SCMP

This one may have been covered many times in the past - if so my apologies.
The ruling/recommendation by the EFL Salary Cost Management Protocol is that League 2 cubs should spend no more than 55% of turnover on players salaries.
I have noticed that in the past week alone that clubs like Crawley, Cheltenham,Morecambe, Barrow & Stevenage etc etc have been signing players at will. (Not to mention Oldham & Bolton who appear to have blatantly abused the system)
Those former clubs are on circa 50% of our gate receipts - not much better than National League attendances.
It is feasible that they could make up that shortfall via different income channels more productive than ours - but I doubt it.
In the coming season income across the board is going to be decimated.
It would seem that irresponsible/daft owners are allowed to continue to abuse the system.
I believe we are, as a responsible & prudently run club, being made to suffer by a toothless EFL.
There will be those who will argue that we lack vision & ambition - but as someone else recently pointed out, in a coupIe of seasons time would rather still be in Division 2 than the Eastern Counties League North - or worse.

I have been saying for a long time that a salary cap isn't the answer. Clubs with money can find a way round it, and the gap between those that have and those that haven't widens considerably.

The EFL have proved to me that they haven't got a clue when attempting to find rules and regulations to try to sort out the financial mess that clubs and unscrupulous owners find themselves in.

The EFL could start by auditing clubs more stringently, so they spot things coming.

The current 50% cap (reduced from 55% a couple of years ago) has loop holes. For example players are exempt until the season after they turn 21 to encourage player development. And turnover can include share purchases, donations from owners and sale or assets (Bury club car park!).

It was only meant as a half hearted attempt to stop clubs running up unfriendly debt.

Oh and some clubs employ players’ wives/partners/spouses and even parents in fictional, non-existent jobs as a way paying more without it going against their player salary budget.

Rugby Union clubs are notorious for such schemes and it’s migrated into football since FFP type rules have been introduced.

There's also problems with teams relegated from the championship.  They can pay their players what they were on, which in most cases will be a lot more, and they will have to honour any long contracts players have got. This gives them a massive advantage,  especially when they get parachute payments on top.

It will not create a level playing field that's for sure.

Quoted from Heswall Mariner

This one may have been covered many times in the past - if so my apologies.
The ruling/recommendation by the EFL Salary Cost Management Protocol is that League 2 cubs should spend no more than 55% of turnover on players salaries.
I have noticed that in the past week alone that clubs like Crawley, Cheltenham,Morecambe, Barrow & Stevenage etc etc have been signing players at will. (Not to mention Oldham & Bolton who appear to have blatantly abused the system)
Those former clubs are on circa 50% of our gate receipts - not much better than National League attendances.
It is feasible that they could make up that shortfall via different income channels more productive than ours - but I doubt it.
In the coming season income across the board is going to be decimated.
It would seem that irresponsible/daft owners are allowed to continue to abuse the system.
I believe we are, as a responsible & prudently run club, being made to suffer by a toothless EFL.
There will be those who will argue that we lack vision & ambition - but as someone else recently pointed out, in a coupIe of seasons time would rather still be in Division 2 than the Eastern Counties League North - or worse.

Hi Mr Day.  

Its a pleasure to read your informed comments sunshine  - I catch your drift xx

How will a salary cap for the 2020/21 season actually work when clubs currently have virtually no income from ticket sales??

I think the salary cap debate has been had for a number of years and whilst many can out an argument forward for introducing one, once you start to look closer, a salary cap isn’t a great idea and wouldn’t have the positive impact intended.

Quoted from aldi_01

I think the salary cap debate has been had for a number of years and whilst many can out an argument forward for introducing one, once you start to look closer, a salary cap isn’t a great idea and wouldn’t have the positive impact intended.

A League One and League Two salary cap will be the beginning of the end for clubs like ours. However well-intentioned to try and combat the temporary financial consequences of Covid and the ineffectiveness of the EFL's policing of FFP, it is a complete farce that will bring huge negative changes for the fans of many clubs in those divisions. The  EFL Leagues One and Two aren't the only leagues in the world that can offer that standard of player a wage, the quality will certainly drop as players look to ply their trade abroad or pick up more money in Scotland or even non-league. Everyone goes on about a level playing field as if it's fair.. but it isn't. Why should a club with income like Portsmouth not be able pay more for players than Rochdale? Why should a club that's been really good at raising external investment and adept at attracting a new fanbase like Lincoln be restricted to offering the same player wages as a club like ours if we were in the same division? And why should a club like Harrogate who will be able to meet the 1.5m wage cap due to visiting fan income (when they return) be able to compete on level financial terms with us? And further down the road doesn't it make us even more vulnerable as a club by setting the wage cap so low than pretty much every Conference club and some below that will be able to compete with us on a level playing field? Clubs like ours could have one bad season and never return to the EFL and the EFl could be filled with Harrogates, Fyldes, Ebbsfleets and Solihulls. If all wages are going to be the same then players will pick their clubs on where they want to live rather than the club's potential because every club's potential will be the same. Where would that leave us? Travel to work costs will become even more of a game changer if wages are much lower. And then there would be the greater reliance on clubs like ours loaning players from the bigger clubs giving them even more power and us reaching out for handout bowls more than ever before. Special feeder club relationships will form as bigger clubs will be able to offer players at a snip of their salary to their favoured lower league club.  And finally.. with restrictions like this in place, how long will it be before the Championship clubs break away to form a Premier League Two because a drop into League One would mean a club like Stoke or Sheffield Wednesday wouldn't be able to out-compete a Harrogate or Crawley? Where would it leave the ambitions of our club like ours? Why would any child in NE Lincs choose to support GTFC if the limit of aspiration would be a salary capped tilt at the League One title with nowhere else to progress upwards as we'll not meet the criteria of a Premier League Two in the unlikely event of a promotion spot offered? It's ok for the current core of our fanbase to have a weakened club to watch for the last decade or two of their lives, but what about the kids and what about the future of our club when this board has long gone? Where would the attractiveness of taking over a club be if the investors couldn't effect any real change on the pitch?

Better governance is needed at the EFL rather than unprogressive clubs like our crassly trying to grab a level playing field because it suits their lack of ability in certain areas or because they arrogantly believe their way is the only way to run a football club. Salary caps seem like a feasible short term fix but they will lead to a long term demise for the game we love in this country and it will adversely affect more than the odd Bury now again and millions of fans across the length and breadth of this country. I'm ashamed that our club has put itself at the forefront of a move to salary caps..Our board can choose to spend within its own means for our club to survive under their tenure (which will eventually end at some time in the future) if it wants to, but imposing a rule on more progressive clubs or clubs with higher incomes than ours is morally wrong in my opinion..It's grabbing an advantage by holding others back..and eventually it will hold boards of GTFC back in the future too by being unable to tap into the potential of our fanbase and invest it into the product on the pitch..