A tale of two Richards

The suggestion last week that a number of foreign-owned clubs in the Premiership are secretly lobbying for relegation to be scrapped has been passionately denied by the league’s head honcho.

I don’t believe Richard Bevan would make this up. Which means foreign owners have been talking about the idea

Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore dismissed out of hand the claims by League Managers’ Association chief executive Richard Bevan, saying none of the teams were even considering it.

“There is not a club that is interested in the notion of no relegation,” Scudamore insisted. “The whole point is we are a sporting competition. Why are we so popular around the world? Why is the excitement as much as it is? It makes no sense at all.”

Yes, that is exactly right. It makes less sense than the Eurovision Song Contest. But it doesn’t change the fact that we have two very conflicting stories coming out here. And both the Richards can’t be right.

Let’s start by looking at the idea itself, shall we? Bevan is claiming that some of the 10 foreign-owned clubs want the Premier League to become a closed shop, with no clubs getting relegated and no clubs promoted from the Championship.

The idea is that by making sure their expensively purchased teams can never be relegated, they protect their investment and ensure the value of their clubs go through the roof thanks to a permanent seat on the gravy train.

The Premier League would become more of a franchise system, similar to the one that works so beautifully in the US – that powerhouse of modern soccer that attracts huge crowds, massive television audiences and the best players from all over the world. Not.

Forget about the fact that clubs with rich history and traditions like Nottingham Forest, Derby County, the Sheffield clubs, West Ham United, Burnley, Ipswich Town and Blackpool would be consigned to the scrapheap.

The big boys would be set up for eternity, which is all that really matters isn’t it?

Now you and I both know that that is an idea of cosmically ridiculous proportions. It would rip a hole in the very fabric of the English game and would be met with a public outcry that would make the recent London riots look like a garden party.

And the happy news for us fans is that it is never going to happen.

For the plan to be passed by the Premier League there would need to be 14 clubs in favour of it, and the foreign owners are still four shy of that figure.

But even if new foreign owners came in or English owners could be persuaded to join their ranks, the Football Association has a veto which it would inevitably use in the face of blatant insanity. Even if that safeguard failed I am relatively sure the government would intervene and confiscate all their footballs until common sense returned.

So we can all sleep well in our beds knowing that this most stupid, arrogant and selfish of proposals will never get off the ground. Just like Liverpool’s idea last week that the big clubs should be allowed to negotiate their own overseas television deals and hang their smaller rivals out to dry.

However, the fact remains that Bevan seemed very convinced by what he was saying. He didn’t just mention it in passing, but made a point of emphasising that he was aware some clubs were considering this idea.

Which leads me to one of two conclusions: either Bevan made the whole thing up to get himself in the newspapers, or the Premier League teams are not being entirely honest and up front with Scudamore.

If I had to put money on either of those, it would most certainly be the latter.

Bevan is not a heavyweight in the football scene. He has a relatively minor role and I am fairly sure club owners would be more likely to open up to him about their ideas, plans and schemes than they would be to Scudamore, who is far, far more powerful.

Of course, Scudamore’s side of the story has been backed up by the foreign-owned clubs themselves who have denied ever thinking about the idea. But would you really expect any of them to admit it considering how the public has reacted?

Did anyone really expect Malcolm Glazer to hold up his hand and say: “Actually it is something we are thinking about because it would help generate massive wealth for me and my family. And who are Nottingham Forest anyway?”

However, in my experience there is never smoke without fire. And on that basis I am going to go with Bevan on this one.

I don’t believe that he would make something like this up. Which means at least one, possibly a lot more, of these foreign owners have been talking about this idea.

Now you wouldn’t expect the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City to be actively talking about this sort of thing.

There is more chance of catching Roman Abramovich at the job centre than those clubs living in fear of relegation.

But other clubs may be tickled pink by the idea.

Obviously I am not going to name names, but if there were, say, some relatively new owners who had just bought into the Premier League but found their side rooted to the bottom of the table, then they just might be thinking abolishing relegation is a darned good idea.

When the foreign invasion of English football started I didn’t like it one bit. Not because they happened to be from different countries but because they didn’t know and love the traditions of English football and were only interested in the teams they were buying either as playthings or as financial cash cows.

But ultimately they are on foreign soil, and as such should offer nothing but the utmost respect for the traditions and cultures of that land. And that respect should certainly stretch to the very sport that brought them there in the first place.

If they don’t cherish the very fundamentals of the English game then they should go home and concentrate on the things they do know and love. Like, to pick something entirely at random, chicken farming, for example.

Seriously though, it is not so much the proposal itself that is making me uncomfortable, but the fact that these foreign owners are scheming behind our backs.

This is our game, and you are welcome to invest, get involved and love it like the rest of us. Just don’t go trying to change it behind our backs. Period.

sportscolumnist@timesofmalta.com
Twitter: @maltablade