The Premier League is under serious pressure after failing to deliver its long-awaited new £900 million football support system. Clubs are instead prioritizing reforming their own spending rules.
With the government’s new regulator now well in sight, a two-hour meeting of top clubs failed to drum up support for a New Deal first mooted in the summer of 2022.
A source with close knowledge of the situation in government told Telegraph Sport that it was “absolutely chaotic, given that they briefed at the weekend that it was definitely going to go to a vote and over the last ten days they were ‘quietly confident’ it would pass.” .
The latest expectation is that the new Premier League spending rule model could be completed by June, an insider said.
Some EFL clubs also fear the broad agreement reached on February 29 to deliver a deal by March 11 may not be implemented. The government could be more effective in its attempts to break the impasse, executives added.
Clubs across English football were hopeful a package would be on the horizon later this week, but senior managers have refused to repay payments before deciding on their own spending systems.
The current Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR), which has led to Everton and Nottingham Forest’s remuneration this season, are being phased out in favor of a system broadly aligned with squad costs.
The Premier League is understood to have been advised that PSR reform is a priority as the situation is complicated by a member club, believed to be Manchester City, threatening a separate legal battle over the tightening of rules on related party transactions.
Discussions had been going on behind the scenes for a while. Telegram Sports We reported last month that some clubs wanted serious relief compared to the current system.
But the Premier League was under huge pressure from ministers to first regulate the New Deal after the new regulator was announced in the King’s Speech.
Culture Secretary calls on leagues to broker deal
Culture Minister Lucy Frazer and Sports Minister Stuart Andrew have been in close contact with the leagues in recent weeks and have been putting intense pressure on administrators to agree terms.
Some clubs in the Football League expressed concern about further delays on Monday. A senior source said he couldn’t “entirely blame” clubs for wanting to overhaul the PSR, but added: “Shouldn’t someone have thought of this a while ago?”
The ongoing impasse is a major headache for the Premier League’s chief executive, Richard Masters, who has described the Government’s New Deal as a major priority. The vote, scheduled to take place at a shareholders’ meeting held at a London hotel on Monday afternoon, was canceled after it became clear it would not gain support.
Many insiders accept the meeting could be the last opportunity to agree a package worth more than £900 million before the regulator is created by parliament.
With clubs instead prioritizing their own financial systems, a separate resolution on elements of the Premier League’s future financial system was supported by 19 clubs, with only Manchester City abstaining.
The league has now been instructed to approve its new financial system before a new system for the EFL can be voted on. “There is a commitment to being able to do a deal, but we need to get the system right first,” the insider added. “We need to do this in a sustainable way.”
EFL Clubs tell Government New Deal is in danger
Football League clubs have warned ministers in recent weeks about growing concerns that the New Deal is in jeopardy. The continuation of parachute payments and “proposed cost control changes that would make relegated clubs spend even more” have repeatedly emerged as major points of contention. “It’s pretty disastrous,” said a source close to talks with the EFL.
Frazer is likely to introduce the Football Governance Bill within weeks, which will eventually give a watchdog the power to impose its own pyramid sponsorship model.
Politicians have become increasingly involved in the talks as clubs try to make progress. The Premier League said talks were “productive” after its last shareholders meeting.
“Talks between clubs from the two leagues will now continue in the coming weeks to build on this momentum,” the competition added.
However, a Premier League statement released after Monday’s meeting confirmed that clubs had instead “agreed to prioritize the rapid development and implementation of a new League-wide financial system”.
“In addition, Premier League clubs reaffirmed their commitment to securing a sustainably funded financial agreement with the EFL, subject to the new financial system being formally approved by the clubs,” the statement said.
Telegram Sports In November, he detailed how a key point of contention was for the so-called Big Six to be at loggerheads with rivals over whether top clubs would contribute enough to the bill.
Smaller clubs suggested a year ago that the richest teams should accept a larger share of the cost, possibly through a transfer tax.