Please log in or register. Registered visitors get fewer ads.
Clubs Vote in Favour of Salary Cap
Friday, 7th Aug 2020 14:02

League One and Two clubs have voted in favour of introducing the EFL's salary cap proposal.

The Blues were one of the sides to speak out against the initiative which will see League One wages limited to £2.5 million.

It's understood seven clubs voted against the proposal and one abstained with 16 in favour. Nine would have been enough to prevent the required two-thirds majority. Town, Portsmouth, Sunderland, Hull City, Charlton, Wigan, Doncaster and Oxford were the clubs understood not to be keen on the initiative prior to the vote.

An EFL statement reads: “Clubs in League One and League Two have today voted for the introduction of new financial controls in the form of ‘Squad Salary Caps’ into their respective divisions which take effect immediately.

“The decision follows extensive and comprehensive consultation with all clubs in respect of addressing sustainability and wage inflation issues across the EFL which were initiated prior to the suspension of football in March following the Covid-19 outbreak and have continued during the course of the summer.

“Those discussions culminated in today’s divisional vote, with representatives of League One and League Two clubs opting to implement the new measures in place of the existing Salary Cost Management Protocols (SCMP), with fixed caps of £2.5 million and £1.5 million respectively.

“Discussions continue with Championship clubs in respect to amendments to their own financial controls.

“League One and Two clubs are also going to continue discussions towards the introduction of additional measures aimed at addressing club financial sustainability.

“When calculating total salary spending, the ‘cap’ includes: Basic wages, taxes, bonuses, image rights, agents’ fees and other fees and expenses paid directly or indirectly to all registered players.


“Payments directly linked to a club’s progression in cup competitions or promotion are excluded from the cap, while any income generated from players going out on loan is deducted from the club’s salary cap calculation.

“Transition arrangements have been incorporated in respect of a club’s squad salary cap calculation with the key element of these aimed at addressing committed contracts and relegated clubs.

“Any contract entered into on or prior to today’s vote will be capped at an agreed divisional average until that contract expires.

“Moving forwards, clubs that are relegated will be permitted to cap all contracts at the divisional average prior to the club’s relegation until those contracts expire.

“An ‘overrun’ concept is also included if a club’s total squad salary payments exceed the cap by up to 5 per cent, whereby dependent on the percentage level of the overrun, a financial penalty [reportedly £3] would be payable for every £1 in excess.

“Clubs exceeding the ‘overrun’ would be referred to an Independent Disciplinary Commission, although the EFL will monitor the cap on a real-time basis throughout the season as is the current position with SCMP measures across the two divisions.

“Where breaches do occur, sanction guidelines are in place to be considered as appropriate by an independent Disciplinary Commission.”

Commenting on the decision, EFL CEO, David Baldwin said: “The term ‘salary cap’ is an emotive one, creating the impression of a restrictive measure but we are clear in our view that this is neither the objective nor the likely effect of these changes to EFL regulations.

“The financial impact of Covid-19 will be profound for EFL clubs and today’s vote will help ensure clubs cannot extend themselves to the point that could cause financial instability.

“Over the last two weeks the discussions amongst clubs in both Leagues One and Two have been healthy and constructive, allowing us to reach a clear consensus today and I am pleased that the clubs have determined to adopt the new approach.

“We will now work with all clubs, the PFA and, where appropriate, other stakeholders to implement the new rules and continue our efforts to bring long-term sustainability to the EFL.”

The Blues are among the League One clubs most hit by the cap. In their last season in the Championship Town's overall wage bill was £18.95 million with player wages understood to have made up around £11-£12 million of that figure.

After relegation, many players’ salaries dropped as a result of clauses in their deals, by as much as 60 per cent in some cases, however, the player wage bill is almost certainly still more than double, perhaps three times higher than the limit and will be one of the largest in the division.

It’s understood the wages of players aged under 21 wouldn’t count towards the £2.5 million figure, while squad sizes will ultimately be limited to 20 senior players aged over 21 after a period of transition with eight of those homegrown.

Town’s general manager of football operations Lee O’Neill told TWTD last month that he was no fan of the cap which he says will hamper owner Marcus Evans’s ability to inject cash into the Blues.

