Peterborough United co-owner’s skills will help his club in the era of the salary cap

League One clubs voted narrowly in favour of implementing a £2.5 million salary cap with immediate effect last week.

MacAnthony is in favour of a cap which on the surface penalises the clubs with big fanbases like Sunderland, Ipswich and Portsmouth.

And he reckons skilful recruitment and a strong Academy will be crucial to Posh escaping League One and staying in the Championship.

“I was for the cap which surprised a few people,” MacAnthony admitted during the latest edition of his popular ‘Hard Truth’ podcast. “The pandemic has shown we need to get wages under control and the PFA and agents need to have a reality check. The salary cap could stop clubs going out of business.

“Big wages in League One are a thing of the past. Clubs will have to recruit better and organise their playing staff better. It could come down to who recruits the best and I fancy my chances with that as I’ve been doing it really well for many years.

“I love the creativity the new rules will bring. It could be to get a couple of new players in we have to remove a couple of players from our squad. We’ll still pay them, but they won’t have a chance of playing as they’d be de-registered which could then help us move them on as it removes all hope of them being involved with the first team.

“Clubs with a strong Academy will prosper and we have a good infrastructure in place.

“We have 11 players under 21 in our squad and they don’t count towards the cap and by the time we get back to the Championship we hope to have many more rolling off our production line.

“I do empathise with the likes of Sunderland and Portsmouth. They generate £8-10 million a year more than Posh and they should be allowed to spend it how they want.

“There will be lawsuits and there will be plenty of clubs kicking and screaming, but this is how it is now and clubs will have to buckle up and get on with it. We didn’t hear enough from the PFA during the pandemic, but now they have the megaphone out.

“They need to start looking out for the lower division players as well as the big stars.”

The PFA have stated they will launch a legal action against the salary cap.