'An EFL rescue package is absolutely vital but longer term football needs to reset'
In 30-odd years in football this has been as challenging as anything I've known, and the events of this week have shown us we're not through it. Not by a longshot.
The decision by the Government to stop crowd pilots has slammed shut that little bit of light at the end of the tunnel and we desperately need the door reopened.
We're all really disappointed as the fans are not only critical for the financial well-being of the football clubs, but for so many small businesses that are in the supply chain. The local cafe, the local pub, the produce industries that serve the football club in a multitude of ways, have all stopped. A clear roadmap to bring supporters back into stadiums in a safe manner is genuinely achievable if it is set out right now in collaboration with Government.
I'm not saying that we should immediately bring fans back to 27,000 capacity at Ashton Gate, but we can safely deliver pilot schemes for 1,000, and then build from that. Every precaution is being taken in terms of altering access and egress to the stadium, seating and staggering arrival times. It needs to happen today because there is no tomorrow.
We're really fortunate here to have a custodian owner like Steve Lansdown, who looks after the football club and the people in it.
We have a mantra of ‘stick to our knitting’. That means we develop players from our academy, we make sure we appoint first-team managers who play those players, and, if we haven't got to the Premier League or to a level that means we can keep those players, we've traded them. However, it remains immensely difficult and challenging.
Covid has brutally exposed some of the financial headaches the football pyramid already had. The £1million a month losses that Steve Kavanagh at Millwall has referred to for his club will be a fair figure reflected across the Championship.
It's well reported that the EFL has asked the Premier League clubs for a £250 million rescue package. I can't reiterate the importance of that, whether you're a League Two club or in the Championship. The figure is robust in terms of lost ticketing revenue from last season, and what seemed likely this season. However, the longer we risk not bringing supporters back, the bigger that number becomes. That rescue package is absolutely vital but clearly this is a short term solution.
Now is also the opportunity to look at a reset on how we make the industry more financially sustainable. We're in an emotional business and clubs stretch too far, making decisions you probably wouldn't make in normal business, particularly in the Championship because everyone's reaching for that Promised Land of the Premier League.
You've seen salary caps coming in for League One and League Two. Don't be surprised if that appears in the Championship by the end of the season. There's a real chance of that because there's no point in talking about a redistribution of money that increases revenue through the tiers if you haven't got cost controls at the other end.
What this period has done is brought the clubs in some ways together off the pitch to share their numbers. I'm speaking to Championship, League One, League Two owners, CEOs and chairmen, and the pain is clearly visible. When you consider for example that there have been no concerts here at Ashton Gate in the last six months, no hospitality, no non-matchday event and loss of retail, the figure really escalates beyond £250million across the footballing pyramid. It's so tough.
The Premier League has done such an amazing job to take the show to a whole global audience, but I do think that we need to ensure the football family is protected, because that's essentially what makes it all so special and so unique.
Football is littered with some very intelligent people, and there are a multitude of ways in which the league could be better sheltered. Salary caps are one option and there are debates on parachute payments, but I just think it's time to look at central distribution and how the money comes into the game from all the different sources.
Right now the foundations of the pyramid are in danger, and, as custodians, we need to protect them. You can still just dream of taking a club from League Two, or even from non-league, to the Premier League. That hope is what makes English football the best sporting brand in the world.
