Gary Neville blasts Premier League as Birmingham City and West Brom await £925m financial boost

Manchester United legend Gary Neville has described the Premier League as an ‘absolute disgrace’ after they failed to agree on the terms of a financial package that will support clubs across English football.

The top tier’s 20 clubs met on Monday to discuss a deal that would see around £925m trickle down to clubs in the EFL and beyond. However, no final decision was taken as the Premier League prioritised discussions over amendments to their own financial regulations and profit and sustainability rules.

Unsurprisingly, the move provoked criticism from across the EFL as the likes of Birmingham City and West Brom were left waiting for news over what support may be handed down from the top flight. Neville, co-owner of League Two club Salford City, admitted he had been left angry by the Premier League clubs ‘looking after themselves’ rather than focusing on the ‘welfare of the game’.

He told Sky Sport: “I am more interested in the vote they didn’t have, which was to support the rest of the Football League which they keep bumping down the road and it’s an absolute disgrace. It is about the welfare of the game and the sustainability of the whole league. The Premier League at this moment in time are negligent in their dismissive nature, just pushing it down the road, thinking ‘maybe a regulator will sort it, maybe we’ll sort it’ and not doing anything. That’s not good governance, it just demonstrates to me that they are not looking after the whole game like they should be. It angers me every time I see they have a Premier League meeting and seem to look after themselves but not look after the rest of football.”

Rather than voting on supporting the football pyramid, Premier League clubs are looking to amend their profit and sustainability regulations to bring them in line with UEFA’s Financial Fair Play model in the aftermath of charges received by Everton and Nottingham Forest in recent months.

A Premier League spokesperson said on Monday: “At a Premier League shareholders’ meeting today clubs agreed to prioritise the swift development and implementation of a new league-wide financial system. This will provide certainty for clubs in relation to their future financial plans and will ensure the Premier League is able to retain its existing world-leading investment to all levels of the game.

“Alongside this, Premier League clubs also reconfirmed their commitment to securing a sustainably-funded financial agreement with the EFL, subject to the new financial system being formally approved by clubs. The league and clubs also reaffirmed their ongoing and longstanding commitment to the wider game which includes £1.6 billion distributed to all levels of football across the current three-year cycle. The Premier League’s significant funding contributions cover all EFL clubs and National League clubs, as well as women and girls’ football, and the grassroots of the game.”