Supporters have until 5pm on 30th September to have their say...
The club can confirm that over 600 responses have been received in relation to our Whole Game Solution survey posted last week.We'd like to remind supporters that you have until 5pm on Friday 30th September to have your say on a whole range of proposals put forward by the EFL.
At the EFL Summer Conference back in June Clubs were presented with the idea of a ‘Whole Game Solution’ for the 2019-2020 Season and beyond. The proposals have been put forward as a possible solution to the problem of an overcrowded fixture list. The concern is apparently not unique to the EFL, it is shared for differing reasons by both the Premier League and Football Association domestically and UEFA internationally, hence the suggestion that a ‘Whole Game Solution’ was needed.
One of the biggest issues cited by the EFL is that there are insufficient dates available in each season to sensibly accommodate both League and Cup fixtures without clashes. To make any changes feasible they would have to work both practically and financially for Clubs and would mean creating the maximum number of weekend and Bank Holiday League fixtures. In practice this would mean that the season may need to start a week earlier for the Premier League and that up to two rounds of the FA Cup (probably rounds 4 & 5) would need to move to a midweek slot. If this was achieved, a winter break could be added to the schedule, finishing the EFL Season with the traditional play-off final Bank Holiday weekend.
However, in order to achieve the above (and this is the crux of the matter), the EFL would need to reduce the number of League games played to free up the midweek dates required to move the FA Cups Rounds into these slots. In practice this would mean the creation of four divisions in the EFL of either 20 or 22 teams – The Championship, League One, League Two and a newly formed League Three.
It is the EFL’s belief that the creation of extra weekend dates for Premier League games will generate sufficient additional revenue from their Broadcast partners to redistribute to EFL clubs to fund the losses that a reduced number of games would have, as well as any loss to the FA, after they have determined the ‘value’ of the winter break for national team preparation.
This is clearly a very controversial proposal and one that we as a Club are extremely sceptical of. We are yet to be convinced that the proposals can be practically achieved and financially underwritten but more importantly that they are desirable in the first place.
As supporters you need to have your say in this very important issue. As such we have set up an online survey for you to complete and air your views. I would encourage as many of you as possible to complete the survey so that we as a Club can make accurate representations to the EFL on your behalf as the discussions on the ‘Whole Game Solution’ evolve. You can complete the survey by following the web linkhttps://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/9FFZZKX