UK Edition
EFL facing further turmoil with interim chair Debbie Jevans expected to step down
The English Football League is facing further turmoil with interim chair Debbie Jevans set to step down. Jevans is poised to become the latest casualty of the fierce power struggle between the EFL and rebel Championship clubs, following talks at the board meeting in Preston over the last two days.
Shaun Harvey, the chief executive, has already been asked to step down by EFL officials and will quit at the end of the season, and now Jevans has confirmed that she will not be continuing in her post on a permanent basis. The row has intensified after the EFL agreed a controversial five-year TV deal with Sky Sports in November, seemingly against the wishes of the 24 Championship clubs.
As revealed by Telegraph Sport last Friday, Football League clubs are demanding a complete overhaul of the EFL’s board in a move which could shake up the running of English football outside the Premier League.
EFL officials met with representatives from the clubs at Derby’s Pride Park stadium last week and were told there is no confidence in the existing board.
Clubs are insisting on governance reform and want a far bigger say in commercial deals, the new Profitability and Sustainability rules and the distribution of money across the leagues.
Derby, Leeds, Aston Villa, Preston, Stoke, Middlesbrough and West Brom are the leading clubs demanding for change, though it is understood the 24 clubs in the Championship broadly share the same view.
Jevans has been under scrutiny as the clubs want to appoint their own chair and chief executive, and she has admitted that work is underway on finding replacements.
A prominent figure behind the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics, Jevans was appointed in September last year after the exit of Ian Lenegan.
She said: “We have looked closely at what the League needs to focus on to address the well-documented challenges of the recent past and move forward so that the League can continue to thrive and prosper as a collective of 72 clubs.
“A detailed brief is being agreed for the CEO position and we are targeting an appointment as soon as practicably possible. Once we have appointed a CEO I will lead the search for a permanent Chair after which I will resume my role as Senior Independent Director.”