Football League Plans Big Changes

[alanmayes]

The Football League wants the transfer window scrapped domestically and a transfer ban on clubs that fall behind on their tax payments.

Chairman Lord Mawhinney also wants to explore the possibility of a joint TV deal with the Premier League.

The plans were outlined in a four-page letter from Mawhinney to Culture Secretary Andy Burnham.

It was written in response to questions raised by the Government about football finances and the running of the game.

Burnham wrote to the Football Association, Premier League and Football League in October 2008, asking seven different questions.

The Premier League delivered its response earlier this week, outlining plans for greater financial transparency over the running of football clubs including a strengthened fit and proper person's test.

Mawhinney's letter was written following discussions with the Football League board and sent to Burnham on 18 May.

We are proposing their should be a distinction between domestic and international transfers.

In it Mawhinney argues that since Fifa "remain implacably opposed" to altering the current transfer window system, Government help would be needed if it was to be altered to allow domestic transfers.

But Mawhinney told the BBC: "We think the original idea was to regulate international player transfers.

"We are proposing there should be a distinction between domestic and international transfers."

When asked how likely he thought it would be that changes would be made to the transfer window, Mawhinney said: "I do not know the answer to that."

Currently the transfer window is open from 1 July to 31 August and from 1 to 31 January.

The proposals regarding tax and National Insurance payments are aimed at improving the relationship with Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs.

When a club is in administration it must pay in full its debts to its football creditors - a policy that is opposed by HMRC, which is no longer a preferential creditor and often has to settle for a greatly reduced offer.

Mawhinney said the Football League opposed scrapping its policy regarding football creditors.

But he added: "We will propose at our Annual Meeting next month an initiative which seeks to provide clubs with an incentive to keep up to date with payments to HMRC.

"If approved, clubs who fall behind will be embargoed from signing further players."

A new Football League television deal starts next season, with 10 live Championship games per season on the BBC.
 
The new agreements are worth £88m per season to Football League clubs and encompass terrestrial and pay television, broadband internet, video-on-demand and mobile services.

That deal runs until 2012, while the next Premier League deal starts in 2010 and ends in 2013, but Mawhinney is keen to explore the possibility of there being one deal in the future.

"It is not illogical to say is there a prospect of benefit to both if we turn it into one TV deal," Mawhinney told the BBC.

"The truth is we don't know the answer because we have never tried."

Culture Secretary Burnham has called for more consistency in financial regulations, more transparency and scrutiny of club ownership and debt levels.

He also wants rule changes for clubs in insolvency; a reconsideration of rules forcing insolvent clubs to pay football debts first and a strengthening of the fit and proper persons test for club owners.

 

[Don Rogers Shop]

Great idea in my opinion.

[BANGKOK RED]

Culture Secretary Burnham has called for more consistency in financial regulations, more transparency and scrutiny of club ownership and debt levels.

I hope that means holding unscrupulous owners to account, rather than just punishing the clubs each time there is a problem.

[reeves4england]

Interesting to read about the distinction about domestic and international transfers. Doesn't that go against EU labour legislation though? He says they'd need government support, but the way I'd see it, they'd need to government to retract from major European policy agreements

[jonny72]

I still reckon that HMRC take the piss. For a very long time they were preferential creditors, so they'd get paid in full before anyone else got a penny. Now the tables have turned, with other football creditors getting priority and HMRC being treated the same as everyone else. A taste of their own medicine which they full deserve.

I like the idea of TV rights being packaged with the Premier League, in fact I'd package all English football together - including internationals, league / FA cups, non-league etc. Then create a new "football channel" which shows everything which you can subscribe to on its own (Sky / Virgin) or as part of a bigger sports package (Setanta / Sky / Virgin).

The only sport I want to pay for is football, but the only way to get it is part of a bigger sports package costing the best part of £30 a month in total (Sky Sports + Setanta Sports). I'd much prefer to pay say £20 a month just for football. I'm sure most people feel the same and I can't help but think football is used to support other sports in the Setanta and Sky packages and as a result doesn't get a fair share of the income.

[Spy]

Apparently when the premier league was formed they offered the football league a large cut of the TV money and the football league turned it down. 

