Joe GallopThe Premier League and English Football League (EFL) have agreed a rescue package and distress fund to help mitigate the financial impact of the Covid-19 crisis on EFL Clubs.
Yesterday, 2 December, six EFL clubs in Tier 2 areas welcomed back audiences of up to 2,000 for the first time in months.
Some £50m in grants will be issued to League One and League Two clubs while the Premier League will assist the EFL in providing a £200m loan facility for clubs in the Championship. The £50m fund will see £30m split between all 48 clubs as a grant, while a further £20m will be available on application as a ‘monitored grant’.
The £30m grant from the Premier League will see a minimum of £375,000 paid to each League One club and £250,000 per club in League Two, leaving £15m that will be distributed using a lost gate revenue share calculation, which will be approved by both the EFL and the Premier League.
The £20m monitored grant will be distributed among clubs based on their ‘need’, with the process involving an application process with the distribution determined by a joint EFL and Premier League panel.
The Premier League has also agreed to provide a payment commitment of up to £15m to cover interest, arrangement fees and professional fees to allow the EFL to secure a £200m loan facility that it will then on-lend to Championship Clubs interest free.
The loan facility, which is capped at £8.33m per club, is provided for clubs to meet PAYE liabilities up to the end of 30 June 2021 and must be repaid by June 2024. The fund is not available to any club in breach or suspected breach of EFL regulations and clubs will again need to submit evidence in their applications.
EFL chair Rick Parry said, “Our over-arching aim throughout this process has been to ensure that all EFL Clubs survive the financial impact of the pandemic. I am pleased that we have now reached a resolution on behalf of our clubs and as we have maintained throughout this will provide much needed support and clarity following months of uncertainty.”
Premier League CEO Richard Masters said, “The Premier League is a huge a supporter of the football pyramid and is well aware of the important role clubs play in their communities. Our commitment is that no EFL club need go out of business due to COVID-19.
“We are very pleased to have reached this agreement and we stand together with the EFL in our commitment to protect all clubs in these unprecedented times.”
Since March, English football clubs have missed out on matchday revenue as a result of matches being played behind closed doors until restrictions were lifted in some areas of the country this week. As a result, a number of clubs have struggled to pay player and staff wages.