Many photos of the partially filled stadiums in Germany were recently seen in English newspapers: The longing for the return of the audience is currently very pronounced in the United Kingdom – despite or because of the worsening Covid-19 epidemic. But the Bundesliga is currently also serving as an interesting role model in completely different ways. Because some of what the head of the second, third and fourth division (EFL) Rick Parry with the support of the Premier League greats Liverpool FC and Manchester United on Sunday afternoon via “Daily Telegraph” in his highly controversial reform program “Project Big Picture “is based on the situation in the German House of Lords at first glance.
The most important points at a glance:
The Premier League is to be reduced by two places to eighteen teams.
As in Germany, there should also only be two direct relegated teams, the third from bottom has to go into a double playoff round against the third, fourth and fifth from league two.
League Cup and Supercup will be abolished.
At least 8,000 or three percent of the stadium capacity should be reserved for away fans, the Premier League wants to subsidize away trips, cap ticket prices for away fans at a maximum of £ 20 and allow standing room to be restored.
The television and marketing income should meanwhile be divided more equitably between the top clubs and the lower leagues. 25 percent of the money should go to the EFL, previously it was only four percent. (In Germany, the share of the second division is around 20 percent of central income.)
Last but not least, there should be a £ 250 million emergency aid package for the clubs in the lower leagues, which have been particularly hard hit by Corona, and £ 100 million for the English Football Association.
“The proposals finally close the huge gap between the Premier League and League Two and ensure the continued existence of the football pyramid,” said Parry, who was Managing Director of Liverpool FC from 1998 to 2009.
The price for the “Bundesliga” would be very high
There is little to complain about with these ideas at first, but the price for this “Bundesliga” including the new solidarity with the fans and lower-class clubs must be paid by the middle-class clubs from the Premier League according to this intended “revitalization” (refreshment).
And it’s very high.
According to these thought games, the division of television money should in future be based less on egalitarian and sporting principles, analogous to the German model, but should also incorporate historical results into the calculation, analogous to the Bundesliga. The previous distribution ratio of 1.8: 1 between first place – one of the reasons for the relative density of competition on the island – would change towards 3.5: 1. In Germany, the top of the table even receives around four times as much as the bottom of the table.
In addition, every first division team should be able to sell eight games per season in individual marketing and use the newly released dates for friendlies or an enlarged Champions League. In the end, of course, significantly more money than before would flow to the “Big Six” (Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur) .Each PL representative should also be able to loan up to fifteen players to the lower leagues Critics suspect that this could mean the beginning of the introduction of second teams into regular game operations.
The top clubs would have an easy time in the future
But that’s not all. According to Parry’s plans, the top clubs should be able to more or less determine the fate of the league themselves in the future, regardless of the less glamorous teams. Only those nine clubs that have been in the league the longest should then have access to elementary things such as the distribution of funds, the appointment of management or the approval of new club owners, and six votes would be enough for a majority.
So the bottom line is that the paper is tantamount to an attempted coup that cynically disguises itself as Corona aid and support for the grassroots. “The solution to the financial problems of football cannot be that a rich cartel seizes power,” commented the Times.
The Premier League itself was “surprised” by the Parry move; Parts of the program would “endanger” the sport, it said in his communiqué. The British government is also negative. “We are surprised and disappointed that in this time of crisis (…) of all times, plans are being hatched in the background that will lead to a closed society at the top of football,” said the Ministry of Culture, Media and Sport.
In view of the exclusively negative public echo, the revolutionary agenda is given little chance of success. Significantly, neither Liverpool nor Manchester United have wanted to comment on the suggestions made on their behalf. There is no direct lever for implementation, but that their demands in terms of power and money are now so clearly in the room, both and the rest of the “Big Six” will ultimately benefit. They work splendidly as leverage to keep changing things bit by bit in your favor, as long as the remainder of the industry is struggling to survive.
