Fair Game are calling for a transfer levy which would help lower league clubs like Hereford.
FAIR GAME is calling for the Government to add a ‘transfer levy' to its package of reforms for football.
The
levy was first put forward by the former sports minister Tracey Crouch
MP as part of the Government’s fan-led review of football governance.
The levy is a stamp duty on transfers between Premier League clubs, and between Premier League clubs and overseas clubs.
Using
data from the last five years, if a 10 per cent levy had been in place
it would have led to an extra £160m to Football League clubs and the
grass roots game each year.
As part of a wider fairer financial
flow in football, the move could help provide a vital life line to clubs
below the top flight that continue to struggle with the fall out of the
pandemic and the day-to-day challenges of the cost-of-living crisis.
Speaking ahead of deadline day, Niall Couper, the CEO of Fair Game, said:
“The
dreams of signing the likes of Moises Caicedo, Declan Rice and Rasmus
Hojlund, and a place among the world’s elite has led to a gambling
culture in English football that has put the very future of dozens of
our clubs at risk.
"On the one hand we have normalised the £100m
transfer. On the other, Fair Game research has revealed that 39 clubs
are technically insolvent. And since the start of the Premier League 64
clubs in our top four divisions have gone into administration.
"No wonder there is growing support for a ‘solidarity levy’.
“If the levy had been in place over the last 12 months, that would have raised over £200m.
“It
would transform the lower echelons of the football pyramid, protecting
the domestic transfer market for EFL clubs and lower, and giving a
much-needed cash injection into clubs that have been left on the brink
by the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis. That would be
life-changing for football in this country.”
Facts and figures
In the Summer 2022 transfer window, Premier
League clubs spent £1.9bn – that’s FORTY times more than the Premier
League gives to the 140 professional clubs below the Championship and in
the women’s game.
Current big deals
- Moises Caicedo £115m
- Declan Rice £105m
- Josko Gvardiol £77.6m
- Rasmus Hojlund £72m
- Kai Havertz £65m
- Mason Mount £60m
- Dominik Szoboszlai £60m
- Sandro Tonali £55m
- Jeremy Doku £55m
What could the money buy?
- A League Two kitman earns around £20,000 a year.
- A senior physio at Watford’s academy earns around £30,000 a year.
- The Head Groundsperson at Norwich City earns just over £45,000 a year.
- A League One Chief Executive earns around £90,000 a year.
- Shrewsbury Town's annual energy bill is around £180,000 a year.
- According to Sponsorlytix, top Championship side Leeds United spend £390,000 a year on travel to away games (train, coaches and hotels).
- Cambridge’s Category 3 Football Academy costs £865,000 to run.
- A 3G full-size football pitch according to Sport England’s facility guide costs £1.1m.
- Accrington Stanley’s new hospitality suite - including three bars - cost £2.5m to build
- Exeter City’s new state-of-the-art training complex cost £3m to build.
- Charlton’s award-winning League One community programme costs £5.4m a year.
- AFC Wimbledon’s top-of-the-range 9,000 all-seater stadium cost £32m to build.
Finances
Since the
start of the Premier League, there have been 64 incidents of clubs in
the top four divisions going into administration.
Based on 21/22 Companies House accounts:
- 39 of the 89 clubs that filed accounts are technically insolvent (44%)
- 31% of clubs were spending more than they earn on players’ wages - that figure rises to 68% when you look at the Championship
- Championship clubs spent on average 126% of their revenue on players’ wages
Average club revenue
- Premier League: £273.0m (£169.5m excl Big 6. Big 6 average £514.5m)
- Championship: £27.2m (£19.8m excl. teams in receipt of PPs)
- League One: £11.0m (based on 18 teams that submitted a P&L)
- League Two: £5.3m (based on 14 teams who submitted a P&L)
Average club loss
- Premier League: £29.0m
- Championship: £11.2m
- League One: £2.2m
Note: League Two clubs make an average £0.2m profit
The losses are covered by cash
injections from owners, player sales or third party debt. In short for
most clubs if an owner was to walk away the club’s future is instantly
in doubt. Football’s culture needs to change to become sustainable.
Football needs to reward well-run clubs.
TV revenue
Of
the £3.19bn of TV revenue distributed to the top seven divisions each
year, only 12% goes to clubs outside the Premier League. In the 2022/23
season, the £3.19bn was split as follows:
- 88.242% to Premier League clubs;
- 7.348% to the five clubs receiving parachute payments;
- 3.285% to the other 19 clubs in the Championship;
- 0.622% to League One clubs;
- 0.415% to League Two clubs;
- 0.058% to National League clubs;
- 0.015% to National League North clubs; and
- 0.015% to National League South clubs.
For every £1000 of TV revenue, £882 goes to Premier League clubs, but just 15p to National League South sides.
Attendances
In
the 2022/23 season, each weekend 890,944 people watched football in the
top seven divisions of the English football pyramid, of which:
- 45.16% went to a Premier League match;
- 6.57% to a Championship match hosted by a club receiving parachute payments;
- 18.89% to other Championship matches;
- 14.31% to a League One match;
- 7.81% to a League Two match; 4.60% to a National League match;
- 1.45% to a National League North match; and
- 1.20% to a National League South match.
For every 1000 people who watch football in
the English pyramid each weekend, 452 watch a Premier League match and
12 watch a match in the National League South.
In the 2022/23 season, on an average weekend more people watched National League football than Chelsea.