Spurs BOE loan - damaging or restrictive conditions? | Vital Football

Spurs BOE loan - damaging or restrictive conditions?

Spursex

Alert Team
I can't help but wonder if Spurs have been treated any differently to how the FA have i.e. no bonus payments, no pay rises until repaid?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/52924157

If so, it might also explain some of the reports we keep hearing of agents and players losing the plot with the club, and if these conditions have been imposed it will also help explain teh stampede for teh existence that so many pundits and sources allude on about..?

England players will not receive Euro bonuses until FA pay back taxpayer-backed loan

The £175m ultra-low-interest Bank of England loan was granted under conditions of a 'pay restraint' if not repaid fully by May 19

By Ben Rumsby 24 March 2021 • 10:37am

England players will not receive a performance bonus at the European Championship unless the Football Association repays a £175 million taxpayer-backed loan beforehand, Telegraph Sport has been told.

Whitehall sources have insisted the terms of the ultra-low-interest Bank of England loan prohibit the FA rewarding Gareth Southgate’s Euro 2020 squad for their exploits while any of it remains outstanding.
That follows calls from MPs for the Government and FA to “’fess up” about whether millions of pounds of public money would end up in the pockets of England players.

The FA borrowed the money almost six months ago through what is called the Covid Corporate Financing Facility (CCFF), the use of which requires a commitment to “pay restraint” unless the cash is repaid in full by May 19.

As revealed by Telegraph Sport, when the English Football League sought to borrow £75m through the same scheme last month, it was told it could only do so if its clubs agreed unprecedented curbs on player pay rises and bonuses.

Neither the Treasury nor the FA – which as of last week had yet to repay a penny of its loan – would divulge when the latter was due to cough up what it owed or whether it was subject to similar conditions to those imposed on the EFL.

That compounded fears the cash given to the FA would be used to pay performance bonuses to England players at the postponed Euros, which is due to be played between June 11 and July 11.

The Telegraph has been told the FA plans to repay the loan before player bonuses are due.

Any Euro 2020 bonus would be paid a year after the FA announced the coronavirus crisis would force it to make 124 roles redundant – 15 per cent of its workforce – amid potential losses of about £300m.
At the last World Cup, Southgate’s 23-man squad pocketed millions for finishing fourth under a bonus structure believed to peak at £5 million for winning the tournament.

Southgate, who was on a bonus of up to £1.5m at the World Cup, took a 30 per cent pay cut in April as a result of the crisis.

Julian Knight, the chairman of the Digital, Culture, Media & Sport select committee, had said prior to this decision that the Treasury and FA “ought to "fess up and be transparent” about what he said was “taxpayer money”.

He added: “It would seem to be wrong if this applied to the EFL but didn’t apply to the FA. The EFL has no control over player pay so that doesn’t seem fair on the EFL.”

Clive Efford, Labour’s former shadow sports minister and a committee colleague of Knight’s, echoed his views earlier this week, saying: “There is absolutely no way this should be kept a secret.
“They should make it clear that the terms and conditions that apply to that loan scheme applies to everyone equally.


“Most football fans would give their right arm to play for England. I’m surprised they need bonuses."

Steve Brine, a former Conservative minister turned DCMS select committee member, also added: “I don’t think England players should get bonuses, full stop. They’re paid a lot of money as it is.”

The CCFF was set up last March to provide loans of up to a year to companies that could prove they made a material contribution to the British economy.

Tottenham Hotspur were first from the world of football to borrow from it in June when they were also awarded £175m, due to be repaid by March 31, plus 0.5 per cent interest.(my understanding is the loan can be rolled over for one year - but that would surely have an impact on players payments?)


The club promised the facility would not be used to buy players but “ensure we have financial flexibility and additional working capital during these challenging times” and help pay off the debt and interest on their £1.2 billion new stadium.

They were followed in January by Arsenal, who borrowed £120m through the scheme.
Other companies that have taken advantage of the CCFF include John Lewis, easyJet, Nissan, Rolls Royce and Ryanair.
 
And it will prove once and for all IT'S NOT THE MANAGER THAT IS THE PROBLEM.
 
One part of your article stands out Ex, Professional footballers receiving bonus's for representing their Country, for me that's a crime, they should be so proud to achieve this recognition, thus a bonus is not required or paid.
 
One part of your article stands out Ex, Professional footballers receiving bonus's for representing their Country, for me that's a crime, they should be so proud to achieve this recognition, thus a bonus is not required or paid.

It goes to show how quickly structures and processes can become outdated.

Time was playing for England gave you nothing financially, no appearance fee, not even cover if you got injured whilst 'on duty'.

So around 20 years ago the PFA stepped in and said 'this won't do' why should the FA chuck 100's of thousands into their back pockets and we the entertainers get SFA?!

The old men in suits were accused of being greedy and making themselves comfortable whilst ignoring the fact that players (at that time) weren't on the greatest live enriching wage - in fact in many cases, not even close (which is why you see so many 'legends' scraping a living from hosting hospitality at the clubs they once served....

Nowadays of course if you become an established England international, chances are you won't earn less than £40-60k a week...

So is the principle of sharing teh spoils wrong or have the bonus's simply got out of control?

It is an honour to serve or represent your country, I suspect almost everyone would agree with that, but does it also mean they shouldn't get a share of the spoils - bear in mind the FA is almost highly dependent on them for their vast income..

I think the players deserve it, as it is a product of their work - what say you?
 
I know where you're going with this, but others may not - would you care to explain further old boy?

:whist:


Not without proof that the loan had a "no bonus" clause. But if it did it would negate XVausch's assertion that the players have a good relationship with Levy.
 
It goes to show how quickly structures and processes can become outdated.

Time was playing for England gave you nothing financially, no appearance fee, not even cover if you got injured whilst 'on duty'.

