Tottenham Hotspur will be able to claim back around £125 million for the costs of their new stadium and Liverpool around £30 million on their newly-built Main stand under a clause in the “Project Big Picture” (PBP) proposals,
backed by the current Premier League champions and Manchester United.
Telegraph Sport has seen a new draft of the PBP proposals, authored by Liverpool and United ownerships, which includes major subsidies for clubs for improving their stadium, and also payments backdated for historical work. The PBP proposals are on their 18th rewrite and facing huge opposition from the Premier League and the clubs outside the elite s
ince they were revealed on Sunday by Telegraph Sport.
Under the “infrastructure funds” of the PBP document, the Premier League clubs will set aside £150 million per year from central funds for subsidising stadium improvements with what it calls “assistance payments”. Clubs will be able to apply for “assistance payments” for up to £250 million of subsidies for the “hard costs” of new stadium buildings – less costs such as land acquisition and professional fees – if they have been in the league for 12 of the last 15 years.
A maximum of £150 million will be available for those who have been in the league for eight of the last ten years and a maximum of £100 million for those who have been in the league for the four previous years. Clubs will also be able to claim retrospectively.
The PBP proposal says: “Any club which has an eligible project that was completed in the last ten years … and with a minimum spend of £50 million per project receives 50 per cent of the assistant payments they would be eligible to receive under this program for 15 years (eg Tottenham, Liverpool, Man [sic] City and Brighton) resulting in a total of 25 per cent of the capital improvement.”
Spurs spent in excess of £1 billion on their new stadium, which opened at the end of the 2019-2020 season. Liverpool completed work on their Main Stand, at a cost of around £114 million, in the summer of 2016. Emirates Marketing Project extended their Etihad south stand in 2015 with a third tier, costing around £50 million. All those projects would be eligible for a 25 per cent subsidy. It appears Brighton would also be eligible for a subsidy on their Amex Stadium finished in 2011 at an estimated cost of £90 million -although that would be dependent on the PBP plan being approved in the near future.
Liverpool are also planning further improvements to Anfield with the expansion of their Anfield Road stand at an estimated cost of £60 million. Under the PBP terms they would be able to claim back half the costs. Everton would potentially be able to claim back £250 million on their proposed new £500 million Bramley Moore dock stadium.