Buckle up Premier League fans because there could be massive changes made to the overall structure of the League, something not seen since it’s inception back in 1992.
According to various reports, EPL giants Liverpool and Manchester United are leading the charge which would include reducing the number of Premier League teams from 20 to 18, financial support to the 72 Football League clubs to help offset the monetary damage done from the COVID-19 pandemic, and the elimination of the EFL League Cup in its present form and the annual Community Shield match.
Here’s essentially everything proposed by Liverpool and Man United (via The Sun) which is already being supported by EFL chairman Rick Parry according to BBC Sport’s Simon Stone.
- EFL given £250m for loss of matchday revenue – deducted from future TV earnings.
- Nine longest-serving clubs have ‘special status’ – with just six votes from those clubs needed to pass a new rule.
- Premier League to go from 20 clubs to 18.
- FA awarded £100m gift to help during the Covid-19 pandemic to help the non-league game, the women’s game, and grassroots football.
- 8.5 percent of annual net Premier League revenue to go to ‘good causes’, including the FA.
- 25 percent of all combined Premier League and Football League revenues to go to EFL clubs.
- Six percent of Premier League gross revenues to pay for stadium improvements across the top four divisions.
- New rules for the distribution of Premier League television income, overseas and domestic.
- League Cup and the Community Shield to be axed.
- 24 clubs each in the Championship, League One, and League Two reducing the professional game overall from 92 clubs to 90.
A women’s professional league independent of the Premier League and FA. - Two sides automatically relegated from the Premier League every season and the top two Championship teams promoted.
- The 16th place Premier League club plays in a play-off tournament with the Championship’s third, fourth and fifth-placed teams.
- Financial Fair Play regulations in line with Uefa, and full access for Premier League executive to club accounts.
- Away tickets for fans to be capped at £20, with travel subsidized, a focus on a return to safe standing, a minimum away allocation of eight percent capacity.
- Later Premier League start in August to give greater scope for pre-season friendlies, and a requirement for all clubs to compete once every five years in a summer Premier League tournament.
- Huge changes to the loan system allowing clubs to have 15 players out on loan domestically at any one time and up to four at a single club in England.
The Premier League has already criticized the proposals according to The Independent’s Miguel Delaney stating “In the Premier League’s view, a number of the individual proposals in the plan published today could have a damaging impact on the whole game, and we are disappointed to see that Rick Parry, chair of the EFL, has given his on-the-record support.”
Meanwhile, EPL’s “big six” clubs in addition to Liverpool and Manchester United which include Arsenal, Manchester City, Chelsea, and Tottenham Hotspur are all expected to get on board and support the proposals putting the Premier League in a position where they may have no other choice but to support the reforms as well.
No formal vote for the proposals has been determined but it’s expected that the changes could be put in place by the 2022-23 season at the earliest.