EXCLUSIVE: Premier League and EFL FINALLY agree a £250M bailout – and money could be ‘flowing within a week’ to crisis clubs after top tier was pushed into offering a more generous package for Leagues One and Two
- The rescue package includes £30m in grants and £20m in loans for lower leagues
- Clubs have been pushed to the brink by the coronavirus pandemic that has prevented fans from attending matches and massively reduced their income
- Premier League and EFL have been criticised for the time taken to agree the deal
- Club officials desperate for support think they could receive help within a week
A deal between the Premier League and EFL to bailout lower league clubs is about to be finalised as part of a £250 million package and cash could start flowing to crisis clubs ‘within a week’, Sportsmail can reveal.
Football League clubs have been successful in pushing the Premier League into improving their offer to Leagues One and Two.
It will now provide more money in grants and the loan fund will be available on more favourable terms, Sportsmail understands.
The Premier League and EFL have been in discussion over a bailout deal for months
The original offer was £20m in grants and £30m in loans. EFL clubs pushed back and asked for the whole sum to be available in grants, arguing they were already struggling with a heavy debt burden.
The new offer will be £30m in grants and £20m in loans, but the terms the lending will be much improved terms.
One club official told Sportsmail: ‘I think it will be acceptable to League One and Two clubs. It is very close. There is a real prospect of money flowing within a week.’
Rick Parry, chairman of the EFL ( left) and the Premier League’s chief executive Richard Masters (right) have appeared before MPs on the DCMS Select Committee
Sportsmail has learned that at a meeting this morning the EFL Board voted to take the money on offer from the Premier League, which will be made available immediately to those clubs in the bottom two divisions in the greatest financial need.
The Premier League will also formally sign off the deal at their shareholders’ meeting today ending a lengthy stand-off that began last May when the government made clear that a rescue package was needed for the lower leagues.
The government last month agreed to provide £300m in aid for sport, but none to male professional football on the grounds that the sport should be financially solvent enough to save itself.
Chairmen in the lower leagues will be keen to see the detail since the last offer was not acceptable to them
Another club official told Sportsmail that he still had reservations.
‘There is not enough to go around,’ said the official. ‘There is absolutely no chance it will cover it.’
DCMS select committee chairman Julian Knight said efforts to agree a bailout were a ‘farce’