‘Shambolic’ Premier League faces backlash after £900m EFL support plan shelved

The Premier League is under significant pressure after failing to deliver on its long-awaited new £900 million football support system as clubs instead prioritise reform to their own spending rules.

With the Government’s new regulator now looming large, a two-hour meeting of top tier clubs failed to secure backing for the so-called New Deal first raised in the summer of 2022.

One source with close knowledge of the situation in Government told Telegraph Sport it is “absolutely shambolic given they briefed over the weekend that it would definitely go to a vote, and they have been ‘quietly confident’ it would pass for the last ten days”.

The insider said the latest expectation is that a new Premier League spending rule model could be finalised by June.

Some EFL clubs are also dismayed that a broad agreement reached on Feb 29 to present a deal by Mar 11 failed to materialise. Executives added that Government could have been more effective in attempts to break the deadlock.

Clubs across English football had been hopeful a package was finally within sight this week, but top-tier executives refused to back payouts before they have settled on their own spending system.

Current Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) – which have led to Everton and Nottingham Forest being charged this season – are being phased out in favour of a system broadly aligned with squad costs.

The Premier League is understood to have been advised PSR reform is a priority as the situation is complicated by a member club – believed to be Manchester City – threatening a separate legal challenge over a tightening of the rules on associated-party transactions.

Discussions have been taking place behind the scenes for some time, with Telegraph Sport reporting last month how some clubs want a significant relaxation compared with the current system.

However, the Premier League had been under major pressure from ministers to get the New Deal sorted first after the new regulator was announced in the King’s Speech.

Culture Secretary urged the leagues to broker agreement

The Culture Secretary, Lucy Frazer, and Sports Minister, Stuart Andrew, have been in close contact with the leagues in recent weeks, and had been heavily urging administrators to agree on terms.

Some clubs in the Football League expressed immediate dismay at more delays on Monday. One senior source said he “can’t wholly blame” clubs for wanting to overhaul PSR, but added: “Shouldn’t someone have thought of that a while ago?”

The ongoing stalemate is a major headache for Richard Masters, the Premier League’s chief executive, who has identified the New Deal to Government as a major priority. A planned vote at a shareholder meeting held at a London hotel on Monday afternoon was scrapped immediately after it became clear it would not win support.

Several insiders concede the meeting may be the last opportunity to agree a package worth more than £900 million before the regulator is instituted by parliament.

As clubs instead prioritised their own financial system, a separate resolution on elements of the Premier League’s future financial system was backed by 19 clubs, with only Manchester City abstaining.

The league has now been instructed to get its new financial system approved before a new system for the EFL can be voted on. “There is a commitment to be able to do a deal but we need to get the system right first,” one insider added. “We need to do it in a sustainable way.”

EFL Clubs tell Government New Deal is in jeopardy

Football League clubs had already warned ministers in recent weeks of mounting concern that the New Deal was in danger. The retention of parachute payments “along with proposed cost control changes that will enable relegated clubs to spend even more” have repeatedly emerged as major points of contention. “It’s pretty catastrophic,” said one source close to talks with the EFL.

Frazer is likely to publish the Football Governance Bill within weeks, which could eventually hand a watchdog powers to impose its own pyramid support model.

Politicians had become increasingly involved in talks as clubs attempted to secure progress. The Premier League said after one recent shareholder meeting that talks were “productive”.

“To build on this momentum, conversations between clubs from the two leagues will now continue over the coming weeks,” the competition added.

However, a Premier League statement issued after Monday’s meeting confirmed clubs had instead “agreed to prioritise the swift development and implementation of a new League-wide financial system”.

“Alongside this, Premier League clubs also re-confirmed their commitment to securing a sustainably funded financial agreement with the EFL, subject to the new financial system being formally approved by clubs,” the statement added.

Telegraph Sport detailed in November how one major point of contention had been the so-called Big Six disagreeing with rivals over whether the top clubs will be contributing enough to the bill.

Smaller clubs proposed a year ago that the richest teams should accept a greater share of costs, potentially through a transfer tax.