Breaking News: Sheffield United takes advantage from Championship play-off final
Leeds United and Southampton, who were demoted from the Premier League a year ago, along with the Blades, will play at Wembley.
However, clubs dropping out of the top flight enjoy a significant financial advantage due to the contentious parachute payments system that the Football League wants to eliminate. Champions Leeds, Southampton, and Leicester City have demonstrated how rapidly things can change.
“I’m looking at Southampton and Leeds, they’ve bounced back and there’ll be a full house at Wembley,” stated Wilder.
“There were fantastic scenes at Elland Road and St Mary’s (for the second legs of their play-off semi-finals) and we have to work extremely hard to get ourselves in the position those teams have.”
Not a single demoted team has failed to return on their first try since 2018–19. The winners on Sunday will be the seventh out of fifteen.
One major factor is the £44 million in parachute payments made to offset the sharp decline in revenue. In year two, clubs receive an additional £36 million, and in year three, teams (other than Sheffield United) that have had numerous straight seasons in the top division receive £16.5 million.
Championship clubs receive around £8m in TV revenue, but a new deal for next season is expected to push that closer to £12m.
All 2023-24’s newly-promoted teams came straight back down and Wilder says the Blades must return with better foundations.
“It’s a team that’s been put together, not on the front foot from the off,” he reflected. “Luton added a couple but really got the nucleus and the ages right.”
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Ben Osborn is a talented midfielder, and Chris Wilder initially wanted him to stay because the team seemed likely to execute his contract’s 12-month option. But on Thursday night, Alan Nixon asserted that the Blades haven’t made up their minds not to activate that option, which was intriguing news.
Due to the 29-year-old’s versatility in filling three or four spots on the squad, this has since sparked an ongoing discussion. At the championship level, it would make sense to retain the seasoned utility player on a team that would require double-digit additions this summer.
Although he may not be the most technically skilled player, he does have a tremendous work rate, something that some of the current crop cannot claim.
The Star is now reporting that the potential new owners—a group from Silicon Valley—are in fact the cause of this seeming reversal in terms of Ben Osborn’s release or retention.
Around this time last year, Sheffield United was linked to a Silicon Valley consortium; however, despite their interest, no bid was ever made. Numerous things could be behind this.
