Bristol City Colin Sexstone chairman backs spending curb
BRISTOL City chairman Colin Sexstone believes new regulations to curb spending will restore sanity to Championship football and prevent clubs from going out of business.
Clubs in the second tier making losses of more than £6 million will be fined millions of pounds or put under a transfer embargo from the 2014-15 season.
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Bristol City FC chairman Colin Sexstone
The changes will also prevent owners from funding their clubs through loans.
Owners will be allowed to invest £6m next season, £5m the year after, then £3m in the 2014-15 season. From 2015-16, clubs will be allowed to make a £2m operating loss, as well as accept a £3m investment from an owner – allowing for a £5m overall loss.
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Sexstone, pictured, has welcomed the changes and is confident City, who have announced losses of almost £30m over the last three years, will be able to adhere to the regulations.
He said: "I think they have pitched the figures about right and this has to be seen as a commonsense move.
"We had to come up with a figure that everyone could comply with, but there will be opportunities to tighten it as we go. We have to start somewhere and this is a good start.
"Even if these regulations had not been imposed, we would have had to make cutbacks. We have already made plans not to lose as much money again.
"Basically, we have a year's grace in which to get our house in order before sanctions begin to bite."
As Championship clubs strive for a financially-sustainable business model, so player wages will have to come down.
Sexstone, pictured, added: "Cutting wages is the main thrust and we are already seeing a difference.
"Of course, players will still be very well paid by normal standards, but they cannot expect to earn some of the figures we have seen in recent years. There has to be a realisation that clubs cannot afford to spend silly money and players will have to lower their demands accordingly."
Clubs promoted to the Premier League that fail to adhere to the amendments must pay a fair-play tax on their losses, ranging from one percent on the first £100,000 to 100 percent on anything over £10m.
Non-promoted clubs will not be punished financially for failing to adhere to the new rules, but instead placed under a transfer embargo.
Youth investment and accounting charges from past spending on players and stadium-building will not be included.
Clubs relegated to the Championship will not be subject to sanctions in their first season as long as they have met their financial obligations under Premier League regulations.
They would, however, have to pay the fair-play tax if they did not comply with the new regulations and got promoted.
The new regulations are based on Uefa's break-even model of Financial Fair Play and come after the Football League's research revealed the 72 clubs of the Championship, League One and League Two are on course to accumulate £2 billion of debt.
Peterborough United goalkeeper Paul Jones has rejected the club's offer of a new contract and could leave London Road this summer.
Jones, whose current deal expires at the end of the season, has spent much of the campaign as the first choice goalkeeper at Posh.
Lee Bowyer will not be offered a new contract by Ipswich Town and will be released in the summer.
The 35-year-old midfielder joined the club 12 months ago on a free transfer following Birmingham's relegation from the Premier League.
Comments
by harryreg_uk
Friday, April 27 2012, 8:12PM
“I would imagine they'll be a lot of 1 yr contracts now demanded by the players to maximize what they can get before the restrictions.
As already said, there's bound to be ways around this.”
by piledriver
Friday, April 27 2012, 3:47PM
“Couple of points:
1.Will these rules be enforced throughout Europe-For example at Real Madrid who are basically local Govt owned and bailed out if they lose money.
2.I'll believe it when I see it and I can see millions spent in court cases over the next few seasons.
Of course it makes sense to stop the insanity but this is about ten years to late and the Genie is out of the bottle”
by DawnNorth
Friday, April 27 2012, 3:34PM
“Shaun says the future lies in grooming youngsters or plucking undiscovered talent off the streets.
He's got me worried to be honest.”
by TomC87
Friday, April 27 2012, 2:27PM
“There are loop holes to be exploited. For example Man City getting their massive sponsorship deal which is a back door investment from the owners allowing them to continue spending big bucks.
Though I can't see the problem with it. As long as all the money going into clubs is the clubs money and not in the form of loans or any other form of investment where the club can be left with massive debts then what's the problem?
Maybe we will see Hargreaves Lansdown sponsoring us, or another "new" company set up by Lansdown to exploit this!”
by Vonner
Friday, April 27 2012, 2:16PM
“I'd love to see us scout and bring in some local talent - players that want to represent the City and the community with pride, not just money motivated (please let us get the acamedy sorted once and for all or scrap it altogether). And if not at least try and get people that show some loyalty and become adopted Bristolians like Scotty and Tin Man.
Try and move away from mercenary signings - not easy but hope Derek can get the right sort of characters in. Reading and Soton are true teams, not a collection of individuals...”
by BinRelegated
Friday, April 27 2012, 1:04PM
“These regulations will make it harder for a club like ours to compete with others, who get bigger crowds, for quality players as we wont be able to afford the fees or the wages. Therefore, we need to discover ways to attract further investment to the club which will of course include the new stadium.
Its certainly a move for the better in terms of getting clubs on the right financial track but im uncertain as to where it would leave us in terms of being competitive of the field...food for though and a challenge for the new board members.”
by JohnJames
Friday, April 27 2012, 12:28PM
“Monkeh82
A bit like the Road Fund LIcence revenue goes towards highway maintenance !!”
by Monkeh82
Friday, April 27 2012, 11:59AM
“the fines go to the FL and they will be put into a pot and shared out between the other clubs or used to devlop things etc”
by westywardy
Friday, April 27 2012, 11:06AM
“getting shot of david james should help!”
by DaveinSA
Friday, April 27 2012, 10:28AM
“what a lot of randomness EP!
but a key question hasn't been answered, where do all of the fines go and for what purpose will they be used?”