Now the World Cup dust has settled in Brazil, it gives us a little over a month before domestic football returns.

I have been meaning to do a piece on the current state of finances within our football clubs for a while.

What I have found is long what I've suspected that for clubs like my club Plymouth Argyle, the dream of making the promised land of the Premiership are now further away then ever and the chance of ever getting there has never been so unobtainable than they are at the moment.

Unless things are drastically changed in the way money in English football is distributed, then I fear there are many clubs who will never obtain top flight status.

In this piece I will try to tell you why.

Parachute payments are probably one of the most unfair ways of the Premier League to dispense their money from TV rights deals to keep the same group of clubs around the division without much chance of league 1 or 2 clubs even getting to the Championship let alone the top flight.

Never has this been more apparent then it is now. The gulf in money earned in the Premiership to the Championship is massive but the real problem lies in clubs receiving parachute payments after failing in the Premiership, to then being given a massive budget in comparison to other clubs in the Championship.

Below I have broken down the amount Sky Bet Championship clubs will receive, and you will see that in the Championship that no fewer than 10 clubs are receiving different stages of parachute payments from the Premier League and IMO are giving them a massive advantage over the other half of the league receiving the standard solidarity payments of 2.3 million.

This makes it unless you have a miracle manager or a lot of luck just making the playoffs can be any teams best hope of getting promoted.

Keeping this in mind after relegation from the top flight the said clubs will receive 4 years of Parachute payments as detailed below.

Year 1 = 23 Million          Year 2 = 18 Million         Year 3 = 9 Million         Year 4 = 9 Million

I make the various stages of payment for the following 14/15 Sky Bet Championship as the following

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Birmingham = 9

Blackburn Rovers  = 9

Blackpool = 9

Bolton Wanderers = 9

Bournemouth = 2.3

Brentford  = 2.3

Brighton & Hove Albion = 2.3

Cardiff City = 23

Charlton Athletic = 2.3

Derby County = 2.3

Fulham = 23

Reading = 18

Huddersfield Town = 2.3

Ipswich Town = 2.3

Leeds United  = 2.3

Middlesbrough  = 2.3

Millwall  = 2.3

Norwich City  = 23

Nottingham Forest  = 2.3

Rotherham United  = 2.3

Sheffield Wednesday = 2.3
Watford = 2.3

Wigan Athletic = 18

Wolverhampton Wanderers = 9
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 The above figures also don't account for the fact the additional 2.3 million that the clubs in Red receiving parachute payments would also receive. 

And because of the new £5 Billion 3 year TV deal the Premier League signed last year all Premier League clubs have had a massive increase in what the 13/14 season has paid them. 

Cardiff after finishing bottom and being relegated have been awarded 67 Million which is more the Manchester United received for becoming the champions the previous year.

This is not an attack on Cardiff but just shows how clubs who have yet to taste top flight football in the last 4 years are really going to struggle.

Cardiff 

Relegation = 67 Million

Year 1      = 23 Million

Year 2      = 18 Million

Year 3      = 9 Million

Year 4      = 9 Million

                   127 Million

And lets presume that AFC Bournemouth will stay in the Championship for the next 4 without being promoted or relegated.

AFC Bournemouth

Previous Season Payment = 2.3

Year 1      = 2.3 Million

Year 2      = 2.3 Million

Year 3      = 2.3 Million

Year 4      = 2.3 Million

                   11.5 Million

Obviously this doesn't mean that Cardiff will hammer the league but surely this is the most unfair system in the world and considering the 3 relegated clubs will also hold onto half the squad that has played in the Premiership is also giving them the best chance to push for a top 3 finish or by minimum the playoffs

The figures in this article make me feel sick to my stomach and the thought of Plymouth ever getting a crack at it one day have never felt further. 

Semper Fidelis