The Manchester United fan rubbed his hands with glee. He had not always been keen on his team's owners, the Glazer familyOwners of Manchester United since 2005, they borrowed heavily to take it over, and then transferred the debt to the club. As a result it went from being in profit to owing 540 million., whose reign had seen then Red DevilsManchester United shares its nickname, taken from the colour of its team shirts, with at least 13 other clubs, ranging from Deportivo Toluca in Mexico to Urawa Red Diamonds in Japan. sunk deep in debt and eclipsed by their arch rivals, Manchester City. But now, together with Liverpool's owners, they had come up with a plan that seemed to secure both clubs' futures at the top. Called Project Big Picture, it would transform English football.

But not everyone was so enthusiastic. The scheme, which would give control of the English game to just a handful of clubs, has been dismissed by many as a power grab. "This is, in essence, every rotten, contemptuous, self-serving, destructive idea the likes of Manchester United and Liverpool have come up with across the last two decades, repurposed as a rescue package," fulminated Martin Samuel in the Daily Mail.

The English Football League (EFL) is the oldest in the world, dating back to 1888. But in 1992, the most successful of its 92 teams decided to break away and form a league of their own. The Premier League - now consisting of 20 clubs - was born.

From the start, there were complaints that a cabal had been created that would make the top teams very rich but leave the rest struggling. Those in the Premier League received huge sums for televising their games, and could afford enormously expensive transfer feesThe current record is 222 million, paid to Barcelona by Paris St Germain for the Brazilian striker Neymar.. If teams below wanted to compete, they had to invest money they could not really afford in new players.

Often, if they did achieve promotion to the Premier League, after one or two seasons they found themselves relegated again, but now with crushing debts making them even worse off than before. Parachute payments did little to solve the problem.

With the loss of ticket sales because of the pandemic, the situation of the smaller clubs has also worsened. The creators of Project Bigger Picture argue that the included cash for them will provide a lifeline - but no one doubts that it comes at a price.

Under the new proposals, the Premier League would be reduced to 18 clubs, and the EFL from 72 to 70. Two historic competitions that the top teams now consider unimportant would be abolished: the League Cup, dating back to 1961, and the 122-year-old Community ShieldTraditionally the first game of the English season, played between the Premier League champions and the holders of the FA Cup. The current holders are Arsenal..

Most significantly, the 20 members of the Premier League would no longer all have equal votes on how it was run. Instead, it would be overseen by the nine clubs that have been in it the longest.

These are the so-called "Big Six" - Manchester United, Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal, Tottenham, and Chelsea - plus Everton, Southampton and West Ham. But as a two-thirds majority would be enough to make sweeping changes, the Big Six could in effect decide everything. They could even veto the sale of a rival club to a new owner.

The chairman of the EFL, Rick Parry, supports the scheme. He is pleased that it would give his organisation 25% of the money from future TV deals, plus 250 million to help smaller clubs through the present crisis.

Some say, yes. The reason why the Big Six have done so consistently well is that they are extremely well-run organisations. With football in crisis, and the government failing to address the problem, it is quite right that they should be put in charge. To give lesser clubs with poor management and no involvement in international competitions an equal say would be ridiculous.

Others point out that football is the world's most important sport, and what happens at the top affects everyone lower down. Sadly, the owners of the biggest clubs are only interested in their profits and prestige, so of course they want to keep smaller ones in their place. But real competition is essential if the game and the communities built around it are to thrive.