Promotion and relegation 2019/20 season

[Up the Shrimpers]

I see the National League season has been officially ended.
I think they have to decide now if to void it or keep positions as they are.

 

[kentblues]

I see the National League season has been officially ended.
I think they have to decide now if to void it or keep positions as they are.

They have to wait for the numpties at the EFL (as they have been all along with increasing frustration until they can wait no longer). They need to implement in a way consistent with the EFL.

Don't imagine the majority of L1 & L2 chairman are of a different opinion to the 90% of National League chairmen who voted to end. They are under pressure from the EFL to bear with them, wait just a bit longer, you know the drill. Don't forget the EFL has withheld the money advanced by the Prem and holds the threat of ££. Don't assume they are not (however unpleasant and disreputable) using this to keep the clubs "on message"..

 

[Fairport]

Colchester owner Robbie Cowling was at the League 2 meeting and said that the League are a long way off from having a vote about the season ending.

 

[mfurok]

Colchester owner Robbie Cowling was at the League 2 meeting and said that the League are a long way off from having a vote about the season ending.

It's hard to imagine a League being run worse.

Len Fuller and Len Forge would have done a far better job.

 

[Chris Powell's mate]

The finish of the NL and the resumption of the EFL might see three clubs relegated from League One, and four promoted from League Two - but then you're still a club short assuming no relegation/promotion from/to the NL.
Remember Bury's place has to be filled.
Imagine the ding-dong about who comes up from the NL with nine games still to be played!

 

[Maldon Shrimper]

On the day that the National league decide to stop their league and two more explayers say that the leagues should be finished and others still putting in their 10 pentance we still await EFL to come up with a plan.In the meantime clubs up and down this land are trying to survive without any financial income.We need the Government to say that we cant play games behind closed doors due to the risks to all involved plus we cannot have any social gatherings of more than say 5 people until we have a vaccine in place. Then the Premier League and EFL can say the leagues are finished and we can move on and plan for the future.This is my opinion so don't shoot the messenger I just want the authorities to make a decision which is fair and just

 

[Chris Powell's mate]

On the day that the National league decide to stop their league and two more explayers say that the leagues should be finished and others still putting in their 10 pentance we still await EFL to come up with a plan.In the meantime clubs up and down this land are trying to survive without any financial income.We need the Government to say that we cant play games behind closed doors due to the risks to all involved plus we cannot have any social gatherings of more than say 5 people until we have a vaccine in place. Then the Premier League and EFL can say the leagues are finished and we can move on and plan for the future.This is my opinion so don't shoot the messenger I just want the authorities to make a decision which is fair and just

The impression left is the EFL want a vast majority to agree to an immediate end.
Clearly, that's not what they're hearing - especially with a dithering UEFA changing its mind frequently.
Once there is something like 90% agreeing to an end, the powers that be can probably fend off the rest.
Everyone knows a resumption no sooner than June at the earliest is a given.
Spain has just announced a further lockdown until mid May - and they were supposedly 'plateauing' - so what are the chances of June and football in England?
NL and Scotland have downed tools, the EFL are surely awaiting a quorum to do same.

 

[Stuart W]

I will repeat what I said in an earlier post on another thread...now it has been spelt out in plain English that there will be some form of social restrictions to the end of the year....just write off a 12 month period and aim to restart on the weekend of the 13th/14th of March 2021, and then complete this season.
In the intervening period there will be plenty of time to discuss contract issues, restructuring of leagues, and importantly how to make the football pyramid self sustaining which will require a complete rethink of how money will need to flow (or in past didn't flow) throughout the leagues.
To retain credibility this season needs to finish, and I think we have been told today that nothing will happen before January 2021 anyway.
I think my solution is neat and viable provided there is a unified approach to the matters in hand by all parties within the football family.

 

[Mick]

I will repeat what I said in an earlier post on another thread...now it has been spelt out in plain English that there will be some form of social restrictions to the end of the year....just write off a 12 month period and aim to restart on the weekend of the 13th/14th of March 2021, and then complete this season.
In the intervening period there will be plenty of time to discuss contract issues, restructuring of leagues, and importantly how to make the football pyramid self sustaining which will require a complete rethink of how money will need to flow (or in past didn't flow) throughout the leagues.
To retain credibility this season needs to finish, and I think we have been told today that nothing will happen before January 2021 anyway.
I think my solution is neat and viable provided there is a unified approach to the matters in hand by all parties within the football family.

Not the worst idea by a long way but I must say in recent weeks/months we have been told a lot of things, some in plain English, some less so, that have subsequently turned out not to be true !

 

[kentblues]

I will repeat what I said in an earlier post on another thread...now it has been spelt out in plain English that there will be some form of social restrictions to the end of the year....just write off a 12 month period and aim to restart on the weekend of the 13th/14th of March 2021, and then complete this season.
In the intervening period there will be plenty of time to discuss contract issues, restructuring of leagues, and importantly how to make the football pyramid self sustaining which will require a complete rethink of how money will need to flow (or in past didn't flow) throughout the leagues.
To retain credibility this season needs to finish, and I think we have been told today that nothing will happen before January 2021 anyway.
I think my solution is neat and viable provided there is a unified approach to the matters in hand by all parties within the football family.

