Football League maintains drive to give game a lift

The 2009/10 Football League season kicks off on Saturday with the Championship duel between two relegated sides, West Brom and Newcastle at the Hawthorns.

Another needle match is Middlesbrough vs Sheffield United at the Riverside Stadium tomorrow night.

The great news is that Football League clubs have just received a tremendous shot in the arm after the signing of a record £264m deal with Sky Sport and BBC Sport for domestic broadcast rights.

Another boost, particularly for the lower League One and League Two clubs, is a new agreement on overseas television rights that will yield £24m from next season − a 300 per cent increase on the league's current deal.

The FL confirmed that, according to the new contracts, the matches will be televised by six overseas partners.

League chairman Lord Mawhinney, one of the architects of the newly-structured Football League, said the new deals will bring a huge increase in resources for the clubs.

The agreements also demonstrate that the global audience for the English game is on the rise, a recognition for the competitive and interesting matches the league has been producing.

Also from this season, Football League clubs could be hit by a transfer ban if they fall behind on their tax payments.

Under the new system, clubs will be barred from dealing in the transfer market until their debt is cleared. The new rules should also impact on a club's ability to come out of administration without incurring additional point penalties.

This will help clubs become more financially sustainable in the longer term, Mawhinney remarked during the Football League annual general meeting.

Meanwhile, the number of substitutes on the bench in Football League matches will increase from five to seven to come in line with the Premier League.

Club call

Barnsley
Manager: Simon Davey.
Signed: Onome Sodje from York − free; David Preece from Darlington − free.

Blackpool
Manager: Ian Holloway.
Signed: Billy Clarke from Ipswich − free; Jason Euell from Southampton − free.

Bristol City
Manager: Gary Johnson.
Signed: Lewin Nyatanga from Derby − undisclosed; Danny Haynes from Ipswich − undisclosed; Paul Hartley from Celtic − free; Dean Gerken from Colchester − undisclosed; David Clarkson from Motherwell − free; Andre Blackman from Portsmouth − free.

Cardiff City
Manager: David Jones.
Signed: Paul Quinn from Motherwell − undisclosed; Anthony Gerrard from Walsall − £2m; Mark Hudson from Charlton − undisclosed; David Marshall from Norwich − £500,000; Michael Chopra from Sunderland − £4m.

Coventry City
Manager: Chris Coleman.
Signed: Sammy Clingan from Norwich − undisclosed.

Crystal Palace
Manager: Neil Warnock.
Signed: Darren Ambrose from Charlton − free; Freddie Sears from West Ham − loan; Stern John from Birmingham − free.

Derby County
Manager: Nigel Clough.
Ins: Lee Croft from Norwich − free; Dean Moxey from Exeter − undisclosed; Jake Buxton from Burton − undisclosed; Ben Pringle from Ilkeston − undisclosed; Shaun Barker from Blackpool − £1m; Christian Dailly.

Doncaster
Manager: Sean O'Driscoll.

Ipswich Town
Manager: Roy Keane.
Signed: Lee Martin from Manchester United − undisclosed; Damien Delaney from QPR − £700,000; Shane O'Connor from Liverpool − free; Colin Healy from Cork − £350,000.

Leicester City
Manager: Nigel Pearson.
Signed: Richard Wellens from Doncaster − £1.2m; Chris Weale from Bristol City − free; Dany N'Guessan from Lincoln − undisclosed; Wayne Brown from Hull − free; Robbie Neilson from Hearts − free; Jack Hobbs from Liverpool − £2m; Astrit Ajdarevic from Liverpool − free.

Middlesbrough
Manager: Gareth Southgate
Signed: Danny Coyne from Tranmere − free; Mark Yeates from Colchester − undisclosed.

Newcastle
Manager: (not yet known)

Nottingham Forest
Manager: Billy Davies.
Signed: Lee Camp from QPR − undisclosed; David McGoldrick from Southampton − undisclosed; Dele Adebola from Bristol City − undisclosed; Paul Anderson from Liverpool − £250,000; Chris Gunter from Tottenham − £1.75m; Paul McKenna from Preston − £750,000; Radoslaw Majewski from Groclin − loan; Dexter Blackstock from QPR − undisclosed; Joel Lynch from Brighton − £200,000.

Peterborough United
Manager: Darren Ferguson.
Signed: Tommy Rowe from Stockport − £200,000; Lee Frecklington from Lincoln − undisclosed; Toumani Diagouraga from Hereford − £150,000; Krystian Pearce from Birmingham − loan.

Playmouth Argyle
Manager: Paul Sturrock.
Signed: Bradley Wright-Phillips from Southampton − free; Carl Fletcher from C. Palace − free; Kari Arnason from Aarhus − free; Reda Johnson from Amiens − undisclosed.

Preston North End
Manager: Alan Irvine.

Queens Park Rangers
Manager: Jim Magilton.
Signed: Alejandro Damian Faurlin from Instituto de Cordoba − £3.25m; Adel Taarabt from Tottenham − loan; Alessandro Pellicori from Avellino − undisclosed.

Reading
Manager: Brendan Rodgers.
Signed: Ryan Bertrand from Chelsea − loan.

Scunthorpe United
Manager: Nigel Adkins.
Signed: Rob Jones from Hibernian − £200,000; Josh Wright from Charlton − free; Michael O'Connor from Crewe − undisclosed; Adam Boyce from York − £80,000.

Seffield United
Manager: Kevin Blackwell.
Signed: Andy Taylor from Tranmere − undisclosed; Kyel Reid from West Ham − free; Lee Williamson from Watford − undisclosed; Ched Evans from Manchester City − £3m; Ryan France from Hull − free.

Sheffield Wednesday
Manager: Brian Laws.
Signed: James O'Connor from Burnley − free; Darren Potter from Wolves − undisclosed; Tommy Miller from Ipswich − free; Darren Purse from Cardiff − free.

Swansea
Manager: Paulo Sousa.
Signed: Jordi Lopez from Real Mallorca − undisclosed; Steven Dobbie from Queen of South − free; Nathan Dyer from Southampton − £400,000.

Watford
Manager: Malky Mackay.
Signed: Jon Harley, def from Burnley − free; Danny Graham from Carlisle − free; Scott Severin from Aberdeen − free; Jure Travner from NK Celje − undisclosed.

West Bromwich Albion
Manager: Roberto di Matteo.
Signed: Simon Cox from Swindon − £1.5m; Youssuf Mulumbu from Paris SG − £175,000; Reuben Reid from Rotherham − undisclosed.