Clubs in the Championship, League One and League Two agreed to develop new measures aimed at delivering a 'break even' model to domestic professional football at their Summer Conference in sunny Cyprus last week.
Not sure who represented Southend but we at S24 hope it was Uncle Ron, who deserves a chance to catch a few rays and dip his toe in the Med, it's tough out there.
This gave the chance for UEFA President Michel Platini to comment on the financial measures the Football League have brought into play to stop clubs going bust in these tough times.
Platini said: "We are very happy to see that Football League clubs, under the umbrella of The FA, are again taking the initiative on good governance issues by introducing Financial Fair Play. We are delighted that enlightened football bodies across the continent are trying to restore financial sanity to football on a national level, just as we are trying to do on a European level."
In order to meet the objectives of Financial Fair Play, Championship clubs have agreed to work towards the introduction of new regulations to be developed and approved by the beginning of the 2012/13 season, League One clubs have agreed to implement the Salary Cost Management Protocol (SCMP), which limits spending on player wages to a proportion of total turnover, from 2011/12, and League Two clubs, that's us folks, having successfully operated the SCMP at a 60% threshold since 2003, will reduce it to 55% next season.
Something to bring a smile to even the Shrimpers supremo, who would probably like to see it a touch lower.