Decisions being made

[NORTHERNSOUL]

One thing that has not been discussed here is the problem of Bury. By that I mean Bury were in League 1 when they were expelled from the EFL. If say Barrow got the nod & Stevenage got a reprieve that would make 25 clubs in L2 & 23 in L1. Who actually goes up from L2 to L1 to even the numbers? That's if, of course, the EFL wants to have a 72 club system. This will become as issue if the EFL choose not to promote or relegate teams because they have decided, for the sake of argument, to null and void their season.

Already dealt with. in that the plan is/was to relegate only 3 clubs but promote the usual 4

[barrowfan]

Another scenario is if any of the remaining EFL clubs go bust - a possibility in the current situation - they are back to to an even number!

[Suffolk Blue]

The fly in the ointment for the NL here tho could come from Stockport who currently sit in 7th and in the playoffs but who would be edged out under PPG by Barnet who would jump from 11th up to their 7th slot and you could just see their new pretty rich owners creating a shitstorm financially that the NL simply don't have the means to deal with.

NS - very unlikely to be a problem as Borehamwood have made it clear they want nothing to do with the play-offs. So both Stockport and Barnet could be accommodated.

[NORTHERNSOUL]

Chairman Dave is living in his alternate reality. His idea of a play-off between two clubs is quite odd until you realise that in order for the suggestion to be plausible there would have to be only one spot available to play for. So he's factoring in that no team will be relegated from League 2 (which itself runs counter to the EFL's declared position). Clearly there is a reason he is assuming this - the real and pretty transparent reason for the idea - namely that there would also be no relegation from the NL (or for Fylde).

What you end up with is one of these peculiar variations that takes different positions on promotion and relegation to fit the needs of a particular club who's options are limited. As has been pointed out Notts County could generate something similar to suit them.

This type of idea is likely to be binned pretty early on because it does not on the face of it address the needs of the majority. .

Well you can bin it now because the one place that's definitely on offer [ well almost certainly on offer ] is by invitation and therefore no playoff would be necessary and as I .ve said before there are still outstanding issues with Harrogates ground [ i believe they have had a conditional offer based on certain work being done which runs to a lot more than the tweaks Barrow would have to make] so why would the FL create a can of worms for themselves that wouldn't exist by inviting Barrow. Plus I believe that on the financial checks although with a sugar daddy owner Harrogate look very stable the FL are very wary of that sort of ownership after having their fingers burnt by Bury and of course Oyston at Blackpool.

Heres a bit more info on what I was talking about regarding Harrogate,s grading, clearly they believe this is is a better solution to the facilities issue they have than swapping the home and away ends and more importantly the FL must have stamped their grading on the basis of this being done.

https://www.harrogatetownafc.com/news-m ... his-month/

But doesn't it just make you wonder whether the Harrogate owner knows something that the rest of us dont ?

[NORTHERNSOUL]

The fly in the ointment for the NL here tho could come from Stockport who currently sit in 7th and in the playoffs but who would be edged out under PPG by Barnet who would jump from 11th up to their 7th slot and you could just see their new pretty rich owners creating a shitstorm financially that the NL simply don't have the means to deal with.

NS - very unlikely to be a problem as Borehamwood have made it clear they want nothing to do with the play-offs. So both Stockport and Barnet could be accommodated.

But be interesting to see what's in the rules as to whether or not a club is able to decide whether or not to take part in the playoffs if they qualify and whether there are any penalties for not doing so.

But yes I agree it would give the NL an easy get out of what could be a tricky situation.

[HenneysKnee]

Sounds like after yesterday’s meetings it’s getting more and more likely that League One and League Two won’t get finished; so there would be no point National League having play offs anyway

[NUFFSAID]

According to sports bible.... The French league becomes the first 'big' league to cancel the season and base winners and relegated teams on position. Something positive

[Suffolk Blue]

Sounds like after yesterday’s meetings it’s getting more and more likely that League One and League Two won’t get finished; so there would be no point National League having play offs anyway

I think its pretty unlikely the L1 and L2 will finish. Stories now abound of the likes of Colchester and Cambridge shedding squad members like confetti and based on their salaries not their value as players. These clubs are deliberately making themselves weaker in order to survive. Other clubs have furloughed squads and it remains to be seen once the government support is withdrawn how many of these players will re-appear.

