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The best and worst run Premier League and EFL clubs revealed by Fair Game for 2023

We take a look at the best and worst run Premier League and EFL clubs revealed by Fair Game for 2023. In this section, it’s Prem teams of the 2022/23 season. Check them out below…

A summary of findings sees the division score the highest average for financial sustainability (25.6), equality standards (3.6), and overall (50). But has the lowest for fan engagement (6.6).

The high financial sustainability score can be explained by the huge revenues the division receives compared to each of the other three divisions.

The clubs
Top overall: Brentford (63.34)
Best for financial sustainability: Manchester United (35.0)
Best for good governance: Tottenham Hotspur (18.32)
Best for fan engagement: Brentford (9.875)
Best for equality standards: Southampton (6.25)

ClubFinancial SustainabilityGovernance ScoreFan EngagementEquality StandardsFair Game Index
Brentford32.515.99.885.0663.34
Southampton3316.936.136.2562.3
West Ham United34.514.156.133.257.97
Everton2716.149.883.4756.49
Manchester United3512.196.882.4156.47
Liverpool30.516.885.753.2856.4
Chelsea3215.934.633.3955.94
Wolverhampton Wanderers3013.476.885.0355.37
Manchester City31.516.275.751.454.92
Arsenal2816.096.53.0753.66
Aston Villa27.512.087.255.6352.46
Tottenham Hotspur28.518.323.381.6651.85
Fulham26.512.383.8650.66
Leicester City2117.676.53.5448.71
Crystal Palace2214.996.52.2945.78
Brighton & Hove Albion17.516.4983.2345.23
Leeds United2210.364.256.142.71
Newcastle United2410.563.882.3540.78
AFC Bournemouth5.512.779.134.6332.02
Nottingham Forest46.15.81.317.2
Out of 40Out of 30Out of 20Out of 10Out of 100

FAIR GAME STATEMENT:

FAIR GAME today released the results of the Fair Game Index, a first-of-its-kind comprehensive state-of-play analysis of England’s clubs.  The Fair Game Index rates each club on four criteria – financial sustainability, good governance, equality standards and fan engagement – all measures set to come under the remit of football’s new Independent Regulator in time for the 2024/25 season.  

In the White Paper, A sustainable future – reforming club football governance, published on 23 February 2023, along with pledging to commit to a new Independent Regulator for English Football, the Government also stated that it will introduce a State of Play Survey for Football.

Fair Game partnered with world-renowned independent experts and organisations in football to create that survey. 

The Index focuses on the four key criteria, using over 80 different touchpoints, to create the most comprehensive analysis of the top 92 clubs in the English pyramid ever produced. The comprehensive accompanying report highlights the winners and losers in each division.

AFC Wimbledon emerge as England’s best run club with an overall score of 73.58 out of 100. The Premier League’s top club are Brentford. 

Championship side Plymouth Argyle boast a perfect score in the Financial Sustainability metric, whilst League One’s Cambridge United set the standard for Good Governance. Exeter City are the highest scorers for Fan Engagement, with Lincoln taking the honours for Equality Standards. In fact, clubs in Sky Bet League’s One and Two scored higher overall across all four criteria than their counterparts in the Sky Bet Championship.

Fair Game is calling for the abolition of the much talked about parachute payments which give a club relegated from the Premier League £45m. This figure is more than the Premier League gives to all 48 clubs in Sky Bet League One and Sky Bet League Two as well as all 72 in the National League, meaning that one club receives more than 120 combined!

The combined cost of Parachute Payments over three seasons could pay for half of all clubs (outside the Premier League) to have new hospitality facilities, a 4G standard pitch, a Category 3 academy, and an award-winning community programme for an entire year.  

Crucially, Fair Game’s financial experts and partners have also concluded that to properly transform the game, the Index must be used as the Government’s “backstop” criteria for any financial deal between the Premier League, the FA and the English Football League over the distribution of TV revenues.

Clubs would receive a greater portion of the vast pie of television revenue the better they performed in the Index.  Well-run clubs would be rewarded for upholding the values fans demand of their clubs, providing a financial incentive which could end the era of unscrupulous owners and financial mismanagement.

In this model, 92% of clubs below the Premier League would benefit.

Mark Middling, Director of Financial Policy for Fair Game and Senior Lecturer in Accounting at Northumbria University, said:

“Football is unsustainable. Since the start of the Premier League, there have been 64 incidents of clubs in the top four divisions going into administration.

“Companies House data reveals that 44 of the top 92 were technically insolvent in 2022, and 31% of clubs were spending more than they earn on players’ wages – that figure rises to 68% when you look at the Championship.

“And of course we have seen the collapse of Bury and Macclesfield, with numerous other clubs on the brink.

“The culture of penalties to control clubs has failed. Football needs a reboot.”

Greg Campbell, partner at Campbell Tickell and leading expert on regulative practices in the UK, said:

“The most effective kind of regulation is not simply about the regulator waving a big stick: it’s ‘co-regulation’, where organisations being regulated are encouraged and incentivised to improve, leading to better and more effective outcomes.

“What is impressive about the Fair Game Index is that it would build in rewards for clubs that demonstrate good practice in such areas as their governance, financial management, fan engagement, and promotion of diversity and inclusion, and the way they engage with and support their local communities. In short, this model would be a great asset for a new Independent Regulator for Football and help create a fairer future for our National Game.”

Niall Couper, CEO of Fair Game, added:

“There will be a new regulator. There will be a new state of play survey for football. There will be new financial flow.

“The Fair Game Index paints a realistic picture of what our game could look like, a future where football chooses to reward well-run clubs.

“Fair Game are working hard with communities, experts, football interest groups, fans, clubs and politicians to transform this picture into reality.

“For the first time, the building blocks are in place.”

Couper added:  

“Premier League clubs have rejected calls to increase the financial flow through the pyramid because of risky financial behaviour by some clubs in the EFL. Distributing more money through the Index to the better run clubs in the pyramid resolves those concerns.” 

The model acknowledges that both parachute payments and the EFL’s current distribution model (80% of revenue received from Premier League TV revenues goes to Championship clubs, 12% to League One, and 8% to League Two) are flawed and should be phased out and replaced by the Independent Regulator.

The Fair Game Index offers a glimpse of a football landscape with a fairer distribution model that addresses the financial cliff edges between the divisions.  Fair Game’s financial experts concluded that the regulator’s preferred option must be a distribution model of:

  • 50% to Championship clubs
  • 25% to League One
  • 13% to League Two
  • 6% to National League
  • 3% to National League South
  • 3% to National League North

Based on these figures, 92% of clubs outside the Premier League would benefit financially from the implementation of the Index.  

This would offer a financial lifeline to struggling clubs in the lower leagues, whilst also providing a roadmap for clubs to become more sustainable.

Continue our look at the best and worst run Premier League and EFL clubs revealed by Fair Game for 2023. In this section, it’s second tier teams of the 2022/23 season. Just click on the next page…

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