http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/36335384

quote

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."

Unquote

So this would follow on from the FA, a few years back,  which drastically cut prize money for the earlier rounds on the FA Cup, to offer more financial incentives from Round 3 onwards

I can't say I see the sense of it myself.

4 divisions, each with 20 teams.

Wouldn't this make it more complicated? I'm not sure it would help with finances or resolve congestion/clashes. It could potentially make it worse for the lower down teams, to which makes me wonder if they should make the bottom two regional instead. I'm just not one who sees much point in changing things for the sake of it, but the football league would have to convince fans that it would make things better and considering how changes often leave desired effects - I think this will be harder to prove.

Our system with four professional divisions of 20/24 has proven itself over a very long period of time. The new idea isn't without its merits, however.

PROS

There are now more pro clubs, not less - so why not integrate them into the Football League?

Fewer matches on weekdays, meaning bigger crowds and larger away followings

Season would be over sooner, no more play-offs dragging on until after the play-off final

CONS

It's another division for Notts to get relegated into :s

Each club loses 4 home games - is it realistic to expect gate money to rise despite this?

We would have SIX nationwide divisions - is this too many? Would the Conference go regional?

Reduced promotion/relegation - four teams promoted from a division of 20 is probably too many

Another pathetic attempt to further weaken the Football League, therefore strengthening the Greed League's position. Wouldn't be at all surprised if someone from Sky was involved in the suggestion, after all, Leicester winning the Greed League & clubs like Rotherham, Burton & Brentford in the Championship can't be good for the game, can it?

Its the biggest load of rubbish ive heard of since the whole 'English football league' what a complete farce, where are the teams for this 'league 3' from ? B-teams ? They are just taking the p*** out of us!

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I was surprised to read about this, if it ain't broke...

Also from the fifth tier it could take even longer to reach the championship, let alone premier league, so are club owners going to have the patience, and funds, to keep bankrolling a club if it is stagnating in the fifth tier?

20 minutes ago, Riverleeno said:

I was surprised to read about this, if it ain't broke...

Also from the fifth tier it could take even longer to reach the championship, let alone premier league, so are club owners going to have the patience, and funds, to keep bankrolling a club if it is stagnating in the fifth tier?

The same is true already, but only 2 of the 24 teams in today's fifth tier can win promotion. If they gave the fifth division 3 promotion spots out of 20 teams, that would increase mobility.

But like you said, it ain't broke.

They get these idea's at times , I personally like it as it is and don't think changes are needed , I think our football pyramid as it stands is the best .

9 hours ago, BradtheMiller said:

Another pathetic attempt to further weaken the Football League, therefore strengthening the Greed League's position. Wouldn't be at all surprised if someone from Sky was involved in the suggestion, after all, Leicester winning the Greed League & clubs like Rotherham, Burton & Brentford in the Championship can't be good for the game, can it?

Spot on, the more clubs the league have the less money each club would get from the FA and any tv deal as it would have to be shared even wider. 

Surely people can see that this is merely a vehicle to introducing premier league clubs reserve teams into the football league, that way the Premier League can have their puppets (the FA) put out a statement regarding the development of English players etc etc as they (the FA) are too scared to ask their masters to introduce a cap on foreign players.

Just like politicians nowadays, spin a load of sh!te, chuck in some made up facts on the benefits because the majority will just believe whatever their told.

I've just realised I sound like a hippy.

 

Maybe they are onto something...

@Northants Pie You struck a key point about developing English players... there is more chance of development in L1 or L2 clubs as they are likely to get first team opportunities much earlier, in a competitive environment... Premier League Reserve sides play in what people see is,an uncompetitive league. Economically introducing Premier League reserve teams into the Football league would radically reduce the "away" support coming to FL clubs...thereby significant income from the away team supporters falls... Vote of no confidence in the Football League

I think you're jumping the gun regarding B teams, these proposals include bringing 8 clubs up from the Conference. 65 clubs have to agree to these plans for it to happen; if B teams were a part of it it'd have no chance at all.

I hope we never see B teams competing in the League system. I've seen enough matches with 0 away fans in attendance.

Personally, I can't see the football league clubs voting for this unless there is significant financial incentives to do so and I can't see the PL clubs giving up any of their revenue! I  would also doubt that any club would vote for reserve sides either to be added, because as @Piethagoramsays, there would be almost zero away following, except for a few fans of the big clubs that live in the area.

