It's a shit idea that's going to dilute each division even more and make the quality between each division even higher than it already is. Also no teams would be relegated from the football league in the 2018/19 division. How's that fair? Half of the teams in League 2 might as well not bother playing the season then.
Harvey said the Premier League and the FA have backed the idea in principle because "they can see potential benefits on an international basis". How exactly? The Premier League would have 20 teams and play the same amount of games as it does now. Can someone explain how that relieves their particular fixture congestion? This is the division that almost all of the England team comes from and it's the one that's often blamed for the failure of Premier League teams in europe. No doubt they would keep the play off system which would mean that almost everyone in the league would be either battling for promotion or relegation in leagues 2 to 5. That would no doubt be good for attendances and TV revenue and is no doubt what is the driver behind this bollocks.
It could actually end up being the most competitive League 2 season ever as half of the teams will face being relegated to League 3. On the whole I don't like this sort of change and would prefer things to stay as they are but there are some advantages like playing less games and being a bit fresher. But for the life of me I can't see how the FL think this will help teams make more money, less fixtures means less home games, less home games means less money. It will be interesting to see what the clubs make of it and how the proposals will be tweaked to make them more appetising.
The ideas are horrendous. I really fear the negative consequences if they go through. If it's not broke, don't fix it?
Is it that bad an idea? Obviously I would never condone PL 'B' teams in the lower leagues and I understand that there'd be a loss of gate revenue from losing 4 home matches but they could make that back up from a new tv deal right? What are the other cons?
absolutely shocking, all this to help the england national team and european prospects. Did they ever think that people enjoy having more games (I like midweek games) and that the clubs need all the revenue they can get? not everyone has a 100mill a year tv treasure chest.
Be a bit miffed if you were the club to miss out on promotion or get relegated due to the changes. Surely they won't try to put "B" teams in the lower leagues given the reaction last time such an issue was brought up?
If you read the article it clearly says they're not going to have B teams. I'm surprised there's such a backlash on here about this. Seems like it'd be a good move especially for the fans.
The Football League can't just demand a new improved TV deal and know that TV companies will come running in the same way that the Premier League can. We don't have a clue how it'll affect the fans yet. The early indications are that it will be worse. We're getting four fewer home matches per season and we haven't heard anything to say that season ticket prices will be reduced accordingly. How is that better?
They say it's to ease fixture congestion, but you never really seem to have much of a problem with it in the lower leagues. Contrary to popular belief games are played at a much slower pace than in the Prem and players don't burn out anywhere near as much.
Cant see any reason to do this that stands up to scrutiny. The Conference is the 5th division anyway. Still 20 teams in the PL so same amount of games. Its like the old "Winter break" chestnut. If you have a month off over Xmas when do you catch up on the missed games? During the Summer, and thats even closer to when the international competitions are being played anyway. It can only be about money, that's the only reason Pro football changes anything.
There's two sides to it. I think there should be symmetry through the leagues and a 3 up 3 down 20 league structure through the pyramid makes sense. Including non league. I think 46 league games is excessive and impacts on the quality of games when it's every midweek. You get to the play offs and some teams are running on empty. Particularly if they've had a cup run. It's a better idea than the dreadful B team idea. There's enough professional, big or ambitious clubs in the Conference to support another 8 clubs in the FL. From a fans point of view if they're getting 4 less homes then that should mean cheaper season tickets across the board but that means clubs lose money because season ticket money, along with TV, is their main income. It has to add up for the clubs. There's a possibility a 20 team league would lead to an improved product that would attract more fans and i'm a believer in less is more. There's something to be said for if it isn't broke don't fix it on the other hand. The football league is a relatively successful product.
