Project Big Picture: The radical proposal for English football and how would it affect Doncaster Rovers

Clubs such as Doncaster Rovers will receive a share of a £250milllion rescue package plus a portion of increased distribution of revenues from the top flight, should the proposals be passed.

However, critics have argued that top Premier League clubs will hold all the power in shaping the game in the future.

In basic terms, the plan would see leading top flight clubs gain greater control over the running of the top flight in exchange for providing more funding for the rest of the English football pyramid.

EFL clubs would receive greater funds from the Premier League, as would grass roots football.

It has been publicly backed by EFL chairman Rick Parry, who has helped to draw up the proposals along with, in particular, Liverpool owner John W Henry and Manchester United chairman Joel Glazer, as well as representatives from four other top clubs.

If approved – which would require the support of 14 Premier League clubs – the changes would be implemented ahead of the start of the 2022/23 season.

But the financial rescue package would be made available immediately on approval.

Here, we take a look at some of the details of the proposals, including their direct impact on clubs.

WHAT ASPECTS OF PBP WOULD DIRECTLY IMPACT ROVERS?

- Rovers, and the other EFL clubs, would receive a share of £250million from the Premier League to help offset losses arising from the Covid-19 pandemic

- Rovers, and the other EFL clubs, would receive a share of 25 per cent of combined Premier League and EFL revenues each year.

- Clubs in England would be permitted to have four loan players from one single club, with any one club allowed to loan out up to 15 players domestically

- The League Cup would be scrapped

WOULD THERE BE ANY IMPACT ON ROVERS SUPPORTERS?

- Away match tickets will be capped at £20 with away travel subsidised

- Away ticket allocation will be set at a minimum of eight per cent for all matches

- Clubs would commit to a stronger push for safe standing in stadiums

WHAT OTHER CHANGES ARE THERE?

- The Premier League would be reduced from 20 to 18 teams. The reasons for this are stated as reducing fixture congestion with the knock-on effect of helping the England national team, while also increasing the amount of revenue redistributed

- The number of teams in each of the Championship, League One and League Two would remain at 24, meaning the overall number of clubs in the top four divisions would be reduced from 92 to 90.

- There would be two automatic relegation spots from the Premier League and two automatic promotion places from the Championship. The team finishing third bottom of the Premier League would enter a play-off with the teams finishing third, fourth and fifth in the Championship.

- The number of promotion and relegation places in Leagues One and Two would remain as they currently are

- There will no longer be parachute payments for clubs relegated from the Premier League

- The Community Shield would be scrapped.

- The nine ‘longest-serving’ Premier League clubs will hold greater status when major changes are made including amending regulations, agreeing contracts including TV deals and vetoing new club owners. Votes can be carried with the support of six of those nine. The nine clubs are Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea, Tottenham, Arsenal, Everton, Southampton and West Ham United.

- The Premier League will sell TV rights for both their own division and the EFL.

- No club would have more than 27 matches broadcasted live on TV in any season.

- The Saturday 3pm blackout for live TV coverage would remain

WHAT WILL THE PREMIER LEAGUE BE COMMITTED TO?

- The FA will also receive a one-off £100million payment to help with losses from this year, plus to aid funding for non-league, the women’s game and grassroots football.

- The Premier League will spend 8.5 per cent of annual revenues on operating costs and ‘good causes’ which will include the FA

- Six per cent of Premier League gross revenues will be ring fenced to help fund stadium improvements across the top four divisions.

- Policing Financial Fair Play regulations in line with UEFA

- A change in the way Premier League television income is distributed

HOW HAS PBP COME ABOUT?

Parry and club owners are said to have been working on restructure programmes since long before Covid-19 pandemic impacted the game and feel change is necessary to safeguard the future of English football’s structure.

The proposals suggest the financial strain on clubs chasing Premier League football have become too great to sustain while the lack of funds redistributed to the EFL needs to be addressed.

The plan states: “The long-term viability of the Championship, League One and League Two are in doubt without substantive financial change.”

HOW HAS IT BEEN RECEIVED?

The Premier League as an entity has balked at the plans - particularly as 14 of the current 20 clubs in the division only became aware of its existence when it was leaked to the Daily Telegraph over the weekend.

