League must do all it can to avoid financial meltdown says new boss

IN times that can justifiably be described as 'difficult', 'harsh' and 'challenging', new Football League chairman Greg Clarke has one simple target ahead of the new season: Keeping all 72 member clubs alive.

The 52-year-old successor to Lord Mawhinney started his tenure three months ago amid financial conditions unprecedented in a generation.

With the recession having bitten hard across the country, football's gravy train had well and truly hit the buffers with even the top clubs in the cash-heavy Premier League feeling the pinch.

Clarke's arrival at the Football League, therefore, was timely thanks to his considerable experience of big business as chief executive of Cable & Wireless and Australian conglomerate Lend Lease.

Not only that, he also spent a short period as chairman of Leicester City – leading the Foxes through administration before heading a consortium, including Gary Lineker, that bought the club back – so he knows all about the harsh side of football life.

Speaking exclusively to the Yorkshire Post ahead of his first full season as chairman getting underway this weekend, Clarke said: "The big issue for the Football League is simple. Namely, keeping as many clubs alive as possible.

"I am a big believer in there being 72 members of the League and will do all in my power to ensure they all survive and prosper.

"These are the most trying financial circumstances we have faced as a country in a generation, no matter what walk of life you are in.

"The economic outlook is bleak, we could all see that in the bulletins from the Treasury earlier this month with house prices down and living standards not expected to recover to 2007 levels until 2014.

"This all adds up to a big challenge because it all inevitably impacts on football. Banks are not giving credit to companies, for instance, while even at the lower level of things, fans are opting not to buy a pie or the latest away shirt. It all adds up to a big challenge and is why the Football League wants to work with the clubs."

No county knows more about financial hardship in football, of course, than Yorkshire with no less than eight of our senior clubs – Hull City, Barnsley, Leeds United, Bradford City (twice), Huddersfield Town, Rotherham United (twice), York City and Doncaster Rovers – having endured stints in administration.

Both Halifax Town and Scarborough also went under before reforming further down the pyramid, while just last month Sheffield Wednesday were served with a winding up order over an unpaid tax bill.

It also emerged last week that the Owls have been hit with two separate transfer embargoes by the Football League this summer over outstanding payments of PAYE and national insurance.

Wednesday have fallen foul of the rule that states any club failing to pay its PAYE bill within 28 days of the due date will immediately be subjected to the sanction.

It is a rule Clarke insists is in the interests of all member clubs, acting as a self-policing tool to prevent them getting deeper into trouble.

The Football League chairman said: "Historically, what has happened is if clubs saw a way of not paying a big debtor then they would take it. Tax bills were one of those. But what we, as a League, want to do is encourage member clubs to take tax seriously.

"My view is that if a club can't afford to pay its bills then why should it be able to bring players in? 'You can't spend what you haven't got' is a basic rule of business.

"The League did this deal (over the implementation of transfer embargoes) with the HM Revenue and Customs a couple of years ago.

"I am very keen on it, not just in terms of helping clubs but also on the basis that our Government are running the country and have some difficult decisions to make.

"Things like getting the right equipment for our troops and making sure the hospitals can keep employing nurses. So, it is only right that football clubs pay their tax bills."

Clarke's management style is likely to represent a shift in direction compared to predecessor Lord Mawhinney, who during his seven years at the helm of the League oversaw radical changes such as the successful rebranding of Divisions One, Two and Three as Championship, League One and Two.

The former Conservative Party chairman also dealt with the fallout from ITV Digital's collapse, while one of his last acts was to secure a 7m-per-year sponsorship deal for the League with npower – a 1m per year improvement on the previous 18m, three-year backing from Coca-Cola.

Throughout his reign, Mawhinney was a familiar face on our television screens with his political skills proving invaluable during the more controversial episodes, such as the furore and legal action that followed Leeds United being deducted 15 points in 2007.

Clarke, however, plans to be less high-profile with his priority being to put skills honed in the world outside of football to good use.

He said: "I have been in the job for three months and notice that the problems facing clubs now are the same as they were when I was involved at Leicester. Namely, clubs spending too much on wages in relation to their income.

"I had 30 years in the corporate world and those skills can be useful in the current financial climate.

"My background in business helped me get the job. Lord Mawhinney did a cracking job but the Football League wanted a businessman as opposed to a politician because the problems are business-related and not political.

"I want to build relationships with the chairmen and the clubs. The key is working together with my role being as possible guidance. I am not going to wade in and tell people what to do."

Keen not to paint too negative a picture of the challenges facing the League, Clarke added: "It is important to remember there are a lot of positives around amid the problems.

"The Football League remains a very strong brand, we had the highest attendances in 50 years last season with 17.1m coming through the turnstiles and we remain the fourth-most watched league in Europe (after the Premier League, La Liga and Bundesliga).

"Also, the Johnstone's Paint Trophy was watched by more fans last season than ever before with gates up by more than 50 per cent.

"The key, though, is that every year we have to protect the Football League by making the competition better. The alternative is going backwards and, for me, there is an important lesson to be learned from snooker.

"Twenty years ago, we all sat up and watched the games on television long into the night but now snooker is a shadow of the sport it once was. That is a lesson for us all."

Greg Clarke Factfile

Age: 52

Business career: Has spent 30 years in corporate business, including 14 years as chief executive of multi-national companies, including Cable & Wireless and Lend Lease.

Career in football: Joined Leicester City PLC board in 2000 before moving up to chairman. He played a key role for the consortium, which included Gary Lineker, that brought the club out of administration in 2002. Appointed Football League chairman in April, 2010.

Supports: Leicester City, where he remains a season-ticket holder and says, "the only downside to the job is not seeing as much of Leicester as I used to".