Holding my hands up, I did feel that initially there was something to be said for the FA’s suggestion that Premier League ‘B’ clubs should be allowed to compete in the lower leagues of the English Football League (EFL). Then, I thought about it and concluded what a barking mad idea it was. And to my astonishment the man who presides over the Premier League, which is doing more damage to English football than anything else, one Richard Scudamore, said that B teams won’t work in the English structure. With friends like him…
So, presumably unless Rupert Murdoch comes along and offers several billion quid extra neither change will occur. But the news got even better. Scottish teams – that is to say Celtic and Rangers – will not be joining the EFL on the not altogether surprising grounds that they are Scottish.
If people really did think the introduction of B teams into the EFL was a good idea, then they will surely have changed their minds after seeing the absolute fiasco of this year’s Checkatrade Trophy, formerly the Paint Pot Trophy, a tournament that has been severely wounded, possibly terminally, by the imposition of B teams from the Premier League and the Championship including the likes of Reading. Football supporters are notoriously unwilling to complain about anything, no matter how damaging it is, so it was surprising that many of them made a spontaneous decision to ignore this year’s competition. Despite there being no organised opposition, the EFL will surely not repeat this crass error especially that the entire tournament has been ruined this season, regardless of who wins it because it was not a genuine tournament.
The EFL clubs don’t want mid season breaks either, which again is fair enough. The whole point of these breaks is to ensure international players don’t get worn out before international competitions and as few of the England team come from League one, at least at the moment, why should we care if lower league foreign internationals playing in the EFL are blowing out of their arses come the summer?
One change that may go ahead is the idea of increasing the number of EFL clubs to 80 in order to move to four divisions of 20 teams. The idea, I understand, is to reduce fixure congestion. Fair enough, but I suggest clubs will need to see how much income they will lose in the event this happens – what will fans say about paying the same for a season ticket for four less games? And in order to introduce the new system in one go as many as seven Championship clubs might be relegated in one go. That would make for exciting times!
We shouldn’t be against change per se because change doesn’t always mean bad news. B teams and the two Glasgow giants undermining the English League was always a step too far and it’s not going to happen. Perhaps other stuff will, including perhaps regionalisation, but the authorities would do well to listen to fans. Not listening has made a right mess of the Checkatrade Trophy, hasn’t it?
