PREMIER LEAGUE football clubs are set to receive a cash windfall of £103milllion thanks to the Championship promotion battle.
Leicester and Ipswich confirmed their spots in the top flight next season after finishing first and second in the table.
Leeds or Southampton will be the third team to join them after securing their spots in the second tier’s play-off final following wins over Norwich and West Brom respectively.
With the Foxes, Whites and Saints all being relegated from the Prem last season, it means England’s top flight will no longer need to hand parachute payments down to two of them.
Football finance expert Kieran Maguire explained the Prem will save £103m by not having to pay two of the clubs.
He said: “Leicester & one of Leeds/Southampton will be promoted to the Premier League.
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“This will save Premier League £103m in parachute payments to two of those clubs.”
Maguire explained the Prem won’t have to pay £35m to two of the teams for their second season after relegation and will also avoid needing to pay £16.5m to each of them in their third season after relegation.
What are parachute payments?
TEAMS take a hit in every area when they plunge out of the Premier League and into the Championship.
Relegated clubs will receive less money from broadcasting rights, matchday income and commercial revenue.
The Premier League offers each relegated team a parachute payment to ensure that they can cope in the lower leagues.
Clubs receive these payments – first introduced in 2006 – when they are relegated from the Premier League.
It aims to ensure that the club can manage with the reduced income from not playing in the top flight.
For example, the funds will make up for the loss in television revenue and matchday revenue.
Teams receive to 55 per cent of the broadcast revenues in the first year after relegation.
It then goes down to 40 per cent in year two and to 20 per cent in year three.
To read more about how parachute payments work click here.
The 20 clubs, including returning Leicester and the team who wins the play-off final, will split the £103m between them – meaning a windfall of just over £5m each.
However, Maguire was critical of the rules and accused the Premier League of self regulating in with their own interest.
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He said: “That £103m will be split between Premier League clubs after a vote by Premier League clubs. Self regulation = self interest.”
EFL chief Rick Parry described the widening gap between those with access to parachute payments compared to those without as a “major concern”.
Parry wrote to MPs in 2023 to address his concerns, saying: “The impact of these payments on the competitive balance of the Championship, and on the sustainability of all other clubs, is a major concern for the EFL.
“The issue of parachute payments remains one of the main reasons why so many football clubs are financially unsustainable and why the Premier League and EFL have not yet agreed the football-led solution that both the Fan Led Review and White Paper have called for.”
In response to Maguire’s post, one social media user said: “Why isn’t this £103m fed into the rest of the pyramid as a windfall, where it would be a good purpose?”
A second proposed: “Should be put in to Grass Roots or distributed into the lower leagues.”
VAR: The great debate
Martin Lipton’s pro VAR view
FAST forward 12 months to May 18, 2025.
After 89 minutes at Molineux, Wolves, needing to win their last game of the season to stay up, are beating Manchester United, who require a point for Champions League football.
A ball over the top sends Rasmus Hojlund racing away. The flag stays down. Hojlund scores. Wolves are relegated.
And on the way home, the dejected Wolves fans see the still image on their phones.
Hojlund was 2ft offside. No question. A shocker.
It means at least a year in the Championship, £100million income drop, a firesale of the squad. While United bank an extra £50m.
But it’s OK. Every one of those fans, plus smiling boss Gary O’Neil and the Wolves board, will line up to say: “No worries. It’s what we voted for. Rough with the smooth.”
Yes. And I’ve got a bridge to Ireland to sell you.
Dan King’s anti VAR view
THREE cheers and a hearty slap on the back for Wolves chairman Jeff Shi.
For mentioning the unmentionable, for speaking commonsense to deaf ears, for proposing that VAR should be scrapped.
Shi is doomed to failure. His suggestion is unlikely to even go to a vote at next month’s Premier League AGM.
And if it does get that far, it has a cat in hell’s chance of receiving the two-thirds majority required to carry such a radical proposal.
But in one statement on Wednesday, Shi proved that he will be the brightest man in that meeting room.
He claimed VAR ‘has led to numerous unintended negative consequences that are damaging the relationship between fans and football, and undermining the value of the Premier League brand’.
And he is absolutely spot on.
The argument against VAR is wide-ranging and yet completely basic.
If you believe that football is a sport, to be enjoyed in all its spontaneous, high-tempo glory, then you are against VAR.
If you believe that football is a business, that it is far more important than a mere game, that forensic evidence must be applied, that we must reach the closest point to ultimate justice at all costs — and if you also believe that match-going supporters are irrelevant — then you are in favour of VAR.
A third user said: “It’s almost like it’s in the PLs interest for clubs to bounce straight back…”
Leeds and Southampton will compete in the Wembley final on Sunday 26 May.
Last night’s clash between Southampton and West Brom saw a major security breach as home fans clashed with away supporters and players following the 3-1 win.
Footage filmed from the away end showed West Brom players trying to applaud their supporters get stranded in a tide of home fans invading the pitch.
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And exclusive SunSport footage revealed a flare being thrown into the away end as stewards fought to separate the two sets of supporters.
Police and security staff managed to restore order a couple of minutes before the pitch was cleared.
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
