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Wanderers’ new signings will count towards any incoming salary caps in League One and Two, even if they are completed before plans are officially voted in.
Discussions are set to continue this week with the EFL over regulations which would set annual wage and bonus limits of £2.5million and £1.5million in the respective divisions.
A final vote is not expected to be held until the end of the month but The Bolton News has learned that all existing contracts for players aged over 21 – backdated to June – will count towards the quota.
That means the salary agreed for Eoin Doyle and the re-signed Ali Crawford will be deducted from the £1.5m.
The plans are still being met with heavy objection from a handful of League One sides, including Sunderland and Portsmouth, but it is believed the necessary two-thirds support does exist from members clubs which would be required to vote it through.
Under the existing proposal, existing contracts which pre-date the June 20 cut-off would be assessed at the divisional mean for the first 12 months. In Wanderers’ case that would apply for Ryan Delaney, Liam Edwards and Muhammadu Faal if their salary exceeded the average.
The fact that Wanderers trimmed 14 professional players from the books this summer has left them with more scope than many of their rival clubs in League Two. They are also boosted by the fact that half a dozen players – including Ronan Darcy, Sonny Graham and Dennis Politic - already have first team experience from last season and will not count towards the cap because they are under-21.
Portsmouth chief executive, Mark Catlin, whose club currently pay around £4million a year on salaries, has been among the leading voices asking the EFL to shelve salary cap plans.
“It is an absolute disgrace,” he told The News. “I have been fighting this behind the scenes and will be fighting it even more strongly over the coming weeks and months.
“Outline proposals have been sent out, although there has not been a formal document. There are a few clubs, including ourselves, that are totally against restricting salaries.
“It’s a crazy proposal which is supposed to be about sustainability, yet Pompey are going to be unable to spend what we can afford.
"However, this still encourages almost three quarters of the league to use their owners to put money in to get to our wage structure. Basically, it caps the top clubs that can afford it.
"I have been arguing for a cap linked to turnover, a cap linked to operational profit, a cap linked to anything which allows the larger clubs to operate properly. It makes no sense to me."
Sunderland CEO Jim Rodwell has called for a transitional period in which clubs like his own – whose spending on wages as a League One club in 2019/20 was in excess of £10m – can adjust to the new restrictions.
Wanderers said back in May that they would be broadly in support of salary caps being introduced and other clubs including Newport County, Bristol Rovers, Grimsby Town and Salford City have also indicated they would vote in favour of their introduction.
Grimsby chairman Phillip Day told Grimsby Live: “I am very much in favour. It means clubs will have to pay within their means.
“At the moment it is a different approach – you can spend 50 per cent of your income on player costs.
“But that income can include not only what you take through gate receipts, sponsorship, and commercial, it can also include situations when an owner wants to put a lot of money in or if an owner wants to use another one of his companies to help the club by commercial support – that can be taken into account as ‘income’.
“Hopefully the new salary cap will mean a more level playing field for all clubs in League Two.”
Source
Discussions are set to continue this week with the EFL over regulations which would set annual wage and bonus limits of £2.5million and £1.5million in the respective divisions.
A final vote is not expected to be held until the end of the month but The Bolton News has learned that all existing contracts for players aged over 21 – backdated to June – will count towards the quota.
That means the salary agreed for Eoin Doyle and the re-signed Ali Crawford will be deducted from the £1.5m.
The plans are still being met with heavy objection from a handful of League One sides, including Sunderland and Portsmouth, but it is believed the necessary two-thirds support does exist from members clubs which would be required to vote it through.
Under the existing proposal, existing contracts which pre-date the June 20 cut-off would be assessed at the divisional mean for the first 12 months. In Wanderers’ case that would apply for Ryan Delaney, Liam Edwards and Muhammadu Faal if their salary exceeded the average.
The fact that Wanderers trimmed 14 professional players from the books this summer has left them with more scope than many of their rival clubs in League Two. They are also boosted by the fact that half a dozen players – including Ronan Darcy, Sonny Graham and Dennis Politic - already have first team experience from last season and will not count towards the cap because they are under-21.
Portsmouth chief executive, Mark Catlin, whose club currently pay around £4million a year on salaries, has been among the leading voices asking the EFL to shelve salary cap plans.
“It is an absolute disgrace,” he told The News. “I have been fighting this behind the scenes and will be fighting it even more strongly over the coming weeks and months.
“Outline proposals have been sent out, although there has not been a formal document. There are a few clubs, including ourselves, that are totally against restricting salaries.
“It’s a crazy proposal which is supposed to be about sustainability, yet Pompey are going to be unable to spend what we can afford.
"However, this still encourages almost three quarters of the league to use their owners to put money in to get to our wage structure. Basically, it caps the top clubs that can afford it.
"I have been arguing for a cap linked to turnover, a cap linked to operational profit, a cap linked to anything which allows the larger clubs to operate properly. It makes no sense to me."
Sunderland CEO Jim Rodwell has called for a transitional period in which clubs like his own – whose spending on wages as a League One club in 2019/20 was in excess of £10m – can adjust to the new restrictions.
Wanderers said back in May that they would be broadly in support of salary caps being introduced and other clubs including Newport County, Bristol Rovers, Grimsby Town and Salford City have also indicated they would vote in favour of their introduction.
Grimsby chairman Phillip Day told Grimsby Live: “I am very much in favour. It means clubs will have to pay within their means.
“At the moment it is a different approach – you can spend 50 per cent of your income on player costs.
“But that income can include not only what you take through gate receipts, sponsorship, and commercial, it can also include situations when an owner wants to put a lot of money in or if an owner wants to use another one of his companies to help the club by commercial support – that can be taken into account as ‘income’.
“Hopefully the new salary cap will mean a more level playing field for all clubs in League Two.”
Source