‘Depressing’- Finance expert says Spurs made a big blunder with their latest vote

Football Finance expert Kieran Maguire has said that Tottenham Hotspur and some other Premier League clubs have made a big mistake by voting against redistributing revenue to the lower end of the footballing pyramid.

It emerged earlier this month that talks over a deal to distribute £900m to EFL clubs over the next six years had collapsed.

The Daily Mail revealed that 10 Premier League sides had voted against the proposal, with Tottenham joined by the likes of Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, West Ham, Aston Villa, Wolves, Nottingham Forest, Crystal Palace and Bournemouth in rejecting the deal.

The outlet even suggested that those 10 sides considered legal action if they were forced to provide money to other clubs looking to take their place in the top flight.

Tottenham make yet another public blunder

While Maguire is not surprised by the result of the vote, he insisted that the clubs might come to regret their decision, arguing that it is in their self-interest for the EFL sides to be protected as these clubs could end up getting relegated in the future.

When asked about the proposal being rejected, he told Football Insider: “Billionaires and private equity didn’t get to where they are today by looking after people less fortunate themselves.

“This is being evidenced by those clubs who opposed the new deal on offer to clubs in the EFL and grass-roots football in general. So there was no great surprise that there was such a significant split in terms of the most recent vote.

“But it’s depressing that money which had been hinted at earlier on in the season has shown no sign of being passed across to clubs in the EFL. If you take a look at the EFL itself, there are 30 clubs that are previous members of the Premier League operating in it.

“There seems to be a lack of self-awareness from those clubs, especially towards the bottom of the league, as it’s actually in their long-term interests to be more benevolent.”

Spurs Web Opinion

The result of this vote is not surprising as all clubs tend to vote for their narrow self-interest these days.

While one can understand why the likes of Spurs, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal voted the way they did, it is rather surprising that Forest, Bournemouth and Wolves did the same, given that relegation is very much on the cards for those clubs over the coming years.