I know we keeping saying it but I think we are getting quite close to seeing league clubs fail. Another month or two of no football and the entire promotion/relegation debate may change. Tension now rising in EFL between Championship and Leagues below. Beginning to think that how that tension is resolved may be the key to solving everything.

[chipmunx]

have a good listen to this...

leaked from Bristol Rovers;-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_cont ... e=emb_logo

[db1967]

Ian Dennis tweeted something similar to the Bristol Rovers link earlier

[chipmunx]

Ian Dennis tweeted something similar to the Bristol Rovers link earlier

IF that's right then it would look like PL 23, Champs 24, Div1 23, Div2 21* - or more likely Div 1 24 Div 2 20*

that's assuming the PL didn't finish too????

the Number of clubs in L2 would obviously depend on how many come up from the NL.

[Hadrian]

We are a broad church on this forum. Some prefer a twitter like approach to posting, others (probably including me) find themselves standing on a virtual soapbox every time they begin to write. Put together it produces a much better forum than many other clubs that just seem to use the opportunity for one line jokes and lobbing cheap insults.

Some on here go for one line insults...

[Hadrian]

Heres how I see it. The FL cannot void the season and needs to achieve a finish that meets the PL.s criteria simply because to do so gives the PL an out in that they could then simply declare Liverpool as champions and relegate nobody [ that is, of course, leaving aside the Sky/BT tv issue ]

That would, as Sir Humphrey might have said to the PM, be a brave decision.

[Suffolk Blue]

Ian Dennis tweeted something similar to the Bristol Rovers link earlier

IF that's right then it would look like PL 23, Champs 24, Div1 23, Div2 21* - or more likely Div 1 24 Div 2 20*

that's assuming the PL didn't finish too????

the Number of clubs in L2 would obviously depend on how many come up from the NL.

EFL view as articulated by Bristol Rovers would appear to be based on promotion without relegation. So no voiding. Will only work if Premiership are willing to take at least two more clubs, I cant see them taking more than 2 and they would then end up with Leeds and West Brom (no play-offs no 3rd place promotion). Not actually that controversial.

That would give the PL 22 clubs. The Championship then takes the top two automatic positions from League 1 (no play-off allocation) bringing it back to 24. This leaves L1 with 21 which it then backfills with the top 3 automatic positions in League 2 (no play-off contenders) leaving 21 in L2. L2 then has option of taking 1,2 or even 3 clubs from NL to bring it back to 24.

That would mean PL with 22, Championship 24, L1 24 and L2 up to 24 if needed. That would balance the books for one season only. All depends on the Premiership though. Much more difficult to re-balance with 3 up though you could understand why the EFL would punt for this.

[chipmunx]

IF that's right then it would look like PL 23, Champs 24, Div1 23, Div2 21* - or more likely Div 1 24 Div 2 20*

that's assuming the PL didn't finish too????

the Number of clubs in L2 would obviously depend on how many come up from the NL.

EFL view as articulated by Bristol Rovers would appear to be based on promotion without relegation. So no voiding. Will only work if Premiership are willing to take at least two more clubs, I cant see them taking more than 2 and they would then end up with Leeds and West Brom (no play-offs no 3rd place promotion). Not actually that controversial.

That would give the PL 22 clubs. The Championship then takes the top two automatic positions from League 1 (no play-off allocation) bringing it back to 24. This leaves L1 with 21 which it then backfills with the top 3 automatic positions in League 2 (no play-off contenders) leaving 21 in L2. L2 then has option of taking 1,2 or even 3 clubs from NL to bring it back to 24.

That would mean PL with 22, Championship 24, L1 24 and L2 up to 24 if needed. That would balance the books for one season only. All depends on the Premiership though. Much more difficult to re-balance with 3 up though you could understand why the EFL would punt for this.

correct - and the 22, 24, 24, 22 or 22, 24, 24, 24 options have both been doing the rounds for a while and would make more sense than a PL with 23 clubs.