a proposal will ever see the light of the day?
Given how loaded everything is in favour of the big 6, you would wonder why anyone other than them would support this, right? Well, it seems that they are dangling relief money that smaller clubs desperately need to get their way. A permanent fix for the bigger clubs in lieu of a £250m rescue package to the EFL to help see them through the coronavirus crisis. Also, 25% of the Premier League’s annual revenue would go to the EFL clubs while the FA would also be gifted £100m to see them through this COVID 19 crisis.
Despicable right? Using this crisis to push forward generational changes that they know that they would not be able to get through otherwise. Many of the EFL clubs would go bust without any kind of bailout, and the biggest clubs know it. However, in this, they are trying to extract their pound of flesh to help save clubs.
Look, I don’t expect Premier League clubs to be the beacons of morality, but what I do expect them is not to take advantage of a pandemic. With the outrage that has greeted this proposal, hopefully, this will be stalled in its track before it goes any further.
