English Premier League: Foreign Owners Want End of Relegation

Early this week, ESPN reported that there was talk that unnamed foreign owners in the Premier League would like to see the end of relegation in England.

Ten of the 20 Premier League teams are under foreign ownership, and many of these owners would like the relegation and promotion system of English football to be scrapped.

Under the current system, the three teams that finish with the fewest points in the Premier League table at the end of the campaign are relegated to the English Championship. (To clarify, the promotion and relegation system is used in all 24 levels of English Football.  The rules and regulations are often different throughout the separate leagues.)

Inversely, the teams that finish in the Top Three of the English Championship are promoted to the Premier League.

This system gives teams in the English Championship an opportunity to mix it up with the giants in the Premier League, and clubs benefit financially from the jump.

Teams that are promoted from the championship are estimated to get $90 million over a period of three years, even if they are relegated—compared with the estimated $45 million English teams can garner from the Champions League.

In addition, the relegation system encourages clubs to do their best to ensure that they don’t fall in the relegation zone at the end of the season. Watch a game on the final match day between teams on the verge of relegation and see the desperation in their play.

No club wants to be relegated.

Foreign owners, particularly American owners, want to see a franchise system in England. These owners, putting financial interests over competitive quality, would like to see a system similar to that of the National Football League or Major League Baseball.

With franchises, the league would have a set number of clubs and there would be no threat of relegation or hope of promotion. The financial interests of the owners would be protected.

This idea has not been taken well by many in English football, including Sir Alex Ferguson. Ferguson said the idea would be “suicide” for English football. He went on to say:

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"I don't see where the end product comes in. There are at least eight teams in the Championship at the moment with great history. What do you say to those eight teams, they can never play in the Premier League? You may as well lock the doors."

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For this change to be made, the proposal must be passed by 14 of the 20 Premier League clubs.  If the clubs pass the proposal, the Football Association is then required to approve it. 

Only then can the relegation and promotion system, which has been in use since 1888, be abolished.