EFL clubs set to lose £200M

Rikmeister · 24 Sep 2020 at 01:27

Should there be financial support for Football League clubs? If so should it come from a) the government, b) the Premier League, or c) a combination of both.

The follwing comes from the Mirror:

EFL chairman Rick Parry has called on the Government and Premier League for financial assistance as clubs prepare for huge losses from a season played behind closed doors

Rick Parry has warned the EFL is facing a £200m black hole - and League One and Two clubs could be forced into hibernation without a cash bail out.

EFL chairman Parry spoke out after the Government put plans for supporters to return to stadiums on hold with a growing belief they will not be allowed back for the entire 2020/21 season.

Parry said: “EFL Clubs lost £50m last season as a result of playing matches behind closed doors or curtailing the season and stand to lose a further £200m in 2020/21 should we be required to play the whole season without supporters in grounds.

“I am encouraged that the Government has recognised the need for urgent financial assistance for sport and discussions will continue with DCMS and the Premier League.”

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/efl-200m-dire-future-predicted-22731665

bremen1874 · 24 Sep 2020 at 01:49

I’d hope that the government would have better things to spend money on. I suppose if I gave a monkeys about football at any level I might think differently.

Football is a business like many other sports. It shouldn’t be singled out for special treatment.

Rroff · 24 Sep 2020 at 02:29

I think the whole thing is a mess and a casualty of Boris/Cummings reluctance to let go of their grip on power - while not that important in the grand scheme of things stuff like this should have a committee who are organising a response at a national level - instead it is a mess.

My local town team for instance has a fair size grounds - they can fit 9,565, has multiple entrances and exits, some of which aren't used and normal gate for games is around 2600 - they've calculated they can fit ~2800 while adhering to social distancing and I can't see any reason really why under those circumstances games can't go ahead as long as the crowd don't ruin it for themselves - sure some of the smaller clubs are going to struggle so it would take some organisation to fit games in at grounds that can accommodate the restrictions and some kind of profit sharing where appropriate, etc. meanwhile the league and rights holders and so on can't even properly organise paid streaming of games either in a productive way :s

While there are limits to how much money should be chucked at it I don't think we should allow it to simply collapse or struggle on on its own either especially as football has a huge value to this country not just nationally but internationally.

The Running Man · 24 Sep 2020 at 09:08

Maybe this will be the time when football players finally take a haircut and we see wages hit a more realistic level...

bremen1874 · 24 Sep 2020 at 09:25

Presumably, the lower division clubs that are struggling aren't the ones paying the silly money.

Rikmeister · 24 Sep 2020 at 10:16

bremen1874 said:
Presumably, the lower division clubs that are struggling aren't the ones paying the silly money.

League One clubs have a salary cap for the whole squad of £2.5M, League Two salary cap is £1.5M. To put it in perspective Gareth Bale could finance a L2 club's seasons player costs with 3 weeks of his pay or a L1 club with 5 weeks of his pay.

Rikmeister · 24 Sep 2020 at 10:18

The Running Man said:
Maybe this will be the time when football players finally take a haircut and we see wages hit a more realistic level...

Someone said recently that the league has "profitability and sustainability rules" that encourage neither profitability nor sustainability. Surely, if clubs are bailed out, real sustainability rules must be one of the conditions attached.

Rikmeister · 24 Sep 2020 at 10:23

Rroff said:
I think the whole thing is a mess and a casualty of Boris/Cummings reluctance to let go of their grip on power - while not that important in the grand scheme of things stuff like this should have a committee who are organising a response at a national level - instead it is a mess.

The safety of fans and the community has to be the priority. That said there seems to be a great deal of illogicallity around the decision making. For example, going to a football match once a week in open air is banned but going to the pub indoors every day if you wish is okay so long as you leave by 10pm.

