League dismisses club cull
From BBC online
[FONT=century gothic][COLOR=firebrick]League dismisses club cull
Clubs' financial positions are worsening in England
The Football League has hit out at a bid to reduce the number of professional football clubs to 50.
Manchester United chief executive Peter Kenyon warned on BBC Radio Five Live that less than half the 92 clubs would survive the current financial crisis.
And, in a bid to keep the sport afloat, he suggested reducing the number of professional clubs to just 40.
But League spokesman John Nagle said: "The momentum is moving the other way with numbers of professional football clubs increasing rather than declining.
"There are now 10 full-time clubs in the Conference taking professional football over the 100 mark, with many others currently considering the same step."
The majority of football clubs were hit by the earlier collapse of ITV Digital, with some being forced into administration.
But Nagle remains confident all the professional clubs can stay solvent.
He added: "If the game continues to re-distribute some of its wealth through Cup competitions, transfers and the direct funding of youth football, clubs can be viable in the long term."
United chief Kenyon had earlier unveiled his bid to make the sport more financially viable.
He explained: "Quite clearly, I don't think we can have four divisions of professional football any longer.
"I can't see much beyond the first two divisions being professional and the third being semi-professional, so probably around 40 clubs."
His sentiments were backed by BBC director general Greg Dyke, a former director at Manchester City.
He told Radio Five Live that lower league footballers would increasingly have to look elsewhere for work to supplement their income.
If clubs adopted simple housekeeping, there would be room for four professional divisions
Leeds United deputy chairman Allan Leighton, however, warned wage restructuring was the immediate answer.
Leighton said: "Some clubs have big squads of 25 to 30 players who are paid whether they play or they don't, whether they are fit or not, whether you win or you don't.
"I think one of the things I would like to see coming much more into the game, the same way as it is in many other businesses, is performance-related pay."
Some lower league clubs' wage structures are already in good order, according to Torquay chairman and owner Mike Bateson.
Bateson, whose side are currently sixth in Division Three, said: "We're not struggling. We've got money in the bank.
"If other clubs adopted simple housekeeping then there would still be room for four professional divisions."
But Sheffield United football executive Terry Robinson said that, whatever was put in place, clubs would begin to fall by the wayside.
Robinson said: "I believe that with some changes that the number [of clubs that could be sustained} could be nearer 60 clubs."
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Quote:
By Manchester United chief Peter Keynon
We can't have four divisions of professional football anymore
Further to Keynon's comments
Manchester United chief executive Peter Kenyon believes English football can only sustain 40 professional clubs.
Kenyon has called for a review of the way the sport is structured in England, claiming that less than half the 92 professional clubs will survive the current financial crisis.
"There has to be a review of the structure," Kenyon told BBC Radio Five Live.
Quote:
I can't see much past the first two divisions being professional
"Quite clearly, I don't think we can have four divisions of professional football any longer.
"There are too many clubs. That's not to say they can't all exist, but they can't all be professional and that has to be reviewed.
"I can't see much beyond the first two divisions being professional and the third being semi-professional, so probably around 40 clubs."
'Almost a fad'
Manchester United currently has a stock market value of about £260m - well below its peak of more than £1bn.
"I am not sure why most football clubs went public in the first place. It was almost a fad."
"I think that the majority of the City think that football clubs shouldn't be quoted.
"They have not changed their management structure. They have not demonstrated that they can manage costs.
"They have not demonstrated that they can be anything other than a football club.
"There is huge uncertainty and all those things are not what the City like to invest in. They don't like shocks.
"They don't like great peaks and troughs, and football as an industry gives you that."
