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FL wants new five-league, 100-club system
Topic Started: 19 May 2016, 07:57 PM (710 Views)
daib0
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BBC Sport


Football League wants new five-league, 100-club system

English football could be heading for its biggest shake-up since the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The Football League wants to create an extra division with 20 teams in each from 2019-20.

It would mean England has 100 teams in five divisions, up from 92. There are currently 24 teams in the Championship, League One and League Two. The Football League says the move would tackle fixture congestion and boost the finances of its members.

The Premier League and the Football Association have backed the proposal "in principle". Of the current 72 Football League clubs, 90% must support the proposal for it to go ahead. A decision will be made at their annual general meeting in June 2017.

"There are clear benefits for everyone," Football League chief executive Shaun Harvey told BBC Sport. "It is about taking a step back to try to work out what is best for English football. We hope that the Football League taking this first step is the catalyst for future change."

However, the proposal has attracted mixed reaction from Football League clubs. Accrington owner Andrew Holt said it had "no merit", while Leyton Orient chairman Barry Hearn believes it "has value". Other club bosses complained they had not been told about the plan before it was announced on Thursday.

Why change the current system?

The Football League believes the move would help:

Ensure more games are played on weekends and Bank Holidays;
Remove fixture congestion and clashes;
Help Football League clubs make more money;
Keep the play-off finals on the last weekend of the domestic season.
Harvey said the Premier League and the FA have backed the idea in principle because "they can see potential benefits on an international basis. The whole game needs to come together," he added. "It is about finding solutions that supports English football for the future."

The FA said the fixture schedule needs looking at "for the benefit of all". "These are interesting draft proposals and we look forward to further discussions over the coming months," it added.

Bradford joint-chairman Mark Lawn believes the current system should not be changed.

"We've had this structure for years because it has suited the majority of clubs, so why change it?" said Lawn, whose team are taking part in the League One play-offs. "What they don't understand is that currently we have 23 home games. We need the crowds. Losing four home games means we lose four incomes."

Brentford chief executive Mark Devlin thinks the Football League should be praised for an "innovative and far-reaching approach". "These proposals are a really good start for how we can tackle some of the problems Football League clubs are facing," he added.

How would the restructure be implemented?

For the proposal to be approved, it needs the backing of 65 Football League clubs (90%) at next year's AGM. The Football League says its board is offering "no recommendation other than asking its members to give full consideration to the proposal".

The decision will have to be confirmed by November 2017.

Relegation from the Football League would be scrapped in the 2018-19 season before the restructure for the following season.

How the promotion/relegation system would work during 2018-19 is still to be determined.

Rotherham chairman Tony Stewart said he was concerned the proposal could widen existing financial gulfs between the divisions. "There is also a divide between the Championship and League One and Two and the gaps need filling in," he added.

Where would the extra teams come from?

Currently, the bottom two teams in League Two are relegated from the Football League to the National League. They would not go down at the end of the 2018-19 season, said Harvey. Six other clubs - in addition to the two clubs already promoted from the National League - would join the Football League.

"The logical place for the extra clubs to come from would be promoting the next six teams from the National League," said Harvey. "Some of those teams are already professional and the extension to the league may suit them."

Scottish Premiership sides Celtic and Rangers have long been linked with moving into the English pyramid. In 2009, Premier League clubs voted to reject a proposal to bring the Old Firm rivals into the English top flight. Harvey has not ruled out the involvement of the Glasgow clubs, but added such a move would be difficult. But he dismissed suggestions Premier League clubs could field B teams in the lower divisions.

Orient chairman Hearn told Sky Sports: "[Premier League B teams] would destroy the fabric of the Football League. It is poorly thought and would be a sell-out to the Premier League."

Will Football League clubs lose revenue?

The major impact would be felt by Football League clubs, who would see their number of matches reduced from 46 to 38 per season. Despite the potential of losing revenue from three fewer home matches, Harvey has asked the 72 clubs to take a "broader view of English football". "We have to make sure none of our clubs are in a financially worse position," he added. "Our clubs shouldn't be the only one to shoulder the burden. We won't be looking for clubs to take a financial haircut to support this. We believe focusing on weekend games will, over period of time, drive bigger attendances and increase quality of performance on the pitch."

Accrington owner Andrew Holt believes the new structure, if approved, would have costly financial implications for many lower league clubs. Holt said the Lancashire club would not be voting in favour of the proposal. He said: "We don't want to lose any games. We'd rather play 50 home games. because we need revenue. If were going to play 20 times a year it's hardly worth having a stadium. I can't see any sense or any logic in the proposals. It's just not going to get our support. I need them coming up with better ideas where we can get more games on and generate more revenue for our clubs. These bottom clubs don't have a lot of revenue and we need to build it, not reduce it."

What about the fans?

Long midweek trips across the country for fans are "in the main" going to disappear, said Harvey. "There a hardcore of fans who are more than happy to go length and breadth of the country," he added. "But I think less games will make the Saturday at a stadium more special and more important. It is going to be interesting to see how fans accept this. I'm hopeful it will be positive."

