HARDY ANGER AT PREMIER PLANS

Athletic chief executive warns of catastrophe

ALAN Hardy has warned that football on these shores will be “ruined” if Premier League proposals over solidarity payments are accepted by the Football League.

Athletic’s chief executive is deeply unhappy with the plan put forward at an emergency meeting of all the 72 Football League clubs in Leicester, despite the increase in cash that would paid out by the top flight should the deal be ratified.

The Premier League wants to increase payments down football’s food chain, with Championship clubs getting £2.2million per season — up from £830,000 this year — League One clubs £328,000 each and League Two sides £250,000.

Parachute payments to clubs exiting the Premier League would also be more than doubled, from just over £23m over two years to £48m over four.

But it is the strings attached to the deal which have irked Hardy and also plenty of other Football League clubs.

While some in the Championship worry about the distortive effect to the competition of long-term parachute payments to clubs relegated from the Premier League — the belief is that smaller clubs like Blackpool would find it increasingly difficult to reach the top end of the division against those with increasingly huge resources, creating a Premier League ‘Two’ by stealth — Athletic are more concerned with the details concerning youth team players.

Hardy’s believes it would result in standardised compensation agreements when top-flight clubs bring in youth team players from the Football League.

That would no doubt mean an end to the sort of six-figure bumper deals that benefited Athletic when Danny Philliskirk moved to Chelsea, and when Scott Spencer left for Everton. Instead, a standard fee — no figures have been mentioned — would be paid in accordance with the number of years the player in question has spent at a particular club.

And that could leave clubs wondering whether it is even worth running youth set-ups.

“In the last three years, the average money coming in from the Premier League to League One clubs has been around £100,000,” explained Hardy, who made a plea for a fairer distribution of wealth in football to former Prime Minister Tony Blair in a breakfast meeting of local business representatives earlier this week.

“But now, with the Premier League having negotiated a huge increase in their overseas television deal, percentage-wise the money we are getting has actually decreased.

“The list of conditions attached to this deal are of no benefit to the Football League as a whole.

“If the deal for youth players works out at £3,000 per year of development, a player like Scott Spencer would fetch in £15,000 as opposed to the £200,000 that we got.

“These days, with Premier League clubs having youth teams full of foreign players only the Football League clubs are really concentrating on developing English talent.

“The Premier League are saying that the deal has to be accepted in the next three weeks.

“But I believe if it is accepted, it will end up ruining our national sport.”

The Football League board are believed to be in favour of the plan by a majority of five to three and Athletic are currently waiting on “further developments”.


ATHLETIC have issued a reminder that fans have until Thursday, May 20, to claim the biggest season ticket discounts for next year.

Big savings on matchday admission prices are accompanied by other money-saving offers.