MILLWALL manager Gary Rowett wants to see a fairer “filtering-down” of parachute payments – as the three clubs that got relegated last season from the Premier League could all bounce straight back up.
Champions Norwich and Watford are already promoted and Bournemouth will join them if they win the play-offs. It would be the first time since the start of the Premier League in 1992-93 that had happened.
But there have been five seasons when two clubs relegated to the second tier have been promoted in the following campaign. Fulham have been promoted twice and relegated twice in the last four seasons and in 2021-22 they will aim for three promotions in three campaigns after dropping into the Championship.
Clubs coming down from the top flight receive between £75-90million in parachute payments over two or three years.
At the other end of the Championship table, Wycombe and Rotherham went straight back down as they struggled to compete after promotion.
Bournemouth host Brentford tonight in their play-off semi-final first leg, with Barnsley and Swansea in the other tie.
“I know it’s probably going to end but if you look at this season’s wage cap in League One and then you look at the parachute payments for the teams that come down, I think for those six teams in question there are disadvantages and advantages,” Rowett said.
“The three teams that come down have a huge advantage, of course, and for the three teams that come up from League One there’s a huge disadvantage.
“Because you can’t suddenly quadruple your budget within six weeks with the risk that you might not be in that division for more than a season.
“So it seems a little bit illogical to get that at one end and not to get it at the other end.
“But it’s the Premier League, isn’t it? We’ve seen it recently where money trumps all.
“I understand that you’ve got to push hard to have a competitive chance of staying in the Premier League. However, it then seems unfair that you can fail for a season, get relegated, and then have a massive advantage in trying to go back up.
“But most seasons it’s not that easy. I think this season it’s an anomaly that all three teams – if they haven’t already got promoted – have a chance of being promoted back straightaway.
“There has to be a more even filtering-down of some of that parachute money, in my opinion, to give all teams in all leagues a slightly fairer and even chance.”
Meanwhile, Millwall confirmed last week that they had crashed through the 5,000 barrier for season tickets sold for 2021-22.
In a video message on social media, Rowett said: “Hi guys, we’ve just hit 5,000 season tickets for next season – fabulous response from everybody.
“I hope to see you down at The Den soon. I think it’s going to be an exciting season.”
Image: Millwall FC