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

[Chris FGR]

I have a new found respect for Barrow.

And Braintree and Torquay.

All seeing the bigger picture of what really needs to be done. Regionalise league 2, more local derbies, better crowds and less travelling. Have 4 regional leagues feeding into that. No one goes down that way and income will increase for most clubs.

And if it's really too many games, get rid of the JPT. Clubs already have the FA Cup and League Cup to play in.

 

[Limerick Mariner]

I have a new found respect for Barrow.

So have I.

Also we've just spent 6 painful years trying to get away from Braintree, we failed to score in open play against them for nearly 400 minutes and it took a brainfart shirt pull from one of their defenders to get us away from them. A 13th place finish in League 2 and we could be playing them again. Why on earth would we want to vote for that.

Plus Lincoln will think they have won promotion by finishing 8th...

 

[Bendubz]

Truly terrible idea and it's clear they'd try and use it as a way to muscle in 'B' teams and the Old Firm. I agree with everyone that's suggested merging and regionalising L2 and the National, don't even have to change L1 from being 4 down then either as it would be 2 from each of L2S and L2N.

If they really want to do away with some fixture congestion, scrap the League Cup. It's always perceived as a Mickey Mouse competition, none of the biggest clubs really focus on it until the later stages, and for L1/2 sides it means they have THREE cup competitions on top of the 46 League games, so the only teams it really benefits are Championship sides and bottom half Premier League sides. Much easier to just expand the JPT to include the Championship at the same time as merging L2 with the National. Gives the JPT the prestige it deserves, and as the only domestic cup competition involving PL sides it brings back some of the magic of the FA Cup.

 

[GTFCfish]

Truly terrible idea and it's clear they'd try and use it as a way to muscle in 'B' teams and the Old Firm. I agree with everyone that's suggested merging and regionalising L2 and the National, don't even have to change L1 from being 4 down then either as it would be 2 from each of L2S and L2N.

The only problem with this suggestion is that then there would be only the one automatic promotion spot from each, which then brings up the same arguments that we have had in the National League for years about 2 up 2 down being unfair.

 

[Habbinalan]

.......All seeing the bigger picture of what really needs to be done. Regionalise league 2, more local derbies, better crowds and less travelling. Have 4 regional leagues feeding into that. No one goes down that way and income will increase for most clubs.....

Some people need to be careful what they wish for in relation to regionalising a combined L2 and National League or any other version.

For those of us likely to straddle a N/S split, we'd lose some cracking local derbys and gain some less than appetising long distance treks. It all depends where you sit but U's would probably see Luton and Orient traded for Gateshead and Guisley - although we would get back the joy of trips to York and Barrow.

I guess Forest Green might jump between North and South, a bit like Gloucester and Worcester? depending on the fortunes of London and SE clubs. League 2 South might look great but you could easily be in League 2 North, with the South made up of 20 (or even 24) from London, Essex, SE and a Truro/Exeter/Newport/Yeovil (and Plymouth??) offshoot.

 

[Luke Imp]

And Braintree and Torquay.

All seeing the bigger picture of what really needs to be done. Regionalise league 2, more local derbies, better crowds and less travelling. Have 4 regional leagues feeding into that. No one goes down that way and income will increase for most clubs.

And if it's really too many games, get rid of the JPT. Clubs already have the FA Cup and League Cup to play in.

I've never really bought the whole 'more derbies' line.

The reason they're better attended is that they're generally few and far between during a season. A derby game every other week or so would see the derby novelty wear off IMO.

Agree on the JPT, though. That said, the League Cup would be the one I'd get rid of. Problem is, isn't that linked to Europe?

 

[Bendubz]

I've never really bought the whole 'more derbies' line.

The reason they're better attended is that they're generally few and far between during a season. A derby game every other week or so would see the derby novelty wear off IMO.

Agree on the JPT, though. That said, the League Cup would be the one I'd get rid of. Problem is, isn't that linked to Europe?

I think the allocation of European spots is down to the FA, it's just how many spots there are available that UEFA decides. So it would be fairly simple to just take the spot in the Europa League usually allocated to the League Cup and give it to 6th as a guaranteed spot. That's who it ends up with if the LC winner ends up qualifying through the league anyway, so why not?

 

[F Side Rat]

Yes, there would be no reduction in European places. The one allocated to the league cup is a futile attempt at trying to dress up what is an out of date and pointless concept. When was the last time someone from the football league actually won the football league cup?

As for these proposals, I am pretty indifferent about them. I have long held the view that the 'games in hand' problem that plagues the game in England needs to be addressed, and if this does it then fair enough. Reducing the number of games to 38 a season will probably help, but if you throw in a winter break and still have the FA Cup then, with international breaks, I'm not sure the maths work?

That said my biggest fear (well, not mine as I rarely watch English football anymore) is there is fairly ambiguous language over when these games will be played at 'the weekend'. I can see a development where leagues are allocated time slots across the weekend. I think this will primarily be led by the Champs/League 1 teams as they try a squeeze as much as they can out of any TV deal (the tv companies love these programs where they move from game to game showing the goals as they go in), and, in particular, I can see the Championship becoming a Saturday evening league. They have to do something to address the losses these clubs are incurring, and tv money looks the likely way out.

 

[Silver Stone]

Thing is, TV money won't last - less and less people have cable/satellite these days because it's not worth the money. Internet streams are killing networks Stateside and the same will happen here.

 

[F Side Rat]

The NFL/MLB/NCAA are driving this.

Let me re-phase for 2016; instead of TV deals read broadcasting rights, as yes, you are right. The natural next step for the premier league is EPL TV, especially for overseas.

 

[Pablosammy]

I have a new found respect for Barrow.

A truly professional commentary on the proposals from them, I agree