The Premier League, as ever, is grabbing headlines concerning the hurried return of top-flight football. However, our beloved sport belongs to more than just 20 teams and was established long before 1992. Football fans up and down the country are asking the questions as to the future of football for their own club – from the Championship all the way down the footballing pyramid. With this in mind, 3-At-The-Back took the opportunity to discuss the future of the EFL with Gabriel Sutton, content creator and acknowledged by the Football Content Awards for content creation.
“I think [the fairest method of concluding the season] is the PPG (Points Per Game), yes it wouldn’t be entirely fair in the sense that we’ve not completed the season but I don’t think we’re going to get to a solution that’s entirely fair…with the PPG solution, it would at least reflect three quarters of the EFL campaign and that feels like the closest thing to fairness we can get, given the current circumstances.”
The PPG system has been discussed for some time, with all options suffering drawbacks. The Halfway measurement and 12-game format (based current form) both seemingly ignore some fixtures. Would goals scored be taken away from players? Moreover, would new managers such as Neil Critchley (Blackpool) still be waiting to take his first steps in management.
The third option, one Gabriel favours, is for every game to have counted, which some argue disregards form. Teams in upward trends, such as Luton Town, may feel somewhat aggrieved by this result, as the current Championship form table sees them sitting in the play-offs.
This brings up the problem of relegations and promotions – hotly debated in every league. “As a fan, I believe that relegations should count because you can’t have the glory of promotions without relegations and there’s clubs that have done very poorly this season and deserve to take the consequences that come with that.”
“From a legal perspective though, I would say that it could be more of a legal issue to relegate a club. You’re taking something away from them so if you were to relegate Aston Villa, for example, without them having fulfilled all their fixtures, you would be taking away their Premier League status. Whereas, not giving Crewe Alexandra promotion, for example, would be denying them something that they don’t already have.”
“From my personal point of view, I would be in favour of promotions and relegations as normal, but I’ve got a feeling that legally its actually going to be simpler – not simple – to deny clubs promotion and also save clubs from relegations.”
“I think [the fairest method of concluding the season] is the PPG (Points Per Game), yes it wouldn’t be entirely fair in the sense that we’ve not completed the season but I don’t think we’re going to get to a solution that’s entirely fair…with the PPG solution, it would at least reflect three quarters of the EFL campaign and that feels like the closest thing to fairness we can get, given the current circumstances.”
The PPG system has been discussed for some time, with all options suffering drawbacks. The Halfway measurement and 12-game format (based current form) both seemingly ignore some fixtures. Would goals scored be taken away from players? Moreover, would new managers such as Neil Critchley (Blackpool) still be waiting to take his first steps in management.
The third option, one Gabriel favours, is for every game to have counted, which some argue disregards form. Teams in upward trends, such as Luton Town, may feel somewhat aggrieved by this result, as the current Championship form table sees them sitting in the play-offs.
This brings up the problem of relegations and promotions – hotly debated in every league. “As a fan, I believe that relegations should count because you can’t have the glory of promotions without relegations and there’s clubs that have done very poorly this season and deserve to take the consequences that come with that.”
“From a legal perspective though, I would say that it could be more of a legal issue to relegate a club. You’re taking something away from them so if you were to relegate Aston Villa, for example, without them having fulfilled all their fixtures, you would be taking away their Premier League status. Whereas, not giving Crewe Alexandra promotion, for example, would be denying them something that they don’t already have.”
“From my personal point of view, I would be in favour of promotions and relegations as normal, but I’ve got a feeling that legally its actually going to be simpler – not simple – to deny clubs promotion and also save clubs from relegations.”
Chris Porter is Crewe's top scorer this season, he netted in their last game on March 7 against Stevenage to put the Railwaymen top of League 2.
The question has also been raised whether consistency is needed across divisions – bar the Premier League. Gabriel raised the issue, that if consistency was to be desired and required, financial packages would be necessary to help the more financially vulnerable clubs. With no fans expected to be returning to games anytime soon, clubs losing that matchday revenue could be in trouble – leading to questions as to how they will be supported by the FA and EFL.
“Of course, that would open up a can of worms, wouldn’t it? How do you quantify how many fans would be at games? For example, Sunderland, would you go equal in League One or would you give teams with bigger fanbases more money? That would create more aggravations, again. I don’t know if playing on with fans is going to be an option, but I think that the right financial solution would be essential because the lower level clubs can’t afford to play without the attendance of fans – unless there is those packages in place.”
“We don’t know whether those packages are going to come in. I suppose, maybe we would be right to be sceptical because the FA, EFL and Premier League were very slow to respond to the situation at Bury. I would hope that it’s a slightly different situation because all the clubs are affected and, therefore, there needs to be a collective solution in place.”
