Premier League Structure
By: Ted Fred Franky, Refuting misinformation, January 15, 2024 6 months ago
How is this organisation set up and run?
The Premier League was set up by Liverpool FC Director Rick Parry on 27 May 1992 and he was the original shareholder:
THE FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION PREMIER LEAGUE LIMITED Company number 02719699
- The Articles of Association state that there are to be 100 shares, but not all are issued. Basically one is issued for each member of the league, plus the FA has a Special Share.
- All decisions must be passed by a 2/3 majority ie 14 votes.
- The FA Special Share does not allow the FA to vote but it can attend all board meetings. It can veto the apointment of directors and has special rights to ensure the clubs play in the FA Cup, play to the same rules etc. Other than that it is a pretty benign share.
- The Premier League will be operated according to the Premier League Rules
There are rules about returning shares on relegation and re-allocating these to newly promoted clubs, but that is about it. The rest of the company affairs are governed by the Premier League Rules in the Premier League Handbook, which is published every year here on the Premier League website
The only other legal agreement that can exist that governs how the Premier League works is a Shareholders Agreement. Most companies have them, but they are not mandatory. These are usually private, and contain non-disclosure clauses, so we will never find out unless someone decides to break their contract, and blab about it.
So if as Martin Samual alleges, both Liverpool and Mancheter United have the right to veto the appointment of any directors, the Shareholders Agreement is the only place this could be. If such an agreement exists, then there might also be other things that this document might contain beneficial to the interests of Liverpool and Manchester United above the interests of the other clubs. I doubt a respected journalist such as Martin Samuel would make this claim, if he had not seen some proof it exists. Such a document would prove that Liverpool and Manchester United hold an abusive position in English professional football.
It is almost certain if Manchester City were expelled from the Premier League via a vote or an extreme points deduction that this agreement would appear in any court case launched by Manchester City. So we might find out.