 

i dont think anyone will gain from this but the football league.

how do they decide which teams go up to make the last division? if there is 20 in it dont see the benefit.

I wonder what the club's line on this is, @erindoors? Fewer Tuesday night matches doesn't sound like such a bad idea, but would the sums stack up?

I personally like the midweek games, although the gates are lower i think its a better atmosphere, but I would imagine 4 less home games would be a significant amount to lose

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But then again, all your derbies and big matches would fall on a Saturday (apart from televised games). A couple of years ago we played both Sheffield United and Wednesday on a weeknight, with far smaller crowds as a result.

I've never been a fan of midweek games, mainly because I nearly always missed them!

At the end of the season the money gained from TV, sponsorship, etc. is dished out by the FA to the clubs. The amount awarded is decided by  the position where you finish.

PL teams get the major part of the pie.  League 2 get a share of a small amount. Add another 20 teams to the league and someone will need to find more money, or reduce the payments to the clubs. It has been suggested that teams in the lower leagues could take the spare PL players on loan, so they would not require s many players, so B teams wouldn't be required.

I heard that Burnley got £6mill when they got relegated from the PL, and being promoted will net them £60+mill. I don't know if this is all from the same fund, but it shows that the teams are already not competing on a level field. Goal line technology means that the PL play to different rules. by creaming off the top referees they can influence the way the laws of the game are interpreted. Over 90 changes have been made for next season. Control of finances would mean that a few big teams will be invincible, there is talk of them making there own TV deals with games being played every night, once competition from the lower clubs has been extinguished.

I see this as a move to make the money men richer by killing all that we expect and treasure about the English game.

 if we continue to pour money in at the top and let it all leak out overseas, without some  sinking down to the lower leagues, the gap between the leagues will expand and only the teams that come down will have the finances to compete in going up. "rubber ball teams"

40,000 Shef Wed fans bought all their allocation of tickets in 2 days and went to Wembley in the hope that they would get to the PL and stay there. Ok they didn't do it but they had a chance. The fan base has stuck with them, and they gave it a shot. If they knew there was no chance of getting promoted and staying up the most ardent fan will loose heart, and stop going. Hull don't have sell out crowds but do have a foot on the gravy train so they can afford to keep foreign internationals. If they are relegated at the end of next season Hull will still be financially well off and in the prime place to push for promotion. 

     

I may be a bit controversial here as I see most people appear to hate this idea but I think if it was done well it could be good.

I don't like the idea of B teams in any capacity, whether it be from the premier league or anywhere else, if you want development games join the development squad league.

What I like the idea of is reducing the number of teams in each division (only every so slightly) so you have 5 top tier divisions split as Premiership, Championship, League 1, League 2 North, League 2 South.

I personally think the handful of home games each team would lose out on each season wouldn't make them lose money, especially those in League 2 north and south. It would result in fewer Tuesday night games from teams miles away who don't bring many fans in this division.

People are usually more able and willing to attend a game on a Saturday afternoon against a team only 30 miles away then a Tuesday night against a team traveling hundreds of miles who won't bring much of a crowd. There would be far more local-isn derbys on Saturday afternoons and people will always want to attend these if they can.

Clubs also won't need to pay for travel and accommodation when playing teams hundreds of miles away on a Tuesday night so they will also save a lot of money from this, again as most their away games will be a suitable travelling distance away.

I also think this would be a perfect time to implement a christmas break, attendances on boxing day are usually good and this game would stay in place but the Tuesday night games late December and early January we could do away with as most people are skint and those that pay on the day are less likely to attend.

On another note it could make each season more exciting as theres more chance of going up or down, as a general rule fans attend more towards the end of a season especially when there is a chance their team will go up or down.

Changing it will certainly have its problems I just believe if done well it won't result in lost revenue as clubs will be able to save money on certain things such as travel and accommodation and I genuinely believe Saturday attendances would improve.

I may be a bit controversial here as I see most people appear to hate this idea but I think if it was done well it could be good.

I don't like the idea of B teams in any capacity, whether it be from the premier league or anywhere else, if you want development games join the development squad league.

What I like the idea of is reducing the number of teams in each division (only every so slightly) so you have 5 top tier divisions split as Premiership, Championship, League 1, League 2 North, League 2 South.

