English football’s biggest clubs are preparing to vote next week on a landmark 10-year deal to provide in the region of £1.5bn in extra funding to their lower league counterparts as they target a binding agreement within weeks
The proposal has been under negotiation for more than three years and is designed to create a more sustainable financial future for clubs across the football pyramid.
Clubs including newly crowned Premier League champions Arsenal, Aston Villa, Manchester United and Sunderland are aiming to meet next Thursday to vote on a deal aimed at creating a long-term framework to underpin the financial sustainability of the professional game in England.
Among the key details of the proposed pact – the outline of which has been shared with the English Football League’s board and the Independent Football Regulator – is a proposal to lift the Premier League’s transfer levy from 4% to 6%, with the increase funding part of the New Deal payments. Using Chelsea’s £117 million signing of Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers as an example, the levy would rise from £4.68m to £7.02m under the new system.
Under the proposals, the bulk of the New Deal money would be paid by clubs based according to the roughly 1.7:1-1.8:1 revenue ratio that the Premier Leagues uses to distribute parts of its broadcast income. If adopted, this template would make clubs such as Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City among the biggest contributors to the New Deal.
There are also plans to establish a £20m emergency fund for EFL clubs facing administration and a requirement that 20% of redistributed funds be invested in infrastructure rather than wages or transfer fees.
If the proposal receives the required backing and gets EFL approval, it will be one of the biggest changes to English football’s financial structure since the Premier League was founded in 1992.
