Portsmouth and the landmark moment for English football set to shift Championship landscape

Andy Cullen believes the Football Governance Bill is still on course to become law this summer - with Pompey at the heart of a key moment for the English game.

And the Blues CEO feels that is set to lead to a fairer distribution of the game’s wealth, which will help his club compete on a more level financial playing field moving forward.

The introduction of the independent football regulator (IFR) is set to provide a seismic shift to football’s landscape, with the bill currently passing through Parliament and the committee’s third sitting taking place last Thursday.

Central to the regulator, with David Kogan the government’s preferred choice, is their backstop powers to force a settlement between the Premier League and EFL over financial distribution.

That’s with particular reference to the size of parachute payments teams coming out of the top flight are receiving, which Cullen feels is making for a lop-sided division and clubs over-reaching in their bids to go up.

Cullen said: ‘There’s a good chance the bill may receive royal assent before the end of the summer, but that’s determined by its progress through the various bill committees and select committees.

‘I think there is a chance it could receive royal assent this summer into the next parliamentary session into the autumn. It’s making good progress.

‘The key thing here is the backstop and the changes to the backstop process, that’s all about the mechanism for financial distributions.

‘The original deal was very much a binary choice between the Premier League and EFL, you choose one or the other.

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‘But if they cannot agree on a monetary distribution model, the ability now is the independent regulator can say what they believe should be the outcome.

‘From our perspective that’s what we would’ve liked to see in the first place, so that’s quite a good place to be in.

‘I think that’s where David Kogan is an interesting choice because he’s not come from a regulatory background, he comes from a business background.

‘He’s well versed in the negotiation process which is ultimately what this will probably become once the bill is passed, which we expect it to be, and the process begins.

‘I think the Championship is totally distorted by parachute payments.

‘I don’t think there’s anything wrong with parachute payments, but it’s the quantum of them which over the past few years has encouraged some to try to compete with those parachute clubs.

‘They’ve then found themselves locked into long-term commitments, and when they’ve not reached their long-term objectives the pressure then comes on to owners to continue to invest and support that.

‘If they can’t get there, those clubs then find themselves in a difficult position.

Pompey chief: ‘If football can’t sort itself out...’

‘Without naming names, but we know who they are, there has been at least two or three clubs in recent years who’ve suffered from that.’

At the moment parachute payments are received by teams coming out of the Premier League over three seasons. In season one clubs are given £48m, £39m in season two with £17m paid in season three - though those payments are reset if they return to the top flight in that period.

The impact those payments have on the division, could be seen in the three relegated Premier League sides occupying the Championship’s top three places last season.

Cullen said: ‘I think what we want to see is fairer level of distribution.

‘There may be some tweaks and changes to the way money is distributed in the Championship by the EFL itself.

‘The top three this season were all in receipt of parachute payments and were way ahead of the rest of the pack.

‘So what do you do? You can’t just say you’re going to have a go for one season, you're making commitments to players over two, three, four or even five-year contracts. So once you’re in that’s a scale you have to deliver over.

‘What you don’t want is another club and set of supporters in that precarious position, so the hope is the regulator can help.

‘If football can’t sort itself out, it’s sad but you need to get into a position where the next best hope is the independent regulator takes an independent view to try and drive the two parties to an agreement.

‘Hopefully the regulator is redundant in terms of they won’t need to get involved in the process because they’ve come to an agreement, but I don’t think anything can happen until this bill’s in place.'

Pompey’s position supporting the introduction of the Football Governance Bill and IFR is well established, with the club afforded a decent vantage point of developments.

Last January Cullen attended an EFL dinner to lobby MPs and peers at the House of Lords, with the CEO also meeting the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Lisa Nandy, along with the Sports Minister, Stephanie Peacock.

Furthermore, Gosport’s MP, Caroline Dinenage, and Portsmouth North’s, Amanda Martin, are both influential figures in the Football Governance Bill process.

Cullen added: ‘I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to put my views over to the minister and Secretary of State, I’ve also been able to meet with the team at DCMS as well.

‘They were fully aware of Portsmouth’s history, where’s it’s been, where it’s come from and the challenges which face Championship football clubs.

‘We know who the regulator is going to be in terms of David Kogan, I think that’s likely to be confirmed.

‘The second reading went through on April 28. It went through despite the number of amendments put in by the Lords.

‘I think it’s a really good situation and interestingly we have Caroline Dinenage who chairs the DCMS selection committee, she’s very much engaged and involved with the progress of this bill.

‘Amanda Martin is on the bill committee itself, so she’s been around it and we keep close to both of those MPs and we know both are supportive of the bill going through.’

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