England looking to regionalize bottom leagues

[MacGafraidh]

England looking to regionalize bottom two leagues

 

as they think clubs will go to the wall.

[Junior Pub League]

Fleetwood looking to regionalise lower leagues as they want the big paydays from the likes of Sunderland visiting would be a more apposite thread title.

Regionalisation is the sign of diddyness for national leagues, if Fleetwood cant stand it in the big leagues then they can always go back to the Conference North and eke out their sad existence there.

One of the reasons clubs wont vote for regionalisation, I hope, is that the Championship is never going to move to having 4 clubs relegated so you end up with only the Champions of FLII(N) and FLII(S) being promoted and then the play-offs you'd assume would be the clubs that finish 2nd and 3rd in each league so you have the same format as just now, to fit into the Calendar.

That alone would kill the season for a lot more clubs by New Year so teams from 6th downwards could find themselves playing meaningless games for months on end. For me it would be a massive step backwards. Covid is going to cause issues for a couple of years, going regional would set the EFL game back 60 years and for me would be far more detrimental to clubs.

 

 

 

[Dev]

11 minutes ago, Junior Pub League said:

Fleetwood looking to regionalise lower leagues as they want the big paydays from the likes of Sunderland visiting would be a more apposite thread title.

Regionalisation is the sign of diddyness for national leagues, if Fleetwood cant stand it in the big leagues then they can always go back to the Conference North and eke out their sad existence there.

One of the reasons clubs wont vote for regionalisation, I hope, is that the Championship is never going to move to having 4 clubs relegated so you end up with only the Champions of FLII(N) and FLII(S) being promoted and then the play-offs you'd assume would be the clubs that finish 2nd and 3rd in each league so you have the same format as just now, to fit into the Calendar.

That alone would kill the season for a lot more clubs by New Year so teams from 6th downwards could find themselves playing meaningless games for months on end. For me it would be a massive step backwards. Covid is going to cause issues for a couple of years, going regional would set the EFL game back 60 years and for me would be far more detrimental to clubs.

 

 

 

You may be right about the Championship not wanting four clubs relegated but the 4th bottom side could be included in the play-offs with no difficulty if needed.

I doubt that regionalisation will come back in but the reductions in overall travel for clubs and supporters alike would be good in the sense that it would reduce the levels of pollution due to travel - as witnessed by the reductions we now have down to this rotten virus. 

By the way - what have you got against Fleetwood anyway?

[Junior Pub League]

Nothing against Fleetwood but as they seem to be the prime movers in attempting to taking the EFL backwards they can do one. 

Edited April 22, 2020 by Junior Pub League

[Marten]

That's never going to pass as it would instantly put all League 1 clubs in a division that they can get relegated out of the Football League from. Also, if done it surely needs to be part of some larger reform as otherwise teams could get relegated from a regionalised tier 3 to a national tier 4 (which is now the National League at tier 5). If anything, it makes more sense to merge League 2 & National League into 2 regionalised tier 4 leagues. The NL is largely full-time now anyway.

[Jambo'ness]

2 hours ago, Junior Pub League said:

Fleetwood looking to regionalise lower leagues as they want the big paydays from the likes of Sunderland visiting would be a more apposite thread title.

Regionalisation is the sign of diddyness for national leagues, if Fleetwood cant stand it in the big leagues then they can always go back to the Conference North and eke out their sad existence there.

One of the reasons clubs wont vote for regionalisation, I hope, is that the Championship is never going to move to having 4 clubs relegated so you end up with only the Champions of FLII(N) and FLII(S) being promoted and then the play-offs you'd assume would be the clubs that finish 2nd and 3rd in each league so you have the same format as just now, to fit into the Calendar.

That alone would kill the season for a lot more clubs by New Year so teams from 6th downwards could find themselves playing meaningless games for months on end. For me it would be a massive step backwards. Covid is going to cause issues for a couple of years, going regional would set the EFL game back 60 years and for me would be far more detrimental to clubs.

 

 

 

When matches stopped, 'diddy' Fleetwood were in a play-off position in League 1, unlike that super power aka Sunderland.

Regionalisation is the norm after the 2nd division in many European countries but, of course, travelling from the likes of Carlisle to Exeter on a midweek night makes total sense for supporters.

[Ian38018]

It is mostly typical Daily Mail drivel:

Headline: "League One and League Two clubs set to back radical proposal for regional divide" -  (which would suggest it is definitely happening imminently)

Further Down, they back pedal to "League One and Two clubs are are keen on lower leagues being regionalised" 

Then: "A number of sides in the third and fourth tiers fear the financial impact of the coronavirus crisis is putting their futures at risk" - I am sure all the clubs fear this.  It does not mean any wish a revamp.

Before giving us "Sportsmail understands that several clubs are favourable towards an idea put forward by Fleetwood chairman Andy Pilley."  

It is just lazy lazy journalism, by a hack with half a dozen blank sheets of newsprint to fill. 

[Super Saddler]

No! This must NOT happen. It seems strange that this is coming from Fleetwood considering the investment they put in to get to the national leagues.  It certainly won't help our cause.  Travel will not decrease for us. We would  probably be switched backward and forward each season between the north and south which would not help  player recruitment. The away support from teams like Plymouth is just amazing considering travelling from Devon & Cornwall. They don't seem to have a problem with it. 

Edited April 22, 2020 by Super Saddler
misspelling

[BFTD]

I'd love to see some figures with regard to the supposed money saved/gained from regionalisation. Presumably the idea is that more people would be likely to go to away games with a shorter distance to travel and the clubs would save a wee bit on petrol money? I might be missing something here, but I don't see either of those things bringing in enough money to be worthwhile. It just seems like a really odd thing for clubs to consider so, aye, I'm thinking this is bullshit tabloid attention-seeking, like when Rangers were joining the Conference any day.