The primary reason this will not work is by then many of the clubs will no longer be in existence making completion impossible.. so let’s hope these timescales don’t come to pass..

 

[Westcliff DGS]

The primary reason this will not work is by then many of the clubs will no longer be in existence making completion impossible.. so let’s hope these timescales don’t come to pass..

Agree if there is no football till next March a plethora of clubs would have disappeared

 

[Medway Blue]

I will repeat what I said in an earlier post on another thread...now it has been spelt out in plain English that there will be some form of social restrictions to the end of the year....just write off a 12 month period and aim to restart on the weekend of the 13th/14th of March 2021, and then complete this season.
In the intervening period there will be plenty of time to discuss contract issues, restructuring of leagues, and importantly how to make the football pyramid self sustaining which will require a complete rethink of how money will need to flow (or in past didn't flow) throughout the leagues.
To retain credibility this season needs to finish, and I think we have been told today that nothing will happen before January 2021 anyway.
I think my solution is neat and viable provided there is a unified approach to the matters in hand by all parties within the football family.

Resume the season a whole calendar year after it has been postponed? Christ alive, that’ll do the opposite of “retain credibility”. It would be a complete and utter joke. Absolute laughing stock. Just end the damn thing.

 

[Stuart W]

Resume the season a whole calendar year after it has been postponed? Christ alive, that’ll do the opposite of “retain credibility”. It would be a complete and utter joke. Absolute laughing stock. Just end the damn thing.

And your solution is........

 

[Murkey_Mouse]

Resume the season a whole calendar year after it has been postponed? Christ alive, that’ll do the opposite of “retain credibility”. It would be a complete and utter joke. Absolute laughing stock. Just end the damn thing.

He is spot on, just end the season now & start again afresh in August 2020!!

 

[Medway Blue]

And your solution is........

If the season can be completed before September with fans in attendance, great. If not then it needs to be sacked off.

Playing behind closed doors will kill lower league clubs; revenue from streaming the matches is fantasy when it would need to be half the cost of a match ticket, when a family of five could watch for the price of one streaming purchase, and when the club has to pay money to stage the match.

Resuming the competition after June 2020, especially as long after June 2020 as you suggest, also mental. Even if players who are looking forward to their contracts expiring at their current clubs reluctantly agree to stay longer to complete the season so that they have a job, who’s to say their clubs can afford it? Their club might have financially planned to have them off their wage bill, and that’s even before income and cashflows dropped to zero. So then you resume the season with some squads missing a bunch of players who were involved in the first three quarters of the season. This might be to varying degrees from club to club, but it does more damage to sporting integrity if it then has a massive effect on how clubs perform in those final 10 games.

End the season now. What to do then? I don’t know. Fairest thing to do seems to be what the NL is doing and ask clubs to vote how they want the season to end. Doesn’t bother me too much either way whether it’s null and void, or base promotions and relegations on current positions/PPG. I’m leaning slightly towards null and void because I think you open more cans of worms with PPG or taking current positions as finishing positions because it’s not giving a fair chance to clubs who can mathematically make it into autos or playoffs, or get out of the relegation zone, and some of them might have favourable run-ins. To have a season like that officially in the record books, in my mind, is probably marginally the worst option for sporting integrity. I don’t want to see a tainted season in the record books at all - finishing it on PPG/current positions or finishing it behind closed doors at a later date all taint it. So don’t have it in the record books.

The least **** option out of a list of **** options is to null and void it, then it won’t be in the record books at all. The record books will jump from 2019/20 straight to whichever season is next able to take place. I know this will screw clubs in good positions but people will have to come to terms with the fact that this is an unprecedented “force majeur” situation which called for an unprecedented solution, and live with it.

End it now. Give struggling lower league clubs the certainty that they desperately need and allow them to plan and do whatever they need to do to survive until football can resume. And then only begin a new season once a full root-and-branch investigation and reform of the game in this country has taken place and once fans are allowed to be back in attendance.

 

[Westcliff DGS]

If the season can be completed before September with fans in attendance, great. If not then it needs to be sacked off.

Playing behind closed doors will kill lower league clubs; revenue from streaming the matches is fantasy when it would need to be half the cost of a match ticket, when a family of five could watch for the price of one streaming purchase, and when the club has to pay money to stage the match.

Resuming the competition after June 2020, especially as long after June 2020 as you suggest, also mental. Even if players who are looking forward to their contracts expiring at their current clubs reluctantly agree to stay longer to complete the season so that they have a job, who’s to say their clubs can afford it? Their club might have financially planned to have them off their wage bill, and that’s even before income and cashflows dropped to zero. So then you resume the season with some squads missing a bunch of players who were involved in the first three quarters of the season. This might be to varying degrees from club to club, but it does more damage to sporting integrity if it then has a massive effect on how clubs perform in those final 10 games.