The govenment always say they're following the science but I'd like to see what their scientific advice on the safety of football attendence is.

vanpeebles · 24 Sep 2020 at 10:25

Zero sympathy from me. A lot of these clubs have been ran badly for years, and burnt huge sums of cash on decidedly average players. They have left nothing in the bank for a rainy day.

The Running Man · 24 Sep 2020 at 10:30

vanpeebles said:
Zero sympathy from me. A lot of these clubs have been ran badly for years, and burnt huge sums of cash on decidedly average players. They have left nothing in the bank for a rainy day.

I dont think anyone was planning for a rainy 12 months with zero fans though...

Semple · 24 Sep 2020 at 10:35

Rikmeister said:
League One clubs have a salary cap for the whole squad of £2.5M, League Two salary cap is £1.5M. To put it in perspective Gareth Bale could finance a L2 club's seasons player costs with 3 weeks of his pay or a L1 club with 5 weeks of his pay.

How does that translate to average salaries for players though? For example a 30-squad L1 team would be averaging 83k a player. Which would probably mean 100k+ for your main 11 players.

I'm only guessing on squad sizes (i've absolutely no idea), 30 probably seems quite excessive for a L1 team, so maybe it's more like 18-20? Which actually makes the sums worse as you're then averaging 130k a player, or more like 150k+ for the main 11.

The Running Man said:
Maybe this will be the time when football players finally take a haircut and we see wages hit a more realistic level...

This really.

james.miller · 24 Sep 2020 at 10:38

Soo much wasted money in football. They can sort themselves out.

Rikmeister · 24 Sep 2020 at 11:22

vanpeebles said:
A lot of these clubs have been ran badly for years.

Very true. Bury have looked like an accident waiting to happen for a long time. But the club has been victims of bad owners - the fans aren't the ones who made the bad decisions, or had any say in who took over when the club changed hands, and yet it is the fans and the local community that pays the price when it all goes wrong.

Rikmeister · 24 Sep 2020 at 11:23

Semple said:
How does that translate to average salaries for players though?

Good question. I'll try and find out.

vanpeebles · 24 Sep 2020 at 11:24

Rikmeister said:
Very true. Bury have looked like an accident waiting to happen for a long time. But the club has been victim bad owners, the fans aren't the ones who made the bad decisions, or had any say in who took ove when the club changed hands, and yet it is the fans and the local community that pays the price when it all goes wrong.

Yep I agree with that. The fit and proper persons test is a total joke too.

Rikmeister · 24 Sep 2020 at 11:25

The Running Man said:
I dont think anyone was planning for a rainy 12 months with zero fans though...

It is quite extrodinary. Government minister love to use the word "unprecedented" when talking about the Covid crisis but seem to be silent on the unprecedented crisis threatening the national game at all levels.

Mark1989 · 24 Sep 2020 at 11:33

Should get help from premier League, FIFA imo. It's okay saying clubs are run badly which I agree they are but no club regardless of level has plans in place for a pandemic

The Running Man · 24 Sep 2020 at 11:38

Mark1989 said:
Should get help from premier League, FIFA imo. It's okay saying clubs are run badly which I agree they are but no club regardless of level has plans in place for a pandemic

But should the taxpayer really be paying players wages of thousands per week?

If there are loans I suspect they would never be repayed.

Mark1989 · 24 Sep 2020 at 11:45

The Running Man said:
But should the taxpayer really be paying players wages of thousands per week?

If there are loans I suspect they would never be repayed.

Not at all why I feel FIFA,fa, premier League are ones that should help

I also feel there should be wage caps in football and same with transfer fee but won't happen

omnomnom · 24 Sep 2020 at 13:10

bremen1874 said:
I’d hope that the government would have better things to spend money on. I suppose if I gave a monkeys about football at any level I might think differently.

Football is a business like many other sports. It shouldn’t be singled out for special treatment.

The arts and theatre are also a business, they got a bailout. Bars and restaurants are also businesses...we got a month dedicated to "eat out to help out".