The Football Supporters' Federation, a democratic organisation representing the rights of fans in England and Wales, said it would consult supporters at all levels.

"The fans' voice has to be heard in this debate," it added.


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daib0
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Sorry to be arrogant but I had this laid out a number of seasons ago, exactly the 100 teams in 5 leagues. But I had Div 3 N and Div 3 S - http://royalsrendezvous.co.uk/topic/9699413/1

:thumbsup:

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Owlish52
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A few very preliminary observations:

Ensure more games are played on weekends and Bank Holidays;
Are they creating new weekends and Bank Holidays? Thought not. Now saying a higher percentage of matches would be played on weekends and Bank Holidays would be correct, but I don't think very many were being missed before...

Remove fixture congestion and clashes;
Fewer League matches will do this, yes...

Help Football League clubs make more money;
On eight fewer matches per year? Now, more money per match might be a result from fewer mid-week matches, but not more dosh overall, seems to me...

Keep the play-off finals on the last weekend of the domestic season.
Might get a bit crowded if they are all to fit in to Wembley Stadium that weekend, but it can be done.

To my suspicious mind, this opens the opportunity for a revision in the scheme of the Cup playoffs, which has been a major sticking point for the Premier League sides. In the spirit of 'reducing schedule clutter' I can easily see the elimination of those bothersome replays and the addition of extra time and potential penalty shootouts to drawn matches - it's a simplification thing, you know. And if there is only to be the one match, it only makes sense to hold it at the larger (i.e., Premier League) ground. Purely for simplification...

No mention of any additional funding from the PL to the FL, so the same trickle of funds gets split an additional 8 ways... This would be a perfect time for the PL to add some dosh for the lower tiers from their new bounty of television funds, but that's about as likely as snow... in July... in the Sahara.

While the current system is hardly perfect, I am not a Trusting Soul prepared to let Those In Charge monkey with things and trust them to Do the Right Things. Of course, my opinion really doesn't matter either... :$ ;)


Edited by Owlish52, 19 May 2016, 08:24 PM.
"It could have been worse with Hillary..." - Owlish52
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daib0
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Good post Owlish

I do think it is being opened up as a serious consideration now, so I'd expect some changes (even if watered down) will come out of this ...




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Zip
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Good post Bill. I'm not in favour of this at all. What we currently have is OK although I think divisions one and two should be regionalised into North and South as we used to have.
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Madejski

Only needs 8 of the 72 football league clubs to be against it for it not to happen. So can't see it happening.

Would be interesting to see how Reading would vote. I would guess at against (due to being more likely to be in the third tier than before)
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daib0
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if leagues are 'only' 20 clubs then nearly half the teams would be at least involved in promotion(relegation issues every season ...
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Darlington
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I understand why they are doing it or wanting to do it but I don't see how it will help under current climate within Football.

I have long said that the trouble in Football is the fact that the big teams are greedy and want all the money as does the FA. The distribution of wealth in a game that generates so much, is so poor to the lower end and grass roots that it is diabolical.
Unless they change the amount given to non Premiership teams and even up the money split then for me all they will do is create a system with 8 more teams to potentially go into administration as they struggle along trying to make ends meet and compete in a League system that invites teams to be uneconomic to progress. They are set up so teams who want to achieve promotion have to spend on wages or transfers to bring in better talent and the wage bill percentage increase beyond their means in the hope they will rise a league and get back what they have spent in extra gates/revenue in the higher league. Ok for those that manage it but those that don't are left facing a potential crisis. On top of that the Premiership is now setting itself up as a "only us" league in which it is harder to get in and harder to fall out of. The pay off to those dropping out of the Premiership are such that they are given a truly big advantage to get back in as they are better set to compete in the Championship and budgeted almost to go back up.

What Football needs is someone with vision who can see the effect this "We want it all" approach is having. They need to give more to the lower leagues to make them more competitive and grow and it will bring with it better support as people watch teams that have a chance instead of struggle to survive. They need a salary cap in each division so all compete on an even playing field and help teams keep budgets sensible instead of players wages been greater than gate money etc.
If they had a true visionary he would take some of the cash off the top and arrange a set standard of facilities for each league giving them a grant to raise the standard and as a team is promoted to a better league they get the grant to improve automatically. Better facilities = greater gates.

Unfortunately it will never happen as the greedy get greedier and the FA and big premiership teams bury their heads in the sand to the effect below.
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SuffolkRoyal
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The Championship, League 1 and League 2 divisions play 46 games between early August and early May, approximately 40 weeks. Throw in a handful of cup games for all those teams and we're talking around 50 games per season. Surely 50 odd games in 40 weeks isn't excessive?

It might help if they gave the international breaks a rethink. They do more to clog up the league season than anything else.
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mason1871rfc
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...not really in favour!! On current form Reading would very quickly end up in div 3 ;)
Twitter: @Macey1
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