Parachute rise a disaster for Non-League says Braintree chief
THE Football League and the Football Association have been lambasted for essentially trebling the parachute payments for clubs relegated into the National League.
Braintree Town chairman Lee Harding has accused the FA who back the Leagues decision as footballs governing body of trying to destroy the Non-League game by giving two clubs a free pass back into League Two.
In an extraordinary tirade, Harding claims FA chairman Greg Dyke cares about nothing outside of the England national team and the Premier League and that the FA have continually let everyone down.
The money League Two clubs receive for dropping out of the Football League and into the Conference is now set to soar to a total of nearly £750,000 nearly half a million up from last years offering.
Going on those figures, a relegated club would now be awarded £474,000 in its first season and a further £237,000 in their second year back down.
Make no mistake, this is an absolute disaster for Non-League football, fumed long-serving Harding. Its a reward for failure if there is that sort of money to spend on clubs that have failed in their objectives there is money to invest properly at our level, to distribute it fairly around.
The game and this level is disintegrating and the fault lies at the door of the Football Association.
The fundamental issue is that the FA have not delivered their promise to protect clubs and spread adequately the billions made in television rights. Yes, this is a Football League matter but the FA govern them and provide backing. Its thoughtless, careless and is yet another example of their dreadful and short-sighted decision making.
Greg Dyke cares about just two things. The first is winning the World Cup and the second is winning the World Cup. Once again they have let us all down the rich are getting richer and the rest of us are left to suffocate.
What they (the Football League) are looking to do is close the promotion trapdoor. If they cant do it by failing clubs on ground grading issues then they are going to do it by giving relegated clubs a £500,000 head start to help them get back there.
They want to make it as difficult as possible for clubs who have come through the ranks of Non-League to get into the Football League. They dont want us in there, the romance of it will be over.
A poll conduced by the The NLP on Friday suggested 70 per cent of our readers say the development is damaging for the game.
Harding, whose Braintree side drew 1-1 with Oxford United in the FA Cup on Sunday, added: Its not a level playing field anymore I can tell you now the amount one of these two clubs will make in parachute payments alone is three or four times the size of our playing budget, and many others as well.
What they want is the same two clubs down back up again. The concept of parachute payments is correct, but to give two clubs such a monumental head-start over others at this level of the game is unacceptable.
Its great for two clubs, and very bad for the other 22. The two coming down will hold an enormous financial advantage. We get £40,000 from Central Funding for being National League members. They are coming down here with nearly £500,000 in their back pocket plus that £40,000.
The Football Leagues chief executive Shaun Harvey said: In recent seasons weve seen a number of clubs suffer severe financial trauma following relegation and in some cases fold altogether. As a result, it became increasingly clear that we needed to review existing arrangements.
Not only have clubs like ours got to content with the parachute payments but also the millionaire backed hobby clubs in our league and below. I was shocked to see FGR have lost over £5 million in the past 2 years. In comparison Grimsby lost £78k last season.
The one silver lining is that should a relegated club bounce straight back into the league at first attempt the parachute money will be distributed to all the other clubs. It'll be a drop in the ocean for the full-time clubs but more significant for us.
"The Football Leagues chief executive Shaun Harvey said: In recent seasons weve seen a number of clubs suffer severe financial trauma following relegation and in some cases fold altogether. As a result, it became increasingly clear that we needed to review existing arrangements."
So basically teams who come down from League 2 are allowed to overspend in an attempt to get back to the football league, and are now backed by bigger parachute payments?
Upon relegation, teams should cut their budgets accordingly.
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Welling United FC. Banging on the walls of Woking dressing rooms since 1963..
Not only have clubs like ours got to content with the parachute payments but also the millionaire backed hobby clubs in our league and below. I was shocked to see FGR have lost over £5 million in the past 2 years. In comparison Grimsby lost £78k last season.
I was shocked that Grimsby included this as a news article on their official site.