“I understand why it’s on the table and why clubs are looking at it and it brings to light the financial implications around football at the moment and trying to level the playing field from a financial aspect,” he said.

“From an ownership point of view, if you have that luxury of having an owner that is willing to or able to invest more money into the club because he wants to, this obviously reduces the ability to be able to do that and that I don’t think is fair.

“I think Financial Fair Play was put in place to look at those elements, to help the clubs who are big clubs with big fanbases, and that can economically work for most clubs if it’s adhered to. We’ve stuck to that, we’ve definitely adhered to the Financial Fair Play stuff.

“The salary cap has got to be voted through and it’s something that is being talked about. I’m not necessarily a big fan of it for obvious reasons.”

Meanwhile, former Blues right-back Josh Emmanuel, 22, has joined Hull City having been released by Bolton Wanderers at the end of last season.


Photo: Action Images



Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.



Sparky85 added 14:08 - Aug 7
All the more important now that we get out of league 1 this season!
8

TractorRoyNo1 added 14:12 - Aug 7
The ONLY good news is that our better players are very unlikely to go to another div1 club as they would go down to the capped salary, of course it will make them easy pickings for Championship teams.
3

Murphys_Law added 14:26 - Aug 7
We obviously feared this was going to be the result which is why we've not had any activity in the transfer market as yet. It does also mean that offloading some of the squad also becomes more difficult! Let's hope these promising kids come good this year, as I suspect that's where we are at!
2

positivity added 14:26 - Aug 7
by my reckoning, i make it that we have 21 over-age players, all with contracts signed before today, so 21*£1300 a week=c £1.4m.

that only leaves us a hundred grand or so to buy new players or renegotiate contracts with the likes of downes and jackson.

clubs who've made their signings or extended contracts early have shown good foresight, good we managed to get woolfenden's sorted, otherwise I think we've missed a trick.

have i understood it right?
0

Fixed_It added 14:27 - Aug 7
That's a lengthy statement from the EFL. Anyone would think it was pre-prepared...
0

Suffolkboy added 14:29 - Aug 7
FFP proved almost impossible to effectively police ; many clubs and owners exploited the ‘rules ‘ and the Salary cap figure itself seems impossibly unrealistic at £65/70K per individual .
Cant help thinking there'll be a challenge by the PFA ,and even in the Courts of Law /or that legal routes around will be found ( other sports have done just this ) .
BUT have the EFL and Clubs inserted a periodic review break ? Bearing in mind the relatively short career of a Professional Footballer this all seems very very wrong !
COYB
3

Suffolkboy added 14:29 - Aug 7
FFP proved almost impossible to effectively police ; many clubs and owners exploited the ‘rules ‘ and the Salary cap figure itself seems impossibly unrealistic at £65/70K per individual .
Cant help thinking there'll be a challenge by the PFA ,and even in the Courts of Law /or that legal routes around will be found ( other sports have done just this ) .
BUT have the EFL and Clubs inserted a periodic review break ? Bearing in mind the relatively short career of a Professional Footballer this all seems very very wrong !
COYB
0

Murphys_Law added 14:29 - Aug 7
Positivity I think you mean £1.1M if your sums are correct as L1 is £2.5M?
1

peteswindon added 14:33 - Aug 7
Town's general manager of football operations Lee O'Neill told TWTD last month that he was no fan of the cap which he says will hamper owner Marcus Evans's ability to inject cash into the Blues.

Now this did make me laugh
2

blueoxford added 14:36 - Aug 7
If you offer a bonus to players conditional upon promotion, does that consideration form part of the salary which is being capped?
0

