English Football League - Whole Game Solution scrapped

[Joe Jones]

From BBC Sport:

Plans for a shake-up of English football to create 100 teams in five divisions have been cancelled after talks between the English Football League and the Football Association broke down.

The EFL said in May it wanted to create an extra division and have 20 teams in each from 2019-20.

The plans required authorities to find additional weekends for league games.

The EFL says it has been told by the FA the plans are "no longer viable".

There are currently 72 teams in the EFL - 24 each in the Championship, League One and League Two - and the organisation said the move would tackle fixture congestion and boost the finances of its members.

The rescheduling would have involved moving FA Cup fixtures into midweek slots, but the EFL said the FA was no longer prepared to consider such a move following a new international broadcasting deal - reported to be worth £820m.

"If the weekend slots are not available, there is simply no way we can meet the financial conditions as outlined at the very outset," said EFL chief executive Shaun Harvey.

"The stance the FA has adopted has brought the discussions to a premature end, before fully understanding what the financial outcome from the creation of a new distribution model could be. "

However, the FA says it remains "fully committed" to working with EFL and the Premier League regarding the issue of fixture congestion.

An FA spokesman said: "This is why we are trialling the removal of sixth-round replays in the FA Cup this season and why we supported the EFL in consulting on its innovative ideas for reform. That commitment remains."

Harvey said the EFL would still welcome a change in the FA's position.

"We are, of course, open to re-engaging in what is a hugely important debate that was designed to help shape the future of football in this country," he added.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/37998768

Thoughts?

[DangerousSausage]

Let me get this straight ... the Football League expands its useless Checkatrade Trophy (and fines clubs if they don't give it the respect it supposedly deserves) and clings on to the League Cup, but then demands that the FA Cup becomes essentially a midweek competition? I hope the FA stands up to this bullying.

[Who r ya?? You Pies!!]

I'm just glad the league structure as it stands remains as it stands , no change in my view needed or welcome .

[DangerousSausage]

18 minutes ago, Who r ya?? You Pies!! said:

I'm just glad the league structure as it stands remains as it stands , no change in my view needed or welcome .

I wouldn't be so sure that that's the end of the story - the idiots at the Football League are bent on "reform" as a monument to themselves.

[Who r ya?? You Pies!!]

Yes you are bang on with that @DangerousSausage , just hope that the future brings unity in a fight against that kind of change , maybe certain changes could be embraced , certain tweaks , but not that please .

[ivansneck]

We'll soon have another idiot 'in charge' of the football league with another stupid idea.