Howard Webb informs Leeds United of new proposal amid £23.1m PGMOL fears

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Howard Webb has informed Leeds United and all of the other clubs in the Football League that the PGMOL will lose more than £23m over the next five years, if things remain the same.

Leeds United will be in either the Premier League or the Championship next season, depending whether Daniel Farke can secure promotion for the third time in his managerial career at the end of the season.

The Daily Mail say Howard Webb delivered a presentation to all of the EFL’s 72 clubs in recent days. The head of the PGMOL outlined that Premier League referees, or Select Group one refs, earn £240,000 a year.

Select Group Two referees, mostly at Championship level earn half of that and those in League One and Two are on around £30,000 a year. Webb says the PGMOL will lose £23.1m over the next five years.

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Howard Webb’s proposal to deal with spiralling PGMOL costs

Wages of the referees are not the only issue. As per The Mail’s report, inflation and VAR training has also contributed to the PGMOL’s financial problems. So, Webb has proposed a way of dealing with costs.

He plans to merge Select One and Select Two referees into one group, while streamlining the amount of officials. It could mean that wages are reduced for those right at the top of the Premier League now.

It affects Leeds given no matter what division the Whites are in. The report says that clubs are willing to increase their funding but not because of bureaucracy, but to improve the standard of officiating.

What Championship referees are earning when officiating Leeds

There have been a few moments where Leeds will have wished the Championship had VAR. Most recently at Portsmouth, it is still remarkable Leeds were not given a penalty for Matt Ritchie’s foul on Dan James.

But perhaps it’s understandable that the quality is less when you consider that Championship referees are earning £110,000 a year, less than half those in the Premier League. It is a remarkable drop off in wages.

Even more so, that refs in the third and fourth tiers are on almost a quarter of what refs earn in England’s second tier – and an eighth of Premier League refs. Ben Toner will be the man in the middle on Saturday.