Sources: Sunderland haunted by EFL’s ‘biggest-ever mistake’ as confidential document emerges
The FA once turned down a deal that could have guaranteed Sunderland and their Football League peers a 25 per cent cut of Premier League TV cash, sources have told Football Insider.
The EFL is currently angling for 25 per cent of the Premier League’s broadcast income to filter down to the lower leagues, but the top flight is unwilling to give up any more than 19 per cent.
The two bodies have been joined by the FA for talks regarding a potentially historic revamp of the structures of the English game.
Major changes to the FA Cup, League Cup and Community Shield are on the cards, with the EFL willing to throw their support behind the reforms in exchange for a greater slice of the Premier League pie.
Most analysts agree that the FA has little leverage in the negotiations, but a source has told Football Insider that this dynamic could have been radically different at the formation of the Premier League.
A clause in a “confidential document” entitled “Blueprint for the Future of Football: Restructuring of the Football League” shows that the FA was once in a position to shape Premier League policy.
The full clause reads: “Premier League clubs will elect their own chairman of the FA Premier League. He will be an officer of the Football Association. The Premier League will be governed by a subcommittee of the Football Association.“
But the FA ultimately chose not to green-light the document, leaving the Premier League free to define its own governance structures.
The source also told Football Insider that the EFL rejected a 25 per cent share of Premier League TV cash several years later, a decision described by the source as the “biggest mistake the Football League ever made.”
The EFL is now lobbying for the same cut almost two decades later, with chairman Rick Parry claiming that clubs throughout the pyramid risk insolvency if their demands are not met.
Finance expert Doctor Dan Plumley told this site last Thursday (12 January) that “Sunderland are a well-insulated side and can handle it better than most, but there is no doubt it would be a blow if a deal can’t be agreed.”
In other news, pundit tells Sunderland told to accept “big” January offer for Rangers target Ross Stewart.