West Ham stand against Premier League shake up
West Ham are claimed as being strongly opposed to plans from Liverpool and Manchester United to reform the English football pyramid, according to a club source.
The Project Big Picture proposals have been put together by Liverpool owner John Henry and United co-chairman Joel Glazer.
A West Ham club source quoted by the BBC said the loss of two home games – will hit their finances, while at the same time create space for more European games and lucrative pre-season friendlies, which would disproportionately benefit the ‘big six’.
The plans include reducing the Premier League to 18 clubs and scrapping the EFL Cup.
In return, the EFL would get 25% of all future TV deals, which would be negotiated jointly, plus the £250m bail-out many clubs have been demanding since May.
This is the fourth season in a row where the ‘big six’ have all qualified for European football. In the past 10 seasons, one of them has missed out on only four occasions.
Over the past decade, West Ham have had two European campaigns, both of which ended during the qualifying rounds. Southampton and Everton have also qualified for Europe twice in the same period.
“The big six are using Covid for a power grab,” said the West Ham source. “If this goes through, over time they will just use more and more for themselves.”