New Owners - Redwood Watch

[Brogue]

Not sure if posted anywhere else as yet but below is Rob’s latest Q&A:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5npTmb4ths

[Sutekh]

So, following on from Rob’s chat with Darragh MacAnthony it seems the L1 owners have got together and written to Rick Parry about how to “improve” the Football League fair play system. Plans suggested are to set every club in a division with the same playing budget and if clubs break it they then will have to pay a “luxury” tax into a pot which is then distributed equally amongst the other clubs in that division the following season. Seems to me a decent idea (and something to change to from the stupid financial rules we have currently) and it appears to have the buy in of many of the L1 owners so presume it will be fully fleshed out and put up for approval at the next AGM.

[Royal Ginger]

So, following on from Rob’s chat with Darragh MacAnthony it seems the L1 owners have got together and written to Rick Parry about how to “improve” the Football League fair play system. Plans suggested are to set every club in a division with the same playing budget and if clubs break it they then will have to pay a “luxury” tax into a pot which is then distributed equally amongst the other clubs in that division the following season. Seems to me a decent idea (and something to change to from the stupid financial rules we have currently) and it appears to have the buy in of many of the L1 owners so presume it will be fully fleshed out and put up for approval at the next AGM.

There is no perfect system, however, this exists in American sport particularly in Baseball and just sees the ‘poorer’ billionaires who don’t want to spend much pocketing millions of dollars of the richer teams money. It’d probably work in football briefly but in the long term it has shown to be a disincentive and bad for player wages.

[Snowflake Royal]

The players are paid too much anyway.

I can't see it getting off the ground. Even in L1 without your Birmingham and Wrexham's there's a hell of a difference between say Bolton and Wimbledon.

I don’t hate it.

[Sutekh]

So, following on from Rob’s chat with Darragh MacAnthony it seems the L1 owners have got together and written to Rick Parry about how to “improve” the Football League fair play system. Plans suggested are to set every club in a division with the same playing budget and if clubs break it they then will have to pay a “luxury” tax into a pot which is then distributed equally amongst the other clubs in that division the following season. Seems to me a decent idea (and something to change to from the stupid financial rules we have currently) and it appears to have the buy in of many of the L1 owners so presume it will be fully fleshed out and put up for approval at the next AGM.

There is no perfect system, however, this exists in American sport particularly in Baseball and just sees the ‘poorer’ billionaires who don’t want to spend much pocketing millions of dollars of the richer teams money. It’d probably work in football briefly but in the long term it has shown to be a disincentive and bad for player wages.

Sure Darragh said the players/PFA were also involved or had had some input and he felt they were broadly on board with it as they’d rather have clubs that weren’t looking over their shoulders every month and could pay wages on time.

Certainly think it’s a step up from the current set of restrictions that only help maintain the status quo and lead to all sorts of murky shenanigans as clubs look for loopholes.

Anyway we shall see if anything comes of it in due course.

[From Despair To Where?]

It's effectively a salary cap by the back door. I guess it works in American sports by there's greater parity between the size of the respective franchises (except maybe in MLS but clubs have allocated squad slots which can be paid outside the cap).

I guess it could work and it shows that owners are serious about regulating the game but I think some allowance based on revenue is appropriate.

[RoyalBlue]

So, following on from Rob’s chat with Darragh MacAnthony it seems the L1 owners have got together and written to Rick Parry about how to “improve” the Football League fair play system. Plans suggested are to set every club in a division with the same playing budget and if clubs break it they then will have to pay a “luxury” tax into a pot which is then distributed equally amongst the other clubs in that division the following season. Seems to me a decent idea (and something to change to from the stupid financial rules we have currently) and it appears to have the buy in of many of the L1 owners so presume it will be fully fleshed out and put up for approval at the next AGM.

There is no perfect system, however, this exists in American sport particularly in Baseball and just sees the ‘poorer’ billionaires who don’t want to spend much pocketing millions of dollars of the richer teams money. It’d probably work in football briefly but in the long term it has shown to be a disincentive and bad for player wages.

Possibly bad for bog-standard players' wages (is that a bad thing?). The better players can and will still be very well paid IMO.

Many rate MLS as being the equivalent standard of upper L1/lower Championship.

The most recent reported median total remuneration (guaranteed compensation) for a Major League Soccer (MLS) player was $338,347 as of the September 2025 data release.

And that is guaranteed comp. They can also earn plenty from endorsements etc. That's not too shabby IMO and would perhaps help restore some financial sanity to our game.