EFL: West Brom 'had to get out' of Championship - ex-Baggies chief Mark Jenkins calls for change

Former West Brom chief executive Mark Jenkins says the club "had to get out" of the Championship - and has called for a "change in the structure" of the English Football League.

Jenkins retired from his role with the Baggies last month after their promotion back into the Premier League, ending an 18-year association with the West Midlands club.

West Brom return to the top flight two years after being relegated to the Championship and Jenkins told BBC Sport:

"Football needs to sort itself out," said Jenkins. "If anything has happened through Covid, it is that there has to be a change in the structure of the EFL. There has to be real pressure on the EFL at the moment to change."

The most recent TV rights deal was signed in November 2018. The EFL argues the £595m five-year deal with Sky Sports was the best offer on the table, was only accepted after extensive consultation and that it cemented a partnership which meant, this summer, there was no Premier League-style rebate despite the devastating impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

However, the contract was controversial.

Jenkins estimates 18 Championship clubs were unhappy with the terms of the deal but, although acknowledging the "frustrations of a number of clubs", the EFL board voted it through.

"The EFL said it had a duty to all clubs to get them something and nothing else was on the table," Jenkins said. "The Championship clubs were more bullish in saying: 'We are willing to pay poker on this.' In my opinion, the EFL board took the easy option.

"No deal was better than this one. We had 23 games moved for TV. That affects our income.

"We had to negotiate hard. The competitiveness of the Championship should have been exploited. If it was left to the Championship, they would have negotiated a deal that was worth more than the current one. We would have locked in the distribution to Leagues One and Two anyway to ensure they didn't lose out, but I am sure they would have got more out of the whole deal."

Jenkins believes second-tier clubs should have the power of veto on "all the major commercial deals" - which the EFL argues is already the case - and he claims the Championship is "a great product that is badly marketed".

In March 2019, the EFL announced "a thorough review" of all its governance structures, which it said would look at "how its members are represented and decisions are made".

Law firm Bird and Bird carried out the review and among its recommendations was the appointment of three independent directors to the EFL board, either to replace three of the existing six club representatives, or all six.

The EFL said "after careful consideration" it did not support the proposal because it could "undermine" the relationship between board and clubs.

The league also said some proposals were accepted "following further refinement".

But Jenkins said: "The system currently is not working. Independent directors, which would include a CEO for the Championship, would be a way forward.

"At one meeting about the the TV contract, one person said: 'There is an argument if it is not broken, don't fix it.' I couldn't believe it. Of course it was broken.

"I had my head in my hands. I looked at my finance director, who was sitting with me, and I said: 'We have got to get out of this league.' It is not just the finance side. It is ridiculous."

Jenkins said that when the season was suspended in March amid the Covid-19 pandemic, West Brom's two-year strategy for a Premier League return switched focus to it being "even more important" promotion was achieved in 2019-20.

"That was for various reasons," he added. "The financial impact on the club to get to the Premier League but, also, it became even more fundamental that we needed to get out of the EFL."

The EFL says it is committed to enhanced levels of communication between the board and clubs, that there was weekly correspondence from the board to clubs, and also that dialogue is two-way.

BBC Sport understands a salary cap of £18m per club has, in principle, been agreed for the Championship. However, the precise details of how it should be implemented and the impact it will have on the Financial Fair Play regulations in place mean it will not be in operation for 2020-21.

Jenkins is not a fan.

"I have always been against financial controls. Why shouldn't a local businessman be able to put his money into his club? To the people supporting this, you might as well sit them in a room and tell them to admit they can't run a football club," he said.

"There are thousands of businesses up and down the country that don't put these controls in place and survive year on year aren't there? There are competing pressures in every industry.

"You can always say no. I never won a popularity contest with the [West Brom] fans. But as long as your mindset is 'I am doing the right thing for the club' that should get you through.

"If you want to keep your costs down, keep your player numbers down. If you pay a salary to a player and he is contributing, that is fine - it is the 20% who are fringe players and not part of the squad where the problem comes."

The EFL privately defends its position and also points out chairman Rick Parry and chief executive Dave Baldwin are both relatively recent appointments.

It argues attendances are at their highest level - 18.4 million in 2018-19 - for 60 years, average crowds are over 11,000, commercial revenues have grown 90% in the past five years, and over £100m has now been spent on youth development.