Peterborough United co-owner dismisses ‘Project Big Picture’ as a distraction that is unlikely to ever happen

Peterborough United co-owner Darragh MacAnthony has dismissed ‘Project Big Picture’ as an unwanted distraction that is unlikely to ever happen.
Darragh MacAnthony.Darragh MacAnthony.
Darragh MacAnthony.

The football world was shocked over the weekend by a proposal from the biggest clubs in the country to radically overhaul both the finances and the power structure of the national game.

The proposal included EFL clubs receiving a combined £250m bailout from the Premier League, the scrapping of the League Cup, a Premier League reduced to 18 teams and increased revenue from TV deals for lower division clubs.

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Liverpool and Manchester United are understood to be the driving force behind the proposals which have been backed by EFL chairman Rick Parry, but have been condemned by Premier League clubs not invited to the conversation and the UK Government.

Current Premier League rules state major rule changes have to be supported by 14 of the 20 top flight clubs.

And MacAnthony, speaking on talkSPORT today (October 12), said: “I woke up over the weekend to hysterical articles debating the Big Picture suggestion and it angered me.

“It’s just a distraction and we just don’t need distractions. If it happened it wouldn’t happen quickly enough and it won’t happen anyway because of the voting structure within the Premier League.

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“EFL clubs are in trouble. We need a £250m bailout and we need it yesterday. The gulf between the Premier League and the EFL has to be closed. I applaud Rick Parry (EFL chairman) and clubs like Manchester United and Liverpool for having the conversation, but it’s one for the future. We need a bailout and rescue package plan now to help clubs survive.

“The UK Goverment need to help us. They need to be writing us a cheque, but instead they are playing a part in destroying our industry. It’s a restraint of trade to stop us having fans in. People can go to the theatre and the cinema. In Peterborough they can go to the circus, but they can’t come and watch football.

“If we don’t get help soon I can see four or five clubs applying to go into admistration in January. Many clubs, not mine, will struggle to make payroll in October and November. They might struggle on, but December and January promise to be horrendous months,

“Me and my owners will have to put £680k into our club in December. Bills we we re able to defer now need to be paid.

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“Instead we are listening to pie in the sky stuff about £5 million coming to League One clubs instead of £1 million every year. Sure if that money was promised today with a pledge for no B teams and no promotion changes every EFL club owner would support this project, but it’s all too far away.

“I feel sad because it doesn’t look we are any nearer helping the clubs who need it most. There is private money out there. We need to use this money to get through this period.

“There has to be a plan B and at the moment there doesn’t look like there is an alternative. I don’t want to be the Grim Reaper, but it’s the truth as I see it.”