EFL chairman Rick Parry has revealed his stance on a number of current issues, outlining that he believes there needs to be an overhaul of revenue distribution from the Premier League and claims promotion and relegation needs to be settled this season to avoid further problems.
Leeds United have been pushing hard for promotion ever since the appointment of Marcelo Bielsa and look as close as they have ever been this season, sitting top of the table and seven clear of third place with just nine games to play.
However, the Whites faithful will back up the idea that nothing is ever that simple at Elland Road, and with that has come a nationwide lockdown thanks to a global pandemic, putting the brakes on their title charge just as it built up serious momentum.
The manner in which football will restart in this country remains very murky, with various suggestions being mooted as solutions, but the overriding stance is that the primary aim is to complete the fixtures before thinking of settling the table now.
The Premier League’s Project Restart opened up the possibility of finishing the season at neutral venues to ensure the season reached a natural conclusion, but has hit massive speed bumps after the bottom six said they would only be open to it if relegation is scrapped.
EFL Chairman Rick Parry has spoken about a number of issues that faces English football during this lockdown, with two of those being promotion and relegation, along with the finances related to that. As quoted by the BBC, Parry claimed that scrapping relegation would be a “very messy” prospect, and he continued to say: “The Premier League is aware of our position on that,” going on to suggest “lawyers are going to get wealthy” if the Premier League opted not to relegate its usual quota of three sides.
“There would be a degree of outrage from a number of clubs in the Championship and it would be a breach of the tripartite agreement.”
On the topic of revenue in the two divisions, Parry added:
Last season saw Leeds compete for promotion with three different clubs who had recently experienced the wealth of the top flight in Norwich City, West Brom and Aston Villa, with the Baggies still receiving parachute payments this season, as well as third-placed Fulham.
The Leeds fans were keen to wade in on Parry’s very Leeds and West Brom-favouring insight into the situation.