[ahounsell]

Interesting to read about the distinction about domestic and international transfers. Doesn't that go against EU labour legislation though? He says they'd need government support, but the way I'd see it, they'd need to government to retract from major European policy agreements

If anything its the transfer window system that goes against EU regulations as its a clear restraint of trade.

[ahounsell]

I still reckon that HMRC take the piss. For a very long time they were preferential creditors, so they'd get paid in full before anyone else got a penny. Now the tables have turned, with other football creditors getting priority and HMRC being treated the same as everyone else. A taste of their own medicine which they full deserve.

Just guessing, but you're not a taxpayer are you!

HMRC isnt some far off organisation getting its claws into football. Its the taxpayers of the country. If clubs are allowed to get out of paying their due taxes, its the rest of us that have to pick up the tab.

Clubs biggest expenses are wages and the associated taxes. Most clubs that get into big debt owe most of it to HMRC, it was certainly the case here.  Giving them the power to go to the league and get a transfer ban would force clubs to keep their finances in order. If that system had been in place a few years ago, the previous board could never have run up as big a debt as they did.

It also means that if we run things properly now, we dont lose out on the field to clubs that gamble on wages they cant afford. Its probably the best idea to come out of the football league for a long time, not that that is saying much.

[jonny72]

Just guessing, but you're not a taxpayer are you!

I'm totally in favour of clamping down on clubs spending money they don't have. The current penalties (points deduction) just aren't working and they need to do something about it, preventing them from being in debt in the first place seems a good way forward to me.

But that is different from the point I was making about HMRC. Up until quite recently, HMRC were preferential debtors for ALL companies. This meant that if a company went bankrupt and when wound up had assets of £1m, if it owed HMRC £1m and you personally £1m then HMRC would get their £1m and you would get NOTHING. Today, you would both get £0.5m instead - seems a lot fairer to me.

For them to get pissed over football clubs being preferential creditors of other football clubs seems totally hypocritical to me and its pay back time.

[ahounsell]

But that is different from the point I was making about HMRC. Up until quite recently, HMRC were preferential debtors for ALL companies. This meant that if a company went bankrupt and when wound up had assets of £1m, if it owed HMRC £1m and you personally £1m then HMRC would get their £1m and you would get NOTHING. Today, you would both get £0.5m instead - seems a lot fairer to me.

Fair point. It is afterall the Goverment that makes the rules which allow companies to go into administration and write off debts.

The stupid thing is that they allowed STFC to run up something ridiculous like £3m in tax debts, and this for a company with a long history of defaulting on debts in the past! If they'd clamped down sooner, maybe we could have avoided a lot of the crap that went on in 2006/07.

[Reg Smeeton]

The only sport I want to pay for is football, but the only way to get it is part of a bigger sports package costing the best part of £30 a month in total (Sky Sports + Setanta Sports). I'd much prefer to pay say £20 a month just for football. I'm sure most people feel the same and I can't help but think football is used to support other sports in the Setanta and Sky packages and as a result doesn't get a fair share of the income.

I only subscribe to Sky for the cricket...which should have stayed on terrestrial, I'd quite happily ditch the Prem crap, although the Spanish is good.

[jonny72]

I only subscribe to Sky for the cricket...which should have stayed on terrestrial, I'd quite happily ditch the Prem crap, although the Spanish is good.

Don't Setanta have some of the cricket as well now?

I guess it must be even worse for people that are only in to a sport other than football, such as cricket. I can see Setanta building up their sports coverage and charging more for it which will make things even worse and there are already some sports channels not included with Setanta or Sky (the one which shows all the US sports).

[Bob's Orange]

We subscribe to Sky and Setanta and get all the channels. Living with another 2 people the bill is someting small like 20-25 Euro a month which is peanuts.

I'll watch most football on sky and follow the Speedway on Sky Sports as well, The England rugby games are often on Sky as are the Heineken Cup matches. I watch the Scottish and FA Cup on Setanta and there is some decent boxing on Setanta as well (and Sky Sports to be fair).

Without these and the Movies channels I don't know what I would watch as TV these days mainly annoys me.