Peterborough United set to benefit from salary cap rule, but rival clubs are set to weaken its impact

EFL clubs were expected to vote on the matter at the end of the month and MacAnthony expected the vote to pass, although he had plenty of sympathy for the bigger clubs like Portsmouth, Sunderland and Ipswich who oppose the move.

But a report in today’s (July 24) Bradford Telegraph and Argus suggests clubs have postponed the vote until August 6 and that any the contracts of players signed before that date will not count towards the proposed salary cap figures.

This would benefit Blackpool and Bristol Rovers who have already signed a number of players with contract dates starting on August 1. Posh have yet to make a new signing this summer.

“They’ve actually made the salary cap essentially irrelevant for at least next season if not beyond,” Bradford spokesman Ryan Sparks said.

The EFL are proposing a salary cap of £2.5 million in League One, a figure the likes of Sunderland, Portsmouth and Ipswich are vehemently opposing as it would neutralise the advantage of a big fan base in a way the current financial fairplay rules don’t.

At the very least they want to delay the introduction of any new rule for a year.

The cap would cover basic wages, bonuses, image rights and any other extras like rent that are contained in a player’s contract.

The EFL worked out their £2.5 million figure based on an average League One salary of £1300 a week. There is also a proposal to restrict squads to 20 players aged 21 or over.

MacAnthony was in favour of a more flexible cap which didn’t restrict the spending power of those clubs which are well run as a successful business, but he admitted Posh would be voting for the proposals.

“I delivered a document about three months ago with my proposals,” MacAnthony stated on his ‘Hard Truths’ podcast. “I would base the cap on a club’s turnover so the likes of Sunderland and Portsmouth could spend more based on what they generate. That would be a fairer way.

“For instance Posh generate around £6 million a year so we would be capped at a lower figure than Portsmouth who attract 16,000 fans to every home game and generate much more. You should be rewarded for running a successful business like Portsmouth.

“But my first thought when I heard the EFL proposal was that it would benefit us. It would drag the bigger clubs down a bit as there would have to be a lot of revision of players’ contracts.

“We will cope because players under the age of 21 don’t count towards the figure, and we have a lot of them, whereas some of the bigger payers who have players on 8-9 grand a week could have a problem.

“We will be voting for the proposal, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there are some amendments made.”

Under the EFL proposals points deductions or fines are to be issued to teams who break the salary cap rules.

For every £1 a club exceeds the cap they would be fined £3 so a £1 million breach would lead to a punishing £3 million fine with judgements made by an independent disciplinary commission.

Players signed before July 29 would not count towards the salary cap. Clubs would get a year’s grace to ensure all their contracts comply with the new rules.

“It’s clear when there are clubs who can’t find £200k-300k to fund the completion of a season that salary caps are needed,” MacAnthony added.

“There could still be a rocky road ahead for a couple of seasons for some clubs, but no-one will go bust because of this.

“A salary cap may even deliver some fairy tales.”