The BBC are reporting that the Premier League have offered to increase parachute payments to relegated teams and to nearly triple the ‘solidarity payment’ to each Championship club to over £2million. Benevolent or what!? However, the deal for the League 1 & 2 clubs increases by a derisory £75k which, although an increase of around 30%, is a noticeably lower and devisive increase. It’s easy to be cynical about the PL’s intentions anyway but their threat to then pull all payments to all Coca Cola League clubs if the new deal is not accepted within their three week deadline makes it blatantly obvious what the Premier League’s game is.

But is this all? What’s next? Is this a slash at the tenuous thread by which the FA holds power in England football? Is this part of a move to take control of the operation and regulation of professional football and Team England? With a greater gap between Championship and League 1, will the teams down there be able to remain professional? Will this mean that even more of the clubs under the jurisdiction of the FA are actually bound to the Premier League for their financial wellbeing? Not the best turn of phrase given the plight of clubs like Portsmouth and Hull but you get my drift, revenues, revenues. With such a split will those top 40 teams pay any heed to the FA?

The Football League, for their own sake, have a difficult decision to make. If they accept this offer then the clubs become more enthral to the Premier league and, if not in name certainly in reality, they lose some of the control they have over their member clubs. If they say no to the offer it would be easy for the Premier League to simply just go ahead and create Premier League 2, invite the ‘big’ clubs they want in and the process moves on a-pace.

Depressing state of affairs.