EFL boss accuses Premier League of failing to appreciate value of football pyramid | soccer league

Rick Parry has accused first division of underestimating the football pyramid, arguing that without the “variety and competition” that comes from relegation and promotion the game would become “sterile.”

The EFL president spoke to the Guardian ahead of legislation for an independent football regulator. returns to parliament on Wednesday, potentially ending a four-year turnaround process. The EFL “embraces” stricter financial regulation, according to Parry, but continues to argue that it must be accompanied by greater financial redistribution from the Premier League, a goal that has not been achieved despite years of negotiations and government pressure.

“The Premier League is not just a snapshot of the 20 clubs that were in it at the time, it is all those who have contributed to its growth over the years and made it what it is,” Parry said. “If we all decide that the pyramid doesn't matter, let's stop the promotion and relegation and then see how strong the Premier League is. I think without variety and competition at the grassroots, if we have a sterile league, if, God forbid, we adopt the American system and just have closed leagues, then how big of an outcry would be?

Parry has been an outspoken critic of the status quo since the Covid crisis prompted the Conservative government to launch A fan-led review of football governance. in 2021. He said he had accepted that external regulation is necessary. “There are a lot of good things in English football, the Premier League and the Championship, there are a lot of positives, but I don't think the game can be trusted to focus on sustainability and regulation because it doesn't, it just hasn't. done,” he said.

He believes the bill, which focuses on ensuring financial stability in men's football, is about “preventing the shocks” that have disrupted the sport in recent years. “It's about introducing more robust planning, proper financial controls and degrees of restraint,” he said. However, it can also lead to some clubs becoming “less competitive” as they are required to live more within their means. “It's not going to keep everyone happy,” he said, “but if it makes the game more resilient, that will be a big plus.”

One area of ​​the new bill of particular interest to Parry relates to parachute payments – the huge sums the Premier League awards each season to relegated clubs. In 2020, Parry told a parliamentary select committee that they were an “evil that must be eradicated” and remain unreformed, but the new Labor government has brought them under the purview of the regulator.

The Premier League continues to support parachute payments, seeing them as a guarantee for clubs that they will not face their own cliff if they are relegated. Parry now says getting rid of them is not necessary if the gap in revenue between 20th in the Premier League and the top of the Championship can be bridged.

According to Parry, the parachute payments have been only an impediment to reaching an agreement on financial distribution. “This is one of the frustrations we had with (former culture secretary) Lucy Fraser and the Conservatives saying: 'Just go and make a deal.' How do we make a deal? What do we have to sell? We cannot threaten to join the Bundesliga. “It's not a deal, it's a recognition that there are obligations for the entire game and those obligations are clearly not recognized or understood.”

Although the bill will likely be subject to amendments by MPs, and the regulator must carry out a review of the state of the game before beginning its work, Parry believes the current series of legal challenges facing sporting bodies across the world has shown that the case for more timely regulation.

“A common thing in both the Manchester City case against the Premier League and the Super League case is that clearly the courts did not think that the processes that were adopted stood the test,” Parry said. “Hastily approving rules without adequate and economic analysis is not good regulation. “That is where the sports authorities are failing and it is difficult to imagine that this is going to disappear.”