L

Lord Bassam of Brighton (Lab)

Speaking in the House of Lords on 15 January 2025

Debate

Football Governance Bill [HL]

Contribution

I remind the noble Baroness that parachute payments have not always been at the level they currently are. In 2010-11 parachute payments were something like £30 million; by 2020-21 they had escalated to £233 million, which is an eightfold increase. This was during a period in which player wages only doubled. The noble Baroness’s point about the need to ensure that there is no cliff edge around financial commitments to players is not entirely valid. Why did the parachute payments need to grow so rapidly and by so much during that period? I do not argue against the principle of parachute payments; I recognise their importance and the need to soften the blow that is a product of relegation. But the noble Baroness must accept that they have a distorting impact on promotion bids by Championship clubs. Over the last seven seasons, 14 of the 21 clubs promoted were in receipt of parachute payments, where previously that was not the case.

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