EFL clubs could have a ticking time bomb in terms of their existence if the Premier League refuses to bow down to their demands ahead of next season’s commencement, with money borrowed against future payments beginning recollection next summer.
The Championship, League One and League Two were halted prematurely in March 2020 as a result of the pandemic, leaving teams across the land to fear for their immediate and long-term futures with no money coming in from ticket sales or TV deals.
The lower down the football pyramid a club is, the more reliant they are on ticket sales due to the lack of broadcast revenue they receive as a result of the no-show of interest across the globe.
To deal with the temporary halt to proceedings, the league took out a loan which provided a short-term fix during the year-and-a-half without fans in the grounds.
But with a recollection of the loan coming at the start of next season, superagent Jon Smith has claimed that he fears for clubs in the Football League in terms of fiscal survival – claiming that the league has to be radically changed in order to stop teams from ceasing to exist.
“Where the English Football League is right now is a seminal moment,” Smith said in an exclusive interview.
“Make no mistake – the monies that were advanced to the EFL during Covid-19 were monies borrowed from future payments. In 2023-24 those chickens come home to roost. It’s approaching a very worrying time.
“They have asked the Premier League for more money – a lot more money. But the Premier League are looking at it saying ‘Surely this is not all down to us?’
“No other league has achieved the financial success that the Premier League has, and sitting right on its doorstep is a structure that is quite possibly going to fall apart. The EFL cannot survive in its current form. It desperately needs reforming. Someone has to be brave enough to say ‘it’s not working, let’s change it’, but something has to be done because you can’t keep giving it handouts, it’s in a similar position to the NHS!”