So around 20 years ago the PFA stepped in and said 'this won't do' why should the FA chuck 100's of thousands into their back pockets and we the entertainers get SFA?!

The old men in suits were accused of being greedy and making themselves comfortable whilst ignoring the fact that players (at that time) weren't on the greatest live enriching wage - in fact in many cases, not even close (which is why you see so many 'legends' scraping a living from hosting hospitality at the clubs they once served....

Nowadays of course if you become an established England international, chances are you won't earn less than £40-60k a week...

So is the principle of sharing teh spoils wrong or have the bonus's simply got out of control?

It is an honour to serve or represent your country, I suspect almost everyone would agree with that, but does it also mean they shouldn't get a share of the spoils - bear in mind the FA is almost highly dependent on them for their vast income..

I think the players deserve it, as it is a product of their work - what say you?
No I still think the players should take it as an honour representing ones country, so why not plough the "bonus dosh" into grassroots football/schools, how many have lost their sport playing facilities since I left school in the late 60's, or is that way to easy.
 
No I still think the players should take it as an honour representing ones country, so why not plough the "bonus dosh" into grassroots football/schools, how many have lost their sport playing facilities since I went to school till the late 60's, or is that way to easy.

I don't have a problem with the 23 players going to a tournament having an additional bonus for winning it. In the case of Mezit Ozil in 2014 he paid for 23 kids to have operations with his winnings. It was about £250k.

If the PL clubs can't stop this "but we pay their salaries" bullshit then perhaps The FA should centralise the pot again and pay the players. It is after all England fans paying their TV licenses and Sky subscriptions that pay for the 4 weeks in the season of international fixtures. We wouldn't even question that concept in rugby or cricket when teams lose their international players for a few weeks.

Ultimately, our international football game needs promoting back to former levels. I feel sorry for the kids today not growing up with that feeling of wanting to play for their country at football like they do at every other sport.
 
I don't have a problem with the 23 players going to a tournament having an additional bonus for winning it. In the case of Mezit Ozil in 2014 he paid for 23 kids to have operations with his winnings. It was about £250k.

If the PL clubs can't stop this "but we pay their salaries" bullshit then perhaps The FA should centralise the pot again and pay the players. It is after all England fans paying their TV licenses and Sky subscriptions that pay for the 4 weeks in the season of international fixtures. We wouldn't even question that concept in rugby or cricket when teams lose their international players for a few weeks.

Ultimately, our international football game needs promoting back to former levels. I feel sorry for the kids today not growing up with that feeling of wanting to play for their country at football like they do at every other sport.


I am not an England fan (or anti-England either) and I don't want a cent of my subscription money going to the FA. I'd rather invest in Jurassic Park.
 
It goes to show how quickly structures and processes can become outdated.

Time was playing for England gave you nothing financially, no appearance fee, not even cover if you got injured whilst 'on duty'.

So around 20 years ago the PFA stepped in and said 'this won't do' why should the FA chuck 100's of thousands into their back pockets and we the entertainers get SFA?!

The old men in suits were accused of being greedy and making themselves comfortable whilst ignoring the fact that players (at that time) weren't on the greatest live enriching wage - in fact in many cases, not even close (which is why you see so many 'legends' scraping a living from hosting hospitality at the clubs they once served....

Nowadays of course if you become an established England international, chances are you won't earn less than £40-60k a week...

So is the principle of sharing teh spoils wrong or have the bonus's simply got out of control?

It is an honour to serve or represent your country, I suspect almost everyone would agree with that, but does it also mean they shouldn't get a share of the spoils - bear in mind the FA is almost highly dependent on them for their vast income..

I think the players deserve it, as it is a product of their work - what say you?
I went to an evening with Jimmy Greaves as part of his “talk tour “.
He told the story of getting his call up letter to play for England , not a phone call or text message , ..
The letter was addressed to “Dear Greaves !“
, and he was told to report to the venue at such date and time .
He said he had to get a bus there , and was only paid for his food and drink .
( subsistence) .
he didn’t say if there was a training session before the game , or how long they were there for .!
 
I went to an evening with Jimmy Greaves as part of his “talk tour “.
He told the story of getting his call up letter to play for England , not a phone call or text message , ..
The letter was addressed to “Dear Greaves !“
, and he was told to report to the venue at such date and time .
He said he had to get a bus there , and was only paid for his food and drink .
( subsistence) .
he didn’t say if there was a training session before the game , or how long they were there for .!

Ah! the good old days when the FA could treat them likes slaves..
 
Because?

.

When he first went 'executive' full time, I hated it because I knew he was learning on the job and we'd pay a price for that - which I believe goes beyond him paying himself for much of it as the PL top-paid exec.

He should be beginning to think about stepping back soon and sadly, if the club isn't sold by ENIC (Old Joe really is old now and can't go on forever - although word is his children will simply inherit all) then we can look forward to his son taking over..who is currently running another in the stable and was neatly slotted in by the 'family' having done little to nothing with the sme finance market before....

So Levy really shouldn't have his hands on the wheel because I suspect all we're going to get in due course is another mini me Levy, who follows the same regime.

We need fresh blood everywhere at the top of this business. That is, if we are ever going to cash-in on Levy seniors building the platform to higher revenues by delivering silverware.

We really need a 1 percenter, who has a track record of success.
 
I went to an evening with Jimmy Greaves as part of his “talk tour “.
He told the story of getting his call up letter to play for England , not a phone call or text message , ..
The letter was addressed to “Dear Greaves !“
, and he was told to report to the venue at such date and time .
He said he had to get a bus there , and was only paid for his food and drink .
( subsistence) .
he didn’t say if there was a training session before the game , or how long they were there for .!
Walt the good old days, pride n honour mate.