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'It just can't be right' – Rival Championship chief makes big-money claim about Leeds
Stoke City’s chief executive Tony Scholes has delivered his verdict on the financial fair play controversy in the Championship – and cited Leeds United as the best example.
Stoke are one of the teams under fire for breaching Championship rules on spending after coming down from the Premier League.
Talking in the Stoke Sentinel Scholes hit back saying “it just can’t be right” that Leeds get far less money than Norwich, despite being shown on TV more.
“The league doesn’t get the income to match its appeal,” Scholes said, “to match the fact that it is the third-highest attended league in Europe.
“So you’ve got Leeds at the top of the league and they’re on telly all the time, but they get TV income of about £3m-a-year.
“The team one place above them, Norwich, on telly maybe 12 times this year, less than Leeds anyway, they get TV income of £100m-a-year and it just can’t be right.”
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Scholes’ comments echo those made by Aston Villa CEO Christian Purslow in February almost to the letter.
He said the difference between the EFL and the Premier League TV rights was a “monstrous precipice”.
#avfc CEO Christian Purslow describes the gap between the Premier League and EFL TV rights as a “monstrous precipice”.
He adds “#ncfc get £100m, #lufc get £3m – and Leeds appear more times and get more viewers. Who thinks that’s fair?”
Only Delia Smith! Mr Purslow backs a #PL2
— Jonny Gould (@jonnygould) February 18, 2020
The point is completely valid with Norwich gaining promotion last season while Leeds stayed in the Championship.
As Scholes points out, there’s one place between the clubs – and they look very likely to swap next season – but £97m difference in reward.
These financial points are even more key at the moment with Championship clubs in real danger because of the Coronavirus.
The Mail has claimed that six clubs are in real danger of going bust and described Leeds as one of the most vulnerable – despite being shown more on Sky Sports than any other in the division.
Help is going to be needed in the lower leagues from the top table and, once the Coronavirus has gone, the way finances are dealt with between leagues needs to be seriously addressed for the good of the game.
In other Leeds United news, Phil Hay admits photo of senior Leeds man ‘not a good look’ with country shutting down