Scrapping relegation would be suicide warns Fergie

Sir Alex Ferguson has blasted plans from some foreign club owners to put an end to relegation from the Premier League.

League Managers’ Association chief executive Richard Bevan revealed the proposals, which were met with a withering response from the Manchester United boss.

Foreign owners want to scrap relegation, claims LMA chief  

“I think that would be absolute suicide for the rest of league, and particularly for the teams in the Championship,” said Ferguson.

“If you look at the Championship at the moment, we have at least eight teams with tradition and history.

“What do you say to those eight teams? That they can never play in the Premier League? You might as well lock the doors.

“The only place you can make money and realise your ambitions is in the Premier League.

“You can’t take that away from clubs like Nottingham Forest, Leeds, Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday.

“All these great teams, who formed the nucleus of our old First Division, all those years ago.

“It would be unwise to do that [abolish relegation]. It does happen in a lot of countries, not just American football, but I don’t see where the end product comes in then [with no relegation].”

Bevan had earlier claimed a group of American and Asian owners wanted to abolish relegation because of the hugh losses of income suffered by clubs dropping out of the top flight.

His comments came just a week after Liverpool managing director Ian Ayre called for a change in the way overseas TV money was distributed.