As Premier League clubs seek government support to restart the focus is on the brutal gap to the Football League’s three divisions
If one impact of the Covid‑19 catastrophe has been to hold Britain rigid and shine a merciless light on all our structures, it was inevitable that football’s struggles would culminate in a piercing look at the money. And just as there are calls for fundamental improvements to the nation’s inequities when the horror is finally over, a focus is emerging on football’s own inequalities and how sustainable they really are.
The financial gap between the Premier League and the rest has widened exponentially over the 28 years since the First Division clubs broke away from sharing with the Football League’s other three divisions, but the divide now is brutal. While the Premier League is straining to resume matches and thereby fulfil its lucrative pay-TV contracts, and seeking government support by saying that it distributes big money down the system, League One and Two clubs are contemplating packing up and fearing many could go bust.
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