The league has said the plan could have ‘a damaging impact on the whole game’ and want to see it discussed via ‘the proper channels.’ It has also expressed disappointment with the involvement of EFL chair Parry.

The Football Supporters Association has also expressed strong reservations about the plans.

A spokesperson for the FSA said: “Once again it appears that big decisions in football are apparently being stitched up behind our backs by billionaire club owners who continue to treat football as their personal fiefdom.

“Football is far more than a business to be carved up; it is part of our communities and our heritage, and football fans are its lifeblood.

“As football’s most important stakeholders, it is crucial that fans are consulted and involved in the game’s decision-making.

“We have welcomed the government’s commitment to a ‘fan-led review of the governance of football’; we would argue that today’s revelations have made that process even more relevant and urgent.

“We will of course study the detail of the new proposals, we remain open-minded to any suggestions for the improvement of the governance and organisation of the game, whatever their source, and we will continue to engage constructively in all discussions around reform.

“We would however emphasise that in our discussions so far, very few of our members have ever expressed the view that what football really needs is a greater concentration of power in the hands of the big six billionaire-owned clubs.”

WHAT HAS RICK PARRY SAID?

A statement from the EFL chairman read: “The need for a complete rethinking regarding the funding of English professional football predates the Covid-19 crisis.

“Discussion and planning around ‘Project Big Picture’ has been ongoing for quite some time, unrelated to the current pandemic but now has an urgency that simply cannot be denied.

“The revenues flowing from the investment and work of our top clubs has been largely limited to the top division creating a sort of lottery, while Championship clubs struggle to behave prudently and Leagues One and Two are financially stretched despite enormous revenues English football generates.

“This plan devised by our top clubs and the English Football League puts an end to all of that.

“The gap between the Premier League and the English Football League has become a chasm which has become unbridgeable for Clubs transitioning between the EFL and Premier League. In 2018/19, Championship clubs received £146 million in EFL distributions and Premier League solidarity payments. This compares with £1.58 billion received by the bottom 14 Premier League clubs - 11 times as much.

“At the same time, Parachute Payments received by the eight recently relegated clubs totalled £246 million. This represents one-third of the total Championship turnover and creates a major distortion that impacts the League annually.

“In an effort to achieve promotion from very small media monies in the Championship to extraordinary sums at the bottom of the Premier League, Championship clubs spent 107% of their income on wages last season, a figure that is unsustainable by any analysis but by no means a new phenomenon. The figure has been 99% or above in each of the last four seasons. Consequently, our Clubs incurred operating losses of £382 million last season.

“In the last 12 months, owners have had to inject some £384 million in capital – all before a pandemic created the current financial crisis and impacted Clubs, alongside many of the businesses that help fund them.

“Project Big Picture takes a huge step by sharing 25% of Premier League media net revenues with the EFL in order to correct this imbalance going forward. Coupled with the introduction of strict cost controls, Clubs at every level of the EFL will become properly sustainable even in the face of a major crisis – and more importantly – beyond.

“Just as importantly, the financial gap between the bottom of the Premier League and the top of the Championship will be substantially reduced. This will create a much softer landing for relegated clubs. The elimination of Parachute Payments will create fairer competition and discourage irrational behaviour.

“The creation of a short-term rescue fund of £250 million to replace lost match day revenue this season and last will enable every Club to plan to continue to play and move forward with certainty. As an advance against increased, future revenues this is not a loan and therefore does not need to be repaid. It could never have been repaid under the existing terms and revenue of the English pyramid.

“Now is the time to address both the long-term health of the game and the most challenging short-term crisis it has ever faced. Project Big Picture provides a new beginning which will revitalise the football pyramid at all levels. This new beginning will reinvigorate clubs in the lower leagues and the communities in which they are based.

“The whole of English football has been negatively impacted by this pandemic and the English football pyramid as a whole is only as healthy as those at its base. Through this proposed restructuring we aim to strengthen those who need it most at a time when they need it most. This is about building on what is good and making the most of what works well in order to benefit the game as a whole, while simultaneously tackling those issues which trouble all of us. This is a blueprint for the future of English football and for everyone who cherishes it.”

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