Foreign owners 'want to end Premier League relegation and promotion'

League Managers' Association chief executive makes claim
Richard Bevan hopes licensing system can prevent proposal
The Barclays Premier League trophy
Richard Bevan fears foreign Premier League owners could attempt to force through a vote to abolish relegation. Photograph: David Levene for the Guardian David Levene/Guardian

Several of the biggest Premier League clubs want to scrap relegation and promotion, according to the League Managers' Association chief executive, Richard Bevan.

Bevan claimed the American and Asian owners in the top flight would be keen on a franchising model that would fly in the face of English footballing tradition. Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Aston Villa and Sunderland are all in US hands, Manchester City are run from Abu Dhabi, while other clubs including Chelsea and Blackburn also have overseas investors.

He fears that if more teams change ownership there could be a vote to abolish relegation, a move which would require the backing of two thirds of Premier League clubs as well as Football Association approval. The LMA's chief executive is hoping that can be prevented by the recent parliamentary inquiry into football governance, which recommended the FA adopts a licensing system.

Speaking at the Professional Players Federation conference in London, Bevan said: "There are a number of overseas-owned clubs already talking about bringing about the avoidance of promotion and relegation in the Premier League. If we have four or five more new owners, that could happen."

He added: "You'll find that with American owners and you'll find that with some of the Asian owners as well. If you look at sport all around the world and you look at sport owners trying to work out how to invest and make money, you'll find that most of them like the idea of franchises.

"If you take, particularly, American owners, without doubt there have been a number of them looking at possibly having more of a franchise situation. That would mean no promotion or relegation. That would obviously not be good news for English football.



The Premier League clubs have not formally discussed any such move since the Bolton chairman, Phil Gartside, proposed a two-tiered structure two years ago, an idea soon dismissed.

However, Bevan still believes it is a possibility, arguing any new owner would not need to be from overseas for them to see there would be money to be made from scrapping relegation. "It doesn't really matter if you're from overseas or not, does it?" he said. "It doesn't matter whether you're from Birmingham or you're from Burma."


Bevan said: "We want to see a more formalised licensing programme. You create a platform in which if I want to own Shrewsbury Town, Manchester United, whatever, I'm the caretaker of that club and take it from one region to another or play games abroad.

"It has to sit with the FA and, ultimately, it has to sit as well with Fifa and Uefa. That has to be the pyramid and structure. The role that the FA plays has to be a much stronger one than in the past.

"The problem with the RFU and the ECB and the FA are institutions. And institutions, when they're around successful business people, often move a little bit slower. Government is important to help them."