End the season now. What to do then? I don’t know. Fairest thing to do seems to be what the NL is doing and ask clubs to vote how they want the season to end. Doesn’t bother me too much either way whether it’s null and void, or base promotions and relegations on current positions/PPG. I’m leaning slightly towards null and void because I think you open more cans of worms with PPG or taking current positions as finishing positions because it’s not giving a fair chance to clubs who can mathematically make it into autos or playoffs, or get out of the relegation zone, and some of them might have favourable run-ins. To have a season like that officially in the record books, in my mind, is probably marginally the worst option for sporting integrity. I don’t want to see a tainted season in the record books at all - finishing it on PPG/current positions or finishing it behind closed doors at a later date all taint it. So don’t have it in the record books.

The least **** option out of a list of **** options is to null and void it, then it won’t be in the record books at all. The record books will jump from 2019/20 straight to whichever season is next able to take place. I know this will screw clubs in good positions but people will have to come to terms with the fact that this is an unprecedented “force majeur” situation which called for an unprecedented solution, and live with it.

End it now. Give struggling lower league clubs the certainty that they desperately need and allow them to plan and do whatever they need to do to survive until football can resume. And then only begin a new season once a full root-and-branch investigation and reform of the game in this country has taken place and once fans are allowed to be back in attendance.

All good points and i tend to agree.

However, null and void opens a lot of worm cans, i work in the game and can tell you now that the would be a huge issue around FFP. Lots of teams overspend in a gamble for promotion, so if the season is voided then FFP Has to be reconsidered in the accounts for the year that didnt happen, it is also not just those that overspend smaller clubs who cant or dont would want that removed, and the EFL may not be too keen to do so. There are other financial implications too, if the season is voided then what about sponsors do they have a right to one more season (some sponsors already looking at this in readiness for a voided season), the same for kit deals etc. That is without player contracts etc getting involved.

It is a complete mess and common sense needs to prevail, sadly its football and common sense most of the time goes out of the window.

 

[kentblues]

On the subject of sponsors, TV companies etc. they have to be very careful.

You will note no TV company I am aware of has come out and said outright if the the season can't finish due to Coronavirus we want our money back. Why? Well imagine sponsors and TV companies refusing to pay or suing because of Coronavirus and forcing clubs out of business. What do you think that will do for the sponsors and TV companies reputation, brand loyalty. How many supporters are going to rush out and buy insurance from the insurance company that sent their team under? How many people are going to rush to max out on their Sky subscriptions if they put their club and/or other clubs out of business?

It suits all parties at the moment as its a convenient reason why seasons just have to finish. But when they can't, and once more the fantasy collides with reality, deals will be done, compromises will be made - sponsors and TV companies will be praised for their flexibility and support in a time of crisis, saviours of the game, and they will max out the PR from that for years to come. Leagues and clubs will be reminded of "debts" owed as why they need to stick with existing partners, and probably fans will agree..

 

[Mick]

The least **** option out of a list of **** options is to null and void it, then it won’t be in the record books at all. The record books will jump from 2019/20 straight to whichever season is next able to take place. I know this will screw clubs in good positions but people will have to come to terms with the fact that this is an unprecedented “force majeur” situation which called for an unprecedented solution, and live with it.

I have noticed an unprecedented use of the word unprecedented in these unprecedented times.

 

[Westcliff DGS]

On the subject of sponsors, TV companies etc. they have to be very careful.

You will note no TV company I am aware of has come out and said outright if the the season can't finish due to Coronavirus we want our money back. Why? Well imagine sponsors and TV companies refusing to pay or suing because of Coronavirus and forcing clubs out of business. What do you think that will do for the sponsors and TV companies reputation, brand loyalty. How many supporters are going to rush out and buy insurance from the insurance company that sent their team under? How many people are going to rush to max out on their Sky subscriptions if they put their club and/or other clubs out of business?

It suits all parties at the moment as its a convenient reason why seasons just have to finish. But when they can't, and once more the fantasy collides with reality, deals will be done, compromises will be made - sponsors and TV companies will be praised for their flexibility and support in a time of crisis, saviours of the game, and they will max out the PR from that for years to come. Leagues and clubs will be reminded of "debts" owed as why they need to stick with existing partners, and probably fans will agree..

Yep they do and they are, however the packages are sold to the highest bidder although no one broadcaster can have them all, so to that degree sky cannot say remember this and that to get favourable terms etc.

TV companies have spoken to the EPL and EFL about the situation although there is nothing firmly said discussions have taken place a few times.

The EFL need to pay the money over from the prem, most (if not all) clubs that need help would get through to probably September maybe October with that, thats based on 56 million the EFL said they would pay on, need to remember they are getting 125 million from the EPL

 

[kentblues]

I suspect once the EFL hands the Prem money over they are concerned the chairman will stop toeing the line & want the season to finish. Hence, they are withholding. Difficult to believe a league would behave in this way against such a backdrop but maybe we have to reconcile ourselves to the fact this is where we are at..