I personally think the handful of home games each team would lose out on each season wouldn't make them lose money, especially those in League 2 north and south. It would result in fewer Tuesday night games from teams miles away who don't bring many fans in this division.

People are usually more able and willing to attend a game on a Saturday afternoon against a team only 30 miles away then a Tuesday night against a team traveling hundreds of miles who won't bring much of a crowd. There would be far more local-isn derbys on Saturday afternoons and people will always want to attend these if they can.

Clubs also won't need to pay for travel and accommodation when playing teams hundreds of miles away on a Tuesday night so they will also save a lot of money from this, again as most their away games will be a suitable travelling distance away.

I also think this would be a perfect time to implement a christmas break, attendances on boxing day are usually good and this game would stay in place but the Tuesday night games late December and early January we could do away with as most people are skint and those that pay on the day are less likely to attend.

On another note it could make each season more exciting as theres more chance of going up or down, as a general rule fans attend more towards the end of a season especially when there is a chance their team will go up or down.

Changing it will certainly have its problems I just believe if done well it won't result in lost revenue as clubs will be able to save money on certain things such as travel and accommodation and I genuinely believe Saturday attendances would improve.

You do make some very good points but as the old saying goes, if it ain't broken, don't hit it with a big hammer! People don't like change and the English divisions have been the same since before I was even born so its all ive ever known and all most people have ever known, so to just add B-teams is a big shock, the B-teams won't get many fans going to watch them and its hardly going to help the england team like the FA seem to think, but its a tough subject since its like watching an old TV program but they have changed the characters and you just feel like its been ruined

As a side note, there's a petition going round regarding the boycotting of B-team matches in the EFL trophy, its completely down to you if you want to be a part of it or not, just felt it was worth sharing!

http://www.againstleague3.co.uk/bteamboycott-signup/

I'm for the proposals. At the moment we have too many games in the Football League. Notts probably wouldn't lose out on that much money because the cost of opening Meadow Lane for 4,000 fans is probably quite high anyway. And let's face it, nobody gives a damn about the JPT, so having Man Utd reserves vs Notts will probably draw more fans than Notts v Accrington or whatever.

People like structure and hate seeing changes, if this can be implemented well it could be good but in most cases this does not happen.

For me, any mention of B teams should be boycotted. I know it makes sense for the JPT or whatever they're calling it now, but I think the saying 'give them an inch and they'll take a mile' applies here. We can't let B teams anywhere near our game at any level, it could be a prelude to more 'ideas' about B teams. 

On 1.7.2016 at 00:08, Chillman said:

I may be a bit controversial here as I see most people appear to hate this idea but I think if it was done well it could be good.

I don't like the idea of B teams in any capacity, whether it be from the premier league or anywhere else, if you want development games join the development squad league.

What I like the idea of is reducing the number of teams in each division (only every so slightly) so you have 5 top tier divisions split as Premiership, Championship, League 1, League 2 North, League 2 South.

I personally think the handful of home games each team would lose out on each season wouldn't make them lose money, especially those in League 2 north and south. It would result in fewer Tuesday night games from teams miles away who don't bring many fans in this division.

People are usually more able and willing to attend a game on a Saturday afternoon against a team only 30 miles away then a Tuesday night against a team traveling hundreds of miles who won't bring much of a crowd. There would be far more local-isn derbys on Saturday afternoons and people will always want to attend these if they can.

Clubs also won't need to pay for travel and accommodation when playing teams hundreds of miles away on a Tuesday night so they will also save a lot of money from this, again as most their away games will be a suitable travelling distance away.

I also think this would be a perfect time to implement a christmas break, attendances on boxing day are usually good and this game would stay in place but the Tuesday night games late December and early January we could do away with as most people are skint and those that pay on the day are less likely to attend.

On another note it could make each season more exciting as theres more chance of going up or down, as a general rule fans attend more towards the end of a season especially when there is a chance their team will go up or down.

Changing it will certainly have its problems I just believe if done well it won't result in lost revenue as clubs will be able to save money on certain things such as travel and accommodation and I genuinely believe Saturday attendances would improve.

Like you I think this is worth consideration as long as the B teams are kept far, far away from it. But I'd be opposed to a winter break. We have one in Germany, and in the last few weeks teams ramp up their training and play friendlies, alm ost like a second pre-season. You couldn't just schedule a Boxing Day fixture in the middle of that.