Championship

Championship officials discussing £18m salary cap

The English second tier is looking to follow the lead of the two leagues below who both recently introduced a cap

1:13pm on Wednesday 16th September 2020
By Martin Macdonald

The Championship could be set to introduce a £18m per season salary cap from next season.

The coronavirus crisis has hit clubs hard financially, particularly lower down the football pyramid, which is why League 1 and 2 have already agreed to the cap which is set at £2.5m in the former and £1.5m in the latter.

Any Championship cap would be a significant increase on this with the figure of £18m being mentioned since the discussions began in the summer.

A statement from the EFL on League 1 and 2 at the time of introduction read:

"The decision follows extensive and comprehensive consultation with all clubs in respect of addressing sustainability and wage inflation issues across the EFL which were initiated prior to the suspension of football in March following the Covid-19 outbreak and have continued during the course of the summer."

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A cap on the Championship presents a number of problems for league officials as not only have the Professional Footballers' Association previously criticised the idea, but parachute payments from clubs relegated from the Premier League need to be taken into account.

Julian Knight, the chair of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), says the Championship should follow the lead of League 1 & 2.

“For a long time the flawed business model of much of football has been as clear as day but it’s taken the biggest financial crisis in English football since the war for some action," he said.

“Let’s see if more realism now permeates the Championship, where player wages incredibly outstrip club turnover.”

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