Introduction
Liverpool and Manchester United, the two biggest clubs financially, historically and in terms of success have made a proposal, ‘Project Big Picture’ to reinvent the structure of english football. In this article, we take a look at some of the detail, what it would mean to the game and whether there is any chance it could be implemented in some capacity.
Article
The immediate reaction was of concern and dismay. Let’s look at this from a more open mind than simply saying No, No, No…
No more league Cup
The tournament no one really cares for. The prize money for all those games is £100k and the added bonus of being able to take part in the UECL, what is this? The Uefa Europa Conference League starting in 2020-21. It’s basically a competition that comes after the champions league and europa league unless they finish in the top five places in the premier league, in which case our sixth best team gets to take part. So less incentive to win it. This tournament is where the top clubs and other clubs put their reserves out. Maybe Tottenham fans disagree cos it’s ‘a trophy’, City can show off their large squad depth and the Mourinho conspiracy theory, it’s the first one you win before winning the premier league title, not sure on that to be honest. Sure, it’s exciting to see some of the younger talents emerging players take part in a match without any pressure to win but seriously, will it be missed?
No more community shield
The random friendly at Wembley was originally a good concept. The curtain raiser to the premier league season, well until this season, when it was the curtain raiser to the first international break. Long ago, before there were so many european and international breaks, this was a good idea. No more. The team who qualify for this one off match, namely, the premier league and FA cup winners have less of an interest in this now.
Two less teams in the Premier league
This is where some of the existing members will have an issue. In reality, this is just a polite way of saying there are some teams in our top league who simply do not provide the level of opposition required to make it a good product, a premiership redundancy process, a corporate reorganisation of sorts.
Later start to the league campaign
The intention of this to organise that 39th game or games, those games against other top teams and maybe a mini tournament to fulfil the thirst amongst the top teams to have a closed shop European league. The big clubs clearly are missing a large revenue stream by not having the time to fit in those prestigious friendly matches. It can be argued that being able to see full teams of the top clubs take part in sparring matches, as was shown, in the summer during the champions league summer tournament we had, is something that would interest the wider footballing audience.
More money for the teams lower down
As we stand, teams who reach the premier league make a lot of money. If you get relegated, you also get a lot of money for a while. The others, well good luck. There needs to be a fairer way pushing the money down and giving 25% of the profit generated down the pyramid would surely be a start. As it stands, there may be many more clubs than the two clubs from the the fourth tier that we lose by this plan, due to financial problems. As it stands, the pyramid is on the verge of collapse. The two teams who will suffer relegation will of course suffer in the short term, but having a strong financial model for the EFL will surely make then more viable over the long term.
Decision making powers reduced
The nine teams who have been in the premier league the longest will get voting rights. This means that there will always be a decision as opposed to potential stalements with 20 or 18 teams voting. Further, the teams longest will surely vote for long term gain as opposed to short term gain. The instigator for this were surely the fracas meetings where some teams wanted the season voided to avoid a relegation battle. In a season where there is a respiratory virus on the rampage, having the ability to make five substitutions was surely logical in the interest of player health. However, the lesser clubs thinking that this would give the bigger clubs an advantage, despite no evidence to show this during June and July, said No. Fortunately for these clubs, they don’t have to play further matches in Europe or the rigorous international schedule. The latter, well it’s logical, that the more successful teams will have more players taking part in international matches.
Reformatted playoff structure
The eighteenth team in the premier league takes part in a play off match against a championship team. They do this in Germany and it works. This is the safely net they are offering in return for two teams being relegated. However, these are teams in the premier league who are clearly below standard and who will not benefit from having their fate in their own hands.
No more parachute payments
Those parachute payments that make promoted clubs forget all best practices of build a team around a sound tactical base and start throwing money at random players to stay in the big league. If it doesn’t work, they go down and become the rich boys of the championship and give themselves a massive advantage to come up. Sound sustainable? Fair? Best practice? A good thing to do? Not really.
Are the top teams really going to reject this?
So let’s say Liverpool and Manchester United decide this is what they want no matter what. Would they really resign from the Premier league and join the EFL. And if so, would it make the premier league a team with eighteen teams and no relegation, the dream for some. Would that break the TV rights deals, would Sky and BT want a league without the two biggest fan bases? And which teams would UEFA want in their champions league? We all know the answer to this so no matter how unlikely this plan sounds, there is a chance that the structure could get broken up. Would Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Tottenham be comfortable playing in this new eighteen team league? The fact is these teams will follow Liverpool and Manchester United to where they go. The owners of these clubs are US based and boy, they know how to make money from sport. No, they will follow this money trail.
What happens if this is still rejected?
Expect European super league discussions to take speed. There are teams in Europe, giants of football, who don’t make enough money from their domestic game. They want a piece of the premier league cake and the best way is the super league. The Covid situation has shown that despite all the fans missing from games, football can still go on. The giants of streaming services like Amazon and Netflix have shown an appetite to tap into this money tree so this is all just a matter of time. When bitter rivals like Liverpool and Manchester United get together to hatch a plan, you know this conversation is serious. Charging five million households £50 a month to watch football is harder and taking £10 a month off fifty or hundred million people. This is the new reality of the digital entertainment and the days of sky dishes on houses could well be over.
How does FFP fit into this?
It is clear that UEFA are struggling to enforce financial fair play. When FSG took over Liverpool ten years ago, it was on the reassurance that spending would be based on turnover. That’s why they have expanded the stadium, increased the commercial side and have become a more socially media driven club. It was not to spend unlimited money on players and playing against clubs owned by countries or oligarchs. The June ruling will have driven a deep stake into the financial model of both Liverpool and Manchester United, not forgetting the Bayerns and Barcelona’s of this world. Recognition that UEFA or CAS will not enforce the FFP rules has ensured that this battle to TV rights has taken a significant turn.
Conclusion
Significantly, this move has the backing of the EFL, the pyramid, who right now are distressed owners of football clubs. The £250m on offer could very well save these clubs from extinction and unless Santa Sunak can come up with some more handouts for these ailing football clubs, this could be the only game in town. There may be some compromises in the detail but let’s not live in cloud cuckooland The change is coming and it is imminent.
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