West Brom news: Kieran Maguire salutes EFL as ‘game-changing’ new finance plan revealed
The Football League’s latest financial initiative will help the likes of West Brom stay on the straight and narrow.
So says finance guru Kieran Maguire, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about the impact of the new monitoring programme on the Baggies.
The EFL announced last Thursday (17 February) that they will use new powers to monitor clubs when a financial fair play breach is anticipated.
Second-tier sides have agreed that the governing body can then impose a business plan to steer them away from profit and sustainability sanctions.
West Brom lost £23.4m over the last financial year and further losses are forecasted across the board ahead of the release of their 2020-21 results.
Maguire saluted the new measures and claimed that they will help both individual clubs and the EFL.
“It’s something we’ve advocated for some time,” he told Football Insider‘s Adam Williams.
“It gives the EFL an opportunity to assess clubs in terms of their budgets. It will make the clubs themselves more accountable and forewarn of challenges.
“That can work for the club if they haven’t looked at things in enough detail. It will also work for the EFL because it will allow them to better assess clubs.
“They can effectively take a red-amber-green approach to assess clubs. It changes the game in that regard.
“The EFL has limited resources but they can now focus those where they are most required.
“If clubs try to game the system by underreporting their costs, the EFL have real-time monitoring so they can see who should be on the naughty step.”
Albion currently sit 13th in the Championship.
Steve Bruce’s side face 17th-place Swansea City tomorrow (28 February).
In other news, Maguire claims West Brom will be ‘delighted’ after ‘£12.5m’ FFP boost confirmed.