Les57 added 14:38 - Aug 7
This basically negates any advantage we had with bigger than average crowds and commercial turnover. It also means we will not have much turnover with playing staff as those not playing will just hang on for a couple of years to see their current high paying contracts out before leaving. This season is now sh1t or bust for us as if we do not get out this time we could be cut adrift for quite a while. Add to that if you did get up actually staying there is now that much harder.
3

arc added 14:40 - Aug 7
I'm not sure I understand this. If a player has a contract, signed and sealed, how can the league put a cap on his wages? There are going to be lawsuits to come. And as for "we're going to have to sell"–sell which senior players, to whom? Who would take on their contracts for free? This may be the final straw for Evans, in which case the next stage is Administration and then who knows what?
1

blueconscience added 14:41 - Aug 7
The salary cap will put the wages more in line with their abilities. A lot of our players are paid way beyond their true value.
0

shouldistayorcounago added 14:48 - Aug 7
Disastrous day for us - no promotion this season means we're just another third tier club for the foreseeable future. Sometimes I truly hate being a Town fan.
3

atty added 15:02 - Aug 7
How do you budget for wages when bonuses (unknown at the time of negotiation) are included in the cap? Absolute nonsense. Stan by for PL2, and stuff the rest.
1

muhrensleftfoot added 15:11 - Aug 7
It's quite simple really. The bulk of our squad should be young players developed through our academy. Invert even more in the academy, and don't have as many highly paid older players. I thought that was supposed to be the Evans strategy even before this. Agree though that we probably have a one season opportunity get out of this league. Heaven help us with PL in charge
1

ArnieM added 15:14 - Aug 7
I think half our current squad are in a contract until 21/22 which means they'll just sit tight . At the end of it they'll be out of work or playing for a lot less money per week. The tragedy is that this type of cap needed to be instigated age PL / Championship level , not league one. It's All arse about face ( as usual) , and as usual Town are once again in the wrong place at the wrong time when key decisions are made , mostly through our own bad senior management .
I'll say it again . We are well and truly fooked now!
3

Suffolkboy added 15:26 - Aug 7
Don't normally renew commentary BUT I wonder what's to come ,and whether there'll be a cohort of Clubs who decide the EFL itself and its structure isn't compatible with the sort of sporting business they wish to run : and whether therefore there will be pressure to entirely reorganise. / restructure the way Football is run ?
Have more than a few shot themselves in the foot ?
COYB
1

ArnieM added 15:42 - Aug 7
They should just add the 8 Clubs that voted against salary cap to the Championship and let the minnows play out their part time, regionalised League One , amongst themselves . They don't deserve to part of the professional game !
3

IpswichToon added 15:42 - Aug 7
We'll just have to put all of our real wages into promotion bonuses
4

TJS added 15:52 - Aug 7
So when this comes into full effect the situation would be as follows;

Club A has an average gate of 4,000 @ £15 a head over 23 games = gate receipts of £1.38m
Club B has an average gate of 20,000 @ £20 a head over 23 games = gate receipts of £9.20m

Club A is still allowed to spend 81% more than its gate receipts on players
Club B is now only allowed to spend 27% of its gate receipts on players
4

TimmyH added 16:10 - Aug 7
Oh dear!...not a good day for the bigger clubs in league one, now to implement the salary cap in the Premiership and Championship (will never happen in a million years).

Money wise football just gets worse...it's ruining the game.
3

Carberry added 16:13 - Aug 7
Shouldn't we be celebrating that football is finally trying to get its act together? You'd have to be blind not to see that lower league football is heading for a cataclysmic meltdown unless something like this is done. So now the emphasis is having intelligent, able, creative coaching staff to recruit and improve talent, with administrators who are super efficient. With our present leadership we are totally knackered.
-2

Big_Steve added 16:26 - Aug 7
@IpswichToon Just what I was thinking! If promotion bonuses aren't included there's the carrot on a stick for our donkeys. That's how you prove your worth and earn the bucks, lads. Go win promotion!
2

Bluearmy_81 added 16:33 - Aug 7
"From an ownership point of view, if you have that luxury of having an owner that is willing to or able to invest more money into the club because he wants to, this obviously reduces the ability to be able to do that and that I don't think is fair."

Absolute comedy gold. Years of not spending sufficiently on players (for example selling 12m worth of player in Summer 18 and spending 6m on league 1 players, low and behold where do we end up?!!)
Now he can't he's coming out with the" we're hindered and so frustrated we can't spend like we want to."😂🤣😂 Are town fans really that gullible?!!
1


You need to login in order to post your comments

Blogs 295 bloggers

Ipswich Town Polls

About Us Contact Us Terms & Conditions Privacy Cookies Advertising
© TWTD 1995-2024