Premier League football calendar reforms must benefit all clubs

Premier League clubs meet to discuss calendar reforms at a shareholders' meeting. These are to be for the benefit of all clubs.

Change is in the air. The weekend brought a report in The Times on proposals for FA Cup and League Cup reform, which are due to be discussed at a Premier League meeting on Wednesday. But as always in modern football, it would be simplistic to detach this from the wider conversations that have taken place about the future of the game in the face of conflicting pressures, both from inside and outside the game. /p>

What is immediately noticeable in the proposals made is that Premier League clubs seem to need to be kicked and shouted into any kind of meaningful reform that does not benefit them and them alone . It was expected that there would be an independent regulator for football in this country with teeth, following the fan-led review of the governance of football in this country.

But a change in prime minister has completely swept the corridors of power in government, and it has been reported that clubs are now planning a more wait-and-see attitude to what they offer in return for further concessions. which will benefit them first and then alone.

Regardless of the PR statements that come out, it should be pretty clear that the biggest clubs aren't doing this in solidarity with the rest of the game.

These latest reports focus on the two domestic cups, which have been increasingly felt in recent years as something many clubs would prefer not to be involved in at all.

In the FA Cup, the suggestion is one that has been around for years. It is said that third and fourth round replays could be axed permanently from 2024, to coincide with Champions League reforms. Meanwhile, in the Coupe de la Ligue, the rhetoric is that clubs that qualify for European competitions should either be out of it altogether or be allowed to field teams under 21.

The obvious losers from scrapping FA Cup replays would be the smaller clubs who win a replay by holding the bigger clubs level. It almost sounds like a crude form of financial distribution, though not particularly fair. For example, when then-National League side Exeter City lured Manchester United and held them to a goalless draw at Old Trafford, it was estimated that the money raised from the two matches – over £750,000 – was enough to allow them to clear the debt caused by a required CVA from a previous period in administration.

So, in other words, a good FA Cup run can be a lifeline for smaller clubs, but it's distributed entirely sparsely. Perhaps more drastic solutions to this conundrum could be considered if reruns are to be removed. Money from ticketing receipts could, for example, go into a central pool rewarding all lower division and non-league clubs for reaching a certain stage in the competition.

It has also been suggested that the lowest-placed teams in each round of the competition are automatically awarded a home draw for FA Cup matches, but this creates its own problems. At present FA Cup match revenue is split, 45% for each team and 10% for the FA, so a draw at home with no replay option would result in the smaller club receiving significantly less for his efforts.

With different clubs having different motivations for being there in the first place, wouldn't it make more sense to offer smaller clubs the choice of being the home or away team? Some will see a better chance of progression in the competition as their preferred option. Others prefer to cash in and try their luck in front of a larger crowd. So give them the choice if the possibility of a replay is no longer on the table.