Carlisle Utd chief expects Premier League will help EFL avoid "Armageddon"

Nixon says he is certain the top-flight will strike a deal to come to the rescue of EFL clubs who are facing a nightmare financial outlook because of Covid-19.

The EFL have asked for a £250m bailout as they prepare for months of games without fans.

Nixon, who represents League Two clubs on the EFL board, says it is imperative a solution is found before the end of October, otherwise some clubs will quickly collapse.

He doubted, though, whether the Premier League would come up with the full £250m, and suggested it was likely there would be caveats to any such support.

He also said the EFL were “actively” looking at other sources of emergency cash in their bid to avert a wide-scale crisis in the lower leagues.

And the director added that it was essential Leagues One and Two continued their seasons despite the challenges posed by Covid-19 because some clubs were unlikely to survive any further shutdown.

Nixon, speaking at Brunton Park this morning, said the game was now entering a short, crucial period by which point help must be secured.

He said: “October is the critical month.

"For September, to get the season up and running, we all got the September and October payments brought forward.

"The Premier League money due in January, we all got half of that at the beginning of August. That got us through getting people back into training, and the second half of that money we will now get in October.

"What we had was this holiday period of stuff, furlough and the like, which took us through the summer but is now dropping off. The advanced payments which were brought forward don’t come again, but we should find that October is ok.

“Those who are at the edge are going to fall off the edge if they have nothing at the end of October. That’s the way I see it.

“I think it’s imperative that a solution is found quickly.

“I can only say that I am absolutely involved and aware that the Football League are looking at different ways of trying to get finance in, and actively working on it – not just thinking about it. So that’s good.

“And I know we will have a solution. Have I got confidence? If you are to ask me will we have something, I think the answer is going to be yes, because we all want to see English football survive and the pyramid survive.

“Is it going to be the best solution and the right solution? Because of the timescale, the answer to that is probably no. And the nearer you get to the edge, the worse you get in terms of solutions you dare to take. But I’m pretty certain there will be a solution of some kind.”

Top-flight bosses have been meeting today to discuss the possibility of helping smaller clubs.

Nixon stressed that “Armageddon is pretty close” for some EFL clubs due to the extended period without fans.

He said the recent period, when clubs used the Government’s furlough scheme and some Premier League solidarity cash was brought forward, had helped but had also served to “kick the can down the road” until such support ran out.

“The reason there’s so much concern now with [culture secretary] Oliver Dowden and everybody is that we’re nearly into October, so what comes to help us next?” Nixon said.

“If we can’t find a way to get funds into clubs [then some clubs falling] is inevitable. Particularly in the lower leagues, around 30 per cent of income in League One and League Two comes from fans.

"If we don’t have any crowds all season, that’s obviously almost a third of your business you lose out on. I think it’s inevitable that we will have some very difficult times.”

But he added: “I would say the Premier League will definitely come up with something. They’ve never let us down in the past.

“Whether it’s what we want, and as much as we want…

“We’ve asked them for £250m; £50m lost last season, and £200m needed if it’s behind closed doors this season.

“Bear in mind if you’ve got that kind of money, you’ve then got to get into a situation of how do you share it out? You can rest assured that the 24 in the Championship will want the lion’s share. But they’ve got the lion’s share of costs.

“I don’t think the Premier League will come up with [all] that cash at the end of the day but I do think they will give us one piece - [and] I would like to hope it’s a grant…

“Sky have supported us – I can’t see them giving us money but they are supporting us by not taking it away. We’re really grateful for Sky.

“I think the EFL will find other routes to ensure that there is cash there.”

Asked what those routes could entail, Nixon said: “You can always go to market; going to market to get cash with an organisation like EFL has always got to be a possibility.

“Then you’ve got to look at other people who might want to invest inside your organisation.

“So you’ve got investors, you’ve got market and you’ve got the Premier League – that’s how I see it at present.”

Dowden has called on the top flight to "step up to the plate" with the Goverment making it clear they expect football to find some of the answers from within the industry.

Nixon was asked by the News & Star if he felt the Premier League had a moral duty to help clubs lower down the pyramid.

He said: “I wouldn’t call it just a moral duty. The Premier League want to retain the pyramid – if you don’t, [you just have] 20 Premier League teams playing against each other every season, which is a dead duck.

“They want to retain the pyramid – which three are going up, which three going down, that’s where [the interest] is. That’s what it is for supporters as well.

“You could just be a Barnsley who’ve avoided relegation, and you just might get promoted to the Premier League the next season. They know that and desperately want to retain that. But some clubs in the Premier League don’t really want to retain relegation…”

Nixon admitted the EFL had to be aware of potential caveats that might come with any Premier League help.

But he would not comment on any specific possibilities in that respect.

He added: “In the past, when we’ve taken deals from the Premier League, they’ve been very good.

“The first one was to pick up the players’ contracts, so we all have the same contract now. The next one was EPPP, the youth system, and that’s still causing us at the low levels a lot of hurt, because good players just disappear in the academy system, and that rule of 50 miles, 100 miles…has disappeared. And the compensation level as well.

“One of the last players to be transferred without the [EPPP] compensation level was where we had to bargain hard, and Alex Ferguson told me ‘I’ll never deal with you again if you don’t agree to [Dean] Henderson going' [in 2011]…

“It’s difficult. So you’ve got to expect, like anybody that’s giving you money, there will be some caveats, I think. It’s just how big the caveats are.

"I think that’s always going to be a dilemma for us. You can’t sell your future. You have to be careful. Or, how much are you prepared to give to get what you want?

“We’re not in a great position because our back is up against the wall for the next 31 days.

“[Whatever it is], it will be brought back to clubs and the clubs will have to decide whether to accept it.”

Nixon, meanwhile, said he shared EFL chairman Rick Parry’s determination that the League One and Two seasons would continue and be completed.

He said anything else would put clubs at risk of oblivion.

“I think we need to remain relevant,” he said.

“I think if we had to go into lockdown and shut down again, I fear that the Armageddon [we've talked about]…some of the clubs near the edge wouldn’t come back again.

“Then you really are looking at the 72 [EFL clubs] and how many’s left.

“We just need to keep playing football and emerge from this crisis stronger.

“So it comes back to the question, ‘Are we gonna get some cash?’ – the answer is we have to get some cash. If we want to stop that fear becoming reality, we have to get cash.”

Nixon added that the community aspect of football should be highlighted as one of the key reasons why clubs should be helped.

He added: “It’s absolutely vital. Oliver Dowden, I think, recognises that.

“Can Government help us out? I think they could. I don’t think they would put in loans, I’ve got to be honest. I just don’t think you can help out every industry. We’re not like an industry that’s making product to sell that’s vital.

“But there might be other ways in which they help and maybe I would hope the Government maybe can help – maybe they can guarantee loans, nought per cent [interest rates] and things like that, I don’t know. But I don’t see them giving us a simple handout at all.”

Nixon, who also sits on the FA Council, FA Cup Committee and Professional Game Board and chairs the EFL Trust, said United were among many who had lobbied their local members of parliament on the issue of helping football clubs.

“Nigel [Clibbens, United chief executive] has written to our MP [John Stevenson], he wrote a really strong and long letter to him, and it was well received.

“A lot of clubs have done the same, so we can get the message across to Oliver Dowden and those in Government about what we’re trying to do.”

United said Stevenson replied to the club and was supportive of fans returning to games once it was deemed safe.