Football needs a reset - Rick Parry

Last updated : 06 May 2020 By Millersmad

With no games played since the 13th of March, time is now ticking to get the season finished if that is whats going to happen..

Rick Parry, the EFL Chairman is now urging to get decisions made and some kind of plan for the future.

"Our end date realistically is 31 July because of the situation with contracts, We can't go beyond July. Players and staff have been furloughed and to expect clubs to bring them back in now, to forgo the furlough, only to then find in a month they can't play would be a complete mess.

"We need within days to be taking decisions. We have a great deal of uncertainty around next season and the undetermined matter of when we'll be able to return with crowds, which for the EFL is absolutely critical. We're much more dependent upon the revenue and atmosphere generated by crowds than the Premier League."

"We have 1,400 players coming out of contract at the end of June, That is a train coming down the tunnel very quickly. They are going to be extremely concerned about their futures."

With clubs now racking up losses - The Millers are over £500k down already, Parry is looking for support.

"The Premier League has said if they're allowed to play then they will be in a position to talk to us about support for the lower leagues, We await that day - discussions to date, I think it's fair to say, have been limited." he said

He also stated that Football needs to now look at itself and change; "Parachute payments are an evil that needs to be eradicated, We have six clubs in the Championship receiving parachute payments giving them an average of £40m per club. The other 18 clubs get £4.5m each, so they're then struggling to keep up."

He added: "We need to know where we're heading in two and three years. We need hope, we need a plan and we need some clarity on the longer-term future."