Former Blackpool boss Ian Holloway slams ‘disgusting greed’ of Premier League giants behind controversial Project Big Picture plans

The plans, the biggest proposed shake-up of English football since the creation of the Premier League in 1992, would see teams in the EFL given £250m to see them through the current pandemic plus 25 per cent from any future TV deals.

In return, the Premier League would be trimmed to just 18 clubs, the League Cup and the Community Shield would be scrapped and the so-called “big six” sides - Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham - would get special voting rights along with West Ham, Everton and Southampton.

The proposals have been dubbed as a “cynical power grab” by many, with the likes of Liverpool and Man Utd - who are the main drivers behind the plans alongside EFL chair Rick Parry - wanting to secure even more power for themselves.

The proposals have been criticised by Grimsby Town boss and former Blackpool manager Holloway, who has expressed his fury in a typically forthright manner.

“What are Liverpool and Manchester United thinking? How selfish are you? Breaks my heart to say it, I don’t get it,” he said.

“I listened to the Government’s man who’s in charge of it all (sports minister Oliver Dowden), and at last he’s started to threaten them and say we’re going to have to step in.

“I think they need to step in right now and tell them what we want, not what you think is right. Who are you to suggest that?

“I think governance is absolutely vital right now, because money is going out of the game left, right and centre, billions and billions of pounds buying footballers, and it’s going out the game.

“The game needs it, put it back in the game, get the Government to control our game and make sure the people at the bottom still have a club.

“Greed is disgusting, and that’s what I’m seeing everywhere. It’s absolutely vile, and I hate it, so step in. Go and tell the top clubs that you can’t do that, please. Somebody needs to.

“Why do they need two less teams in the top flight? Bit of a threat, are they? Not where you want to be in the league at the moment, are you?

“You should be under threat, the game doesn’t belong to you. The club might, but for how long? The game belongs to people in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. It belongs to us.

“Every community deserves it, and you’re just at the top of it, so who do you think you are? Let’s make football strong and divvy it up fairly from top to bottom.”