Thread: Could ‘well off’ clubs help the strugglers?

If the powers that be compiled a list of, say 10 clubs, who were capable of helping other smaller clubs throughout the league both financially and by means of loaning out players, should it be considered?

For example, if a big club was ‘paired up’ with a club from the lower league for a season, surely even 1% (£10,000) of their weekly home gate receipts would help to prevent the smaller club from going under?

Despite their huge debts, just consider the profits that a lot of clubs make from those gate receipts, sponsorships, shirt deals and the like. Ok, so these profits are used to pay off the debt, but couldn’t some of it be used to help the small clubs too?

Couldn’t some of that money be channelled in such a way so that it helps the smaller clubs, and couldn’t some of the big names who are bench warmers, be playing in the lower leagues to help boost their attendances?

What do you think?

Originally Posted by Simonutd

dont think chelsea will help united or liverpool out, worth asking though

Sorry, I forgot to say that your comments will be excluded because this is a serious topic.

Originally Posted by Norn_irish_stu

I think that maybe not in the prem but defo rem coulbs could help championship clubs that way they have no real vested interest in how thing go.

For example if say liverpool and hull had a link and and they play each otehr last game of the season and hull need 3 points to stay up and liverpool need 3 to get in the CL. Do liverpool as the club helping is their an expectation that hull let them win so that liverpool go into the CL and if hull win do liverpool end the relationship because of that result.

This is al hypothetical but i think that having clubs in the same league with that kind of link could lead to shaddy thing happening possible i could be wrong.

Yes I guess the idea has it's flaws but if it was done properly and the clubs were divisions apart, it could work.

Originally Posted by Norn_irish_stu

i think so it would help big clubs get ther young players football and help the lower clubs get further up the league

So it might work then?

Originally Posted by YIDDO

Surely this is what the loan system is used for.

Yes but I'm talking about one specific club helping out another for a season. Under normal circumstances the lower club wouldn't have the opportunity to get a player on loan from a bigger club.

Originally Posted by VidicMonster

Why should they? They've earned their money and are well off for a reason. The troubled clubs are usually in it from their own accord through bad financial management or overspending.

That's true but small clubs don't deserve suffer and go under because of some fat greedy chairman.
Could there be a way for a bigger club to help them out?

Originally Posted by YIDDO

Newcastle deserved it.

Jokes aside, I don't really agree with VidicMonsters post. There are many other factors due to teams being 'smaller' than others, not just being financially mistreated.

Saying that, I don't believe the 'bigger' clubs should/have to help out either. If I supported a lower league team, who had pride and values, I'd be embarrassed to say that a team from the Premier League were helping us out with money and players.

If it happened, they'd just abuse the system and get to higher places on false merits.

Yes I can see that and like I said before the idea has its flaws. But I'm talking about one season only under controlled circumstances. If that helped just one club from going under, wouldn't that be a good thing?

I don't know the exact statistic, but I think it's something like if each Premier League club put 1% of their earnings into a pot and this was distributed evenly to all the Football League teams, it would wipe all 92 clubs' debts out, give them a few million each to spend on transfers, and a few million each left over. So it would work if the clubs agreed to it.

Only slight problem is that I don't think this would be allowed. I know we cannot play a particular Russian team - even in a friendly - because Roman Abramovich is the majority shareholder in their shirt sponsors. So on that basis I don't think any Premiership teams would be allowed to bail out lower league teams. It would wreck the Cup draws if nothing else.