The 24th April saw Graeme Jones leave Luton ‘by mutual consent’ and many wondered whether more clubs would follow suit. Paying the wages of a manager who has no training to oversee, press conferences to deliver or matches to manage would only compound any former financial struggle. These clubs run tight budgets, every penny is precious and cannot afford to be wasted.
“I would say that there’s actually more security for managers now. Perhaps if they’re on a bad run of form, they’re given the benefit of the doubt a little bit because it’s not a pressing issue. It’s possible that it would have cost Luton more to sack Graeme Jones and then potentially bring another manager in, it’s unlikely that they’re going to make an appointment I suppose, but they would have to pay the compensation.”
“Of course, that would open up a can of worms, wouldn’t it? How do you quantify how many fans would be at games? For example, Sunderland, would you go equal in League One or would you give teams with bigger fanbases more money? That would create more aggravations, again. I don’t know if playing on with fans is going to be an option, but I think that the right financial solution would be essential because the lower level clubs can’t afford to play without the attendance of fans – unless there is those packages in place.”
“We don’t know whether those packages are going to come in. I suppose, maybe we would be right to be sceptical because the FA, EFL and Premier League were very slow to respond to the situation at Bury. I would hope that it’s a slightly different situation because all the clubs are affected and, therefore, there needs to be a collective solution in place.”
The 24th April saw Graeme Jones leave Luton ‘by mutual consent’ and many wondered whether more clubs would follow suit. Paying the wages of a manager who has no training to oversee, press conferences to deliver or matches to manage would only compound any former financial struggle. These clubs run tight budgets, every penny is precious and cannot afford to be wasted.
“I would say that there’s actually more security for managers now. Perhaps if they’re on a bad run of form, they’re given the benefit of the doubt a little bit because it’s not a pressing issue. It’s possible that it would have cost Luton more to sack Graeme Jones and then potentially bring another manager in, it’s unlikely that they’re going to make an appointment I suppose, but they would have to pay the compensation.”
Despite being six points from safety, Luton were experiencing a renaissance of form prior to football's postponement. However the Hatters parted company with boss Graeme Jones via mutual consent a fortnight ago.
Moving on, clubs and players alike have still been left in the dark in regards to the future of players whose contracts expire in the summer. Will they be allowed to continue representing their club or, will summer see them out of a job, deprived of an income with little sight of a return?
“I think that the whole structure that we’ve built up for decades in English football goes out the window with this pandemic. We’re coming up with a new set of rules so, with regards to contracts, I’ve heard players say that they would be happy to sign a provisional extension to their deals until the transfer window reopens. The governing bodies would need to carve out a provisional window opening, where some of the out of contract dates could go to the beginning of that transfer window.”
Finally, with some clubs having admitted being close to breaking point financially, how quickly do decisions need to be made?
“I think in terms of the speed [of decisions] there needs to be a temporary financial solution to help vulnerable clubs quickly -that goes without saying. I think it’s really important the FA and Premier League take notice of that. If you think of Seamus Conneely, an Accrington Stanley player, talking about how he’s struggling, lots of players are in a similar boat and there’s an injustice in that.”
“In terms of how the league is going to be restructured, I don’t think speed is of the essence because this is a situation that’s going to be dictated entirely by the global pandemic. We can say we’re going to return to the season in October, for example, and then the pandemic might not be under control by that point. By contrast, the pandemic might be sorted before a date that we provide. I think we need to monitor the situation as a country and then come to a solution when it feels like we’re coming closer to being able to play games again.”
“I think that the whole structure that we’ve built up for decades in English football goes out the window with this pandemic. We’re coming up with a new set of rules so, with regards to contracts, I’ve heard players say that they would be happy to sign a provisional extension to their deals until the transfer window reopens. The governing bodies would need to carve out a provisional window opening, where some of the out of contract dates could go to the beginning of that transfer window.”
Finally, with some clubs having admitted being close to breaking point financially, how quickly do decisions need to be made?
“I think in terms of the speed [of decisions] there needs to be a temporary financial solution to help vulnerable clubs quickly -that goes without saying. I think it’s really important the FA and Premier League take notice of that. If you think of Seamus Conneely, an Accrington Stanley player, talking about how he’s struggling, lots of players are in a similar boat and there’s an injustice in that.”
“In terms of how the league is going to be restructured, I don’t think speed is of the essence because this is a situation that’s going to be dictated entirely by the global pandemic. We can say we’re going to return to the season in October, for example, and then the pandemic might not be under control by that point. By contrast, the pandemic might be sorted before a date that we provide. I think we need to monitor the situation as a country and then come to a solution when it feels like we’re coming closer to being able to play games again.”
Written by: James McEvoy
Edited by: 3-At-The-Back
Edited by: 3-At-The-Back