NEW YORK SHARES

ANDY Reid fears the arrival of financial fair play will only create a bigger divide between football's big guns and the chasing pack.

Under Brian Clough, Nottingham Forest twice beat the odds to became the kings of Europe, three decades ago.

And while the Reds are a million miles away from a repeat of those kind of successes, Reid is concerned that no provincial club will ever again be able to take on the Premier League big guns in the future, once financial fair play kicks in.

Instead, the winger fears that the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea, Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool will dominate, when clubs are limited on their spending.

"I do look at things like that and financial fair play, in my opinion, will not be very fair," he said.

"I can understand the principle of it. But, with the way things look to me, the only thing that will happen is that the big clubs will get bigger and the smaller ones will get smaller.

"I understand the thinking about it, in the sense that you cannot have people trying to bat above their station.

"But that is what football is about, to some degree, isn't it?

"When you see some of the smaller clubs coming up and getting the chance in the Premier League and earning some big money, they can still be run properly, when left to their own devices.

"A really good example is Blackpool. They went up, they earned a lot of money and the club is in a healthy state now.

"They did not go too mad. But, if they have to adhere to fair play rules, with their income, they might not be able to compete under the new rules."

And Reid is also concerned that the Premier League itself could soon become a closed shop, with those teams relegated massively better equipped to bounce back immediately under the new rules.

"If the big teams are relegated from the Premier League, they will automatically have the spending power to give them an advantage, when it comes to bouncing right back, when you consider parachute payments," he said.

"I don't see how it will end up any different.

"In the Premier League, you have the big clubs who already dominate. You know which four or five teams are going to challenge every season.

"It will just become even more of a closed shop."

Clubs in the Championship will face sanctions – including fines and a transfer embargo – from the 2013/14 if they breach FFP rules, which will then permit an allowable loss of no more than £8m.