The Wage Cap : The Saddlers to lead the revolt.

By 4two
November 26 2002

Saddlers chairman Mike Lloyd has become one of the first chairman in the league to speak out against the proposed wage cap. Lloyd made his feelings known in an interview with the Express and Star.

Mike  Lloyd the Walsall chairman has today voiced his concern about the possible wage cap in the  Express and Star. He made it perfectly clear that a deal has not yet been done, and it appears that the Saddlers are not the only club questioning a possible wage cap, because Sheffield Wednesday, Forest and Derby are thinking along the same lines.

The bottom line is that the Saddlers do not want to be dictated to by bigger clubs who have mismanaged their finances and are now desperate for a way to stabilize Football.

The key points Lloyd made to the E&S were that : 

	"we are very much against that idea at Walsall."
	"Our turnover last year was £8m and there are clubs in the First Division who bring in three times that amount, but who are operating at a loss.
	"We have made a profit for the last 11 years and why shouldn't we be allowed to spend 75 per cent or more of our turnover if we have the budget to do that?
	Such a system would penalise us for running the club correctly and keeping our house in order and have no bearing on how good your house keeping is.
	"We are not against keeping costs under control,"

If the Saddlers were to agree to a deal where 60% of turnover was the maximum   spent on wages, they would be at a disadvantage because these clubs with spiraling debts would still have bigger turnovers, and would be able to carry on spending more than the Saddlers, because their 60% is more than Walsall's. Walsall would rather be allowed to spend what it wants on wages and increase or decrease the amount of their turnover depending on the situation at the time.

Lloyd has suggested the way the RFU work with a set budget could be a way forward, and more details of his interview can be found by clicking here and reading the interview in full.