The Premier League is reported to have offered lower league clubs a grant of less than £50 million - a fifth of the sum EFL chairman Rick Parry says is required to cover the loss of income caused by the coronavirus crisis - with any further cash forthcoming a loan.

Parry said last week: “We’ve consistently said that we need up to £250 million - that figure hasn’t changed, we’ve been saying it since May.

“To be honest, that was based on the losses from last season and the assumption we’d play the whole of this season without crowds, which we thought was pessimistic at the time.

“So we’re not saying we now have to recalculate and come up with a completely different figure, it just means we’ll be getting onto the upper end of that figure.

“It’s something we’ve been working night and day on, we’re in dialogue with the Premier League, which is constructive, but we’re exploring other sources as well.

“It might take a package of different measures, we’re still hopeful we can get some support from the government.”

According to The Times, the Premier League, whose clubs spent more than £1 billion during the transfer window, is only willing to offer a grant approaching £50 million plus a repayable loan totalling just under £100 million with interest charged at a similar rate to banks.

It’s reported that the Premier League will earn around the £50 million figure via an £8.4 million pandemic-related charge to the three promoted clubs in the next two seasons.

Other conditions tied to the bailout are understood to include the EFL supporting the Premier League in a dispute with the FA over a free market for the recruitment of 18-to-21-year-olds from overseas following Brexit.

EFL clubs are said to view this as a gun to their head, while Premier League sources refute that there is a non-negotiable offer of that type.

A week ago on Sunday, Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said the top flight needs to "start looking after the football family as a whole” and expressed his expectation that a deal would be agreed last week.

However, given the distance between the two parties, an agreement still seems some way off and a meeting of Premier League chairmen which was scheduled for today has been put back to next week.

Meanwhile, some clubs in Leagues One and Two are concerned whether they will be in a position to pay wages at the end of October.

Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish outlined what’s understood to be a view held by a number of Premier League clubs that it’s not their responsibility to help out lower leagues sides, especially Championship clubs.

“Not one company in any other industry, to my knowledge, is being asked to bail out its competitors,” he told the Sunday Times.

“The supermarkets aren’t instructed to help the corner shops. Premier League clubs, while they may have some wealthy shareholders, are not awash with cash.”

Town could be as much as £10 million down by the end of the season and owner Marcus Evans said late last month that the situation has illustrated the financial disparities in the game and that EFL clubs desperately need assistance from the top flight, and soon."

“There is a substantial imbalance in the game,” he said. “I have always had that opinion and have long campaigned for a more level playing field, whether it be in the distribution of parachute payments or Financial Fair Play.

“I know the EFL and the Premier League have been in discussions for months about securing the future of clubs and hopefully there will be some movement on that very quickly. There needs to be some help from somewhere or there will be an inevitable conclusion.”"

Photo: Matchday Images

dukey44 added 12:56 - Oct 6 Wow how could they possibly help the lower leagues when they just spent a billion in transfer market 😂😂...
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Skip73 added 13:09 - Oct 6 I ended my Sky Sports contract 2 years ago and just watched MOTD. I now don't even watch that as the stupid league with its overpaid players, VAR and political messages every game makes my blood boil. I'm sure I'm not the only one.
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blues1 added 13:16 - Oct 6 Steve parishes comments show how of if touvmch with reality he is. So pl clubs can go splashing money on new players( chelsea, around £200m, liverpool spent £80m in just one day), and that's just 2 clubs in this window, but they cant between 20 clubs, afford a piddling £250m? Sorry, but when a club such as brighton( no disrespect to them), are buying players, only to send them straight out on loan, that tells you how far removed from reality all premier league clubs are. It's about time the p lge and the f a. put their house in order, and realise, that football doesn't start and finish with the premier lge.

8

Cakeman added 13:26 - Oct 6 Irrespective of who funds the Premier League the fact that we have division of status in England will always be the issue. Before the Premier league started all was seemingly well. The old four divisions were united and those teams in division four had a real chance of going through the divisions if they were good enough. I recall the likes of Northampton and Carlisle who managed to reach division one from the lower reaches. That could never happen today. The introduction of the Premier league has possibly unintentionally created a divide that cannot now be rectified.

3

runningout added 13:43 - Oct 6 Refuse the pittance offered and tell them what the really are! Sounds odd but I'm glad we aren't part of the Premier league at the moment. I hope we would be more ethical and act so if we were there (Not so sure) This will mean clubs like us won't exist. Football is not the priority and shouldn't be while Covid is still around
3

Bergholtblue added 14:00 - Oct 6 1.21 BILLION POUNDS (according to BBC Sport) spent in the transfer window this year and 50 million is all they can afford, my heart bleeds for them.
3

d77sgw added 14:30 - Oct 6 As others have said, Parish and Dyche making comparisons with 'business' is completely false. Unlike normal 'business', without the 'competitors' there is no football in this country. And Palace and Burnley just got lucky to be in the Prem when it became so bloated with cash that it created a chasm in English football. If we had been in the Premier League just 1 year later we'd have got parachute payments, wouldn't have had to flog our team for a song, probably wouldn't have turned to Evans...Christ, the whole thing is so skewed that to claim it is like a competitive business environment is a complete joke...

4

carlisleaway added 14:52 - Oct 6 Can't see this happening but what would we all give if a top PL club was relegated
2

arc added 15:39 - Oct 6 What does "It's reported that the Premier League will earn around the £50 million figure via an £8.4 million pandemic-related charge to the three promoted clubs in the next two seasons" mean? Promoted clubs will have to pay a fee to get in?? How about they just abolish parachute payments instead? That might have some beneficial effects.
2

rgp1 added 15:45 - Oct 6 Looking at it in another light, if the lower leagues collapse where the hell would the nig clubs loan 20 or 30 players to for a season?
0

ChrisR added 15:48 - Oct 6 It's wrong that players like Bale and Sanchez earn over £1000,000 per week between them , yet somehow hardly ever even play. That amount could possibly support all of League One? Should clubs should only be allowed to use gate or merchandise money ? Then we would see realistic wages, just like any other business. And I bet even the most partisan PL fan would hate to lose the smaller clubs !!

3

Lightningboy added 17:02 - Oct 6 The Premier league,it's overpaid prima-donnas and Sky just make me want to vomit.
1

vanmunt added 17:32 - Oct 6 This offer of 50M with caveats is worse than no offer at all. Like others have said I am torn why they are expected to bail out the lower leagues. What are the EFL doing apart from going wit a begging bowl of the PL? My sky sports is out of contract in February and I am cancelling after 20 years, I am sick of the PL and the politicising.
1

TR11BLU added 11:28 - Oct 7 Well I gave up sky and vowed never to return, many years ago. Absolute leaches on the game and PL are their puppets. Without the pyramid, there is no competition and ultimately no more football as we know it.
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anditractor added 07:39 - Oct 8 Premier league clubs have just spent 1.2 billion on players which is bloody obscene seeing they are only going to offer a paltry 50 million to efl clubs !! Considering wages they dont seem to be living in the real world !!
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