Finance guru: Sunderland have ‘big problem’ after £88m Rick Parry claim
Parachute payments are a big problem for aspirational Championship sides like Sunderland – and their abolition would be a boost.
That is the view of finance guru Kieran Maguire, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about recent remarks by EFL chairman Rick Parry.
Speaking to the Daily Mail last Monday (17 October), Parry argued that lowering prize money in the Premier League would reduce the cliff edge £88m cliff edge between the top flight and the Championship.
That would in turn eliminate the need for parachute payments, he claims.
Plumley, who has worked with the EFL on studies into competitive balance between the top two divisions of English football, concurs with Parry.
But he also stressed the need for any reforms to the system to factor in the knock-on effect on the rest of the pyramid.
“Yes, parachute payments,” he told Football Insider’s Adam Williams.
“We have certainly called for them to be reduced if not cut completely. But you can’t just do that in isolation. You have got to look at how it impacts above and below.
“The scrapping of parachute payments would create a little bit more financial parity but it won’t solve the imbalance.
“You have to look at the Championship and down into League One. It filters up and into the rest of the Premier League as well. So, I would always say that we need to look at things more holistically.
“But parachute payments are a big problem. If we can tackle this first, we can go from there. So, there are a lot of merits to this as long as we consider other factors as well.“
In other news, Doctor Dan Plumley claims Sunderland have “big aspirations” amid FA talks breakthrough.