Looking forward to the first posts demanding the SPFL follows suit, however  

[Ian38018]

14 minutes ago, Super Saddler said:

No! This must NOT happen. It seems strange that this is coming from Fleetwood considering the investment they put in to get to the national leagues.  It certainly won't help our cause.  Travel will not decrease for us. We would  probably be switched backward and forward each season between the north and south which would not help  player recruitment. The away support from teams like Plymouth is just amazing considering travelling from Devon & Cornwall. They don't seem to have a problem with it. 

Happy to be corrected, but I should imagine for a team like Walsall, the wage bill would dwarf travel expenses.

[Sergeant Wilson]

4 hours ago, Junior Pub League said:

Fleetwood looking to regionalise lower leagues as they want the big paydays from the likes of Sunderland visiting would be a more apposite thread title.

Regionalisation is the sign of diddyness for national leagues, if Fleetwood cant stand it in the big leagues then they can always go back to the Conference North and eke out their sad existence there.

One of the reasons clubs wont vote for regionalisation, I hope, is that the Championship is never going to move to having 4 clubs relegated so you end up with only the Champions of FLII(N) and FLII(S) being promoted and then the play-offs you'd assume would be the clubs that finish 2nd and 3rd in each league so you have the same format as just now, to fit into the Calendar.

That alone would kill the season for a lot more clubs by New Year so teams from 6th downwards could find themselves playing meaningless games for months on end. For me it would be a massive step backwards. Covid is going to cause issues for a couple of years, going regional would set the EFL game back 60 years and for me would be far more detrimental to clubs.

 

 

 

He should apply for the NWCL, Bury await and multiple local derbies...AFC Blackpool, big game against Celtic....Cleator Moor Celtic.

[Super Saddler]

1 minute ago, Ian38018 said:

Happy to be corrected, but I should imagine for a team like Walsall, the wage bill would dwarf travel expenses.

You obviously haven't seen our playing budget.

You are right about the travel expenses though. The same could be said about Fleetwood too perhaps even more so.

[Jacksgranda]

27 minutes ago, BigFatTabbyDave said:

I'd love to see some figures with regard to the supposed money saved/gained from regionalisation. Presumably the idea is that more people would be likely to go to away games with a shorter distance to travel and the clubs would save a wee bit on petrol money? I might be missing something here, but I don't see either of those things bringing in enough money to be worthwhile. It just seems like a really odd thing for clubs to consider so, aye, I'm thinking this is bullshit tabloid attention-seeking, like when Rangers were joining the Conference any day.

Looking forward to the first posts demanding the SPFL follows suit, however  

"first posts"? This regionalisation of the lower leagues (quite often referred to as the "senior" leagues below tier two - quite oblivious to the senior leagues outwith the SPFL) is tossed into the mix every time restructuring is mentioned, usually postulated by fans of Premiership teams.

It also crops up on a slow Sunday without restructuring being in the air, and is presented as if it's never been proposed before.

[BFTD]

20 minutes ago, Jacksgranda said:

"first posts"? This regionalisation of the lower leagues (quite often referred to as the "senior" leagues below tier two - quite oblivious to the senior leagues outwith the SPFL) is tossed into the mix every time restructuring is mentioned, usually postulated by fans of Premiership teams.

It also crops up on a slow Sunday without restructuring being in the air, and is presented as if it's never been proposed before.

I meant on this thread  

Some folk love a bit of regionalisation on principle. f**k knows why. But aye, it's usually top-tier club fans. Middling club fans like a bit of expulsion from the SPFL for diddies, purely on principle, again. Diddies...well, we know our place  

[MacGafraidh]

I just said this on the WOS forum but there is an appetite for smaller teams wanting to play closer. 
 

in this case though it does make little sense as there are organized regionalization below those tiers.

[craigkillie]

9 hours ago, Jambo'ness said:

When matches stopped, 'diddy' Fleetwood were in a play-off position in League 1, unlike that super power aka Sunderland.

Regionalisation is the norm after the 2nd division in many European countries but, of course, travelling from the likes of Carlisle to Exeter on a midweek night makes total sense for supporters.

Do you know what else is the norm after the 2nd division in many European countries? Hardly anyone actually going to games. This site has the average attendances for every European country (albeit from 2017/18), but obviously not a great deal will have changed.

The regionalised third tier in Spain has lower average attendances than the National League (5th tier) in England. League 1 in England has an average attendance of 7797, which is higher than many top flights in Europe, and higher than every single second tier league with the exception of Spain and Germany. The only other country with a third tier attendance anywhere close to England is Germany, where it is still a nationwide league.

Carlisle are going to have massively long journeys even if they do split in two. The National League is currently split into North/South and yet the "Northern" league stretches all the way down to Gloucester and Brackley.

 

[Junior Pub League]

19 hours ago, Jambo'ness said:

When matches stopped, 'diddy' Fleetwood were in a play-off position in League 1, unlike that super power aka Sunderland.

Regionalisation is the norm after the 2nd division in many European countries but, of course, travelling from the likes of Carlisle to Exeter on a midweek night makes total sense for supporters.

Wow, well done Fleetwood - having their best ever season and yet still chaired by a complete moron who wants to take football in the country  backwards.

[Jambo'ness]

I think you already know most football chairmen are morons but football, in an economic way, will change dramatically in the near future.  The smallest of savings may be needed to keep some clubs afloat and more to the point, keep it affordable to local fans.  National leagues needed to be set up at the time but at this juncture perhaps regionalisation, for a period, is the way to go.