BradKnowles1 Posted April 26 Share Posted April 26 Looks like we are getting a b team competition. From the athletic Premier League and National League in talks over new cup competition Matt Slater The National League and Premier League are in talks about the creation of a new cup competition between the top 16 teams in English football’s fifth tier and 16 under-21 sides from the top division. The proposed competition would involve four groups of eight teams, comprised of four teams from each division, arranged on a regional basis, with each National League side playing each Premier League U21 team at home. The National League teams would not play each other in the group stage. The host National League club would get all of the gate receipts and half of the prize money, with the other half going into a central pot to be split between the 56 non-participating clubs in the National League and sixth-tier National League North and National League South. The Premier League, therefore, would be heavily subsidising the competition. The participating National League teams would be the top 16 sides in the previous season’s table, with the two teams relegated from League Two replacing the two promoted sides. Final details are still being ironed out but it is likely that the top two from each group would progress to a knockout round, which would no longer be regional. There is even a possibility that the final could be staged at Wembley, much like the final of the competition this idea is based on, the EFLTrophy. Officially known as the Bristol Street Motors Trophy, the EFL Trophy is a midweek knockout competition, which starts with a regional group stage, between the 48 teams in Leagues One and Two and 16 U21 sides from Premier League and Championship clubs that have top-level “category one” academies. The EFL Trophy dates back to the early 1980s and has been through various formats and sponsors, including a six-year period when sides from the National League were invited to take part, but the current format has been in place since 2016. The participation of Premier League academies was highly controversial at first, as many fans of lower-league clubs believed it was the first step in an attempt to introduce B teams to the pyramid, and attendances were often embarrassingly low. In fact, gate receipts remain tiny for the group stages but the Premier League has funded the competition as its clubs want their youngsters to play older, stronger players, making the EFL Trophy far more popular with club executives than supporters. That said, attendances for the competition’s knockout rounds, particularly the semi-finals and final, are now significant, which suggests the initial concerns about B teams have eased. This is probably helped by the fact that no U21 team has made the final yet. More than 42,000 watched this month’s 2024 final between Peterborough United and Wycombe Wanderers, which Peterborough won with an injury-time goal, but more than double that number saw the 2019 final between Portsmouth and Sunderland. The proposed National League/Premier League competition is very unlikely to attract those numbers but it should go some way to compensating National League sides for the abolition of replays in the first two rounds of the FA Cup, which were scrapped last week, provoking widespread anger. Some of that anger has even been directed at National League general manager Mark Ives, as he wrote to his member clubs telling them he supported the Football Association’s decision to shelve replays because of fixture congestion. The Athletic has spoken to several National League clubs about the matter, all of whom have said they were not consulted by the FA or their own league, and that they categorically disagreed with the need to axe replays in rounds one and two. After all, they pointed out, that is before the Premier League teams most concerned about fixture congestion even enter the competition. In truth, Ives was not consulted about the decision to scrap replays either and he has already told his clubs he will argue to keep them for the qualifying rounds, which involve hundreds of amateur sides, that precede the first round proper. It is also possible that he will lobby the FA to reverse the decision to scrap replays in rounds one and two, if that is what his clubs ask him to do at the league’s annual general meeting this summer. However, he, the FA and the Premier League, clearly believe that National League clubs will feel differently about the decision to scrap replays once they learn more details about the extra £33million the Premier League is giving to the FA to share with the grassroots game, including clubs below the EFL, and it is explained that more lower-round FA Cup games will be televised in future. If that does not do the trick, perhaps the new EFL Trophy-style competition will, particularly as it is pencilled in to start in the pre-Christmas period just made slightly less congested by the scrapping of cup replays. But what this means for the stalled plans to expand the actual EFL Trophy by inviting all 20 Premier League clubs and increasing the group stages to five games is unclear. Those plans appear to be another casualty of the breakdown in talks between the EFL and Premier League over a new financial distribution model for the professional game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsslatic Posted April 26 Share Posted April 26 Fuck off. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobledgersheart Posted April 26 Share Posted April 26 Wonder if there'll be any replays ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GlossopLatic Posted April 26 Share Posted April 26 That can fuck right off if it exists play our youngsters in it they need the experience. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjk2008 Posted April 26 Share Posted April 26 Another shit competition to not give a toss about like the FA Trophy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
latics22 Posted April 26 Share Posted April 26 Prob why the national league sold out on the fa cup Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nzlatic Posted April 26 Share Posted April 26 Now we can see why the NL bent over when it came to the fa cup. Ives probably has a cushy FA job lined up and will push this shite through first. Stinks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oafc88 Posted April 27 Share Posted April 27 Absolutely not. No thanks. Fucking tone of that article, making out like the EFL trophy is now some sort of success with lower league teams with the B league teams are introduced. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankly Mr Shankly Posted April 27 Share Posted April 27 A division of physical cloggers against a division of entitled, wrapped-in-cotton-wool kids. It'll last a season, tops. BIN. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BP1960 Posted April 27 Share Posted April 27 1 hour ago, Frankly Mr Shankly said: A division of physical cloggers against a division of entitled, wrapped-in-cotton-wool kids. It'll last a season, tops. BIN. Imagine Bouremouth u21s v Brentford u21s at Wembley. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Banks, Zone 3 Posted April 27 Share Posted April 27 Can you imagine what the attendances would be for this nonsense Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaticMark Posted April 27 Share Posted April 27 It's a 'no' from me. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monty Burns Posted April 27 Share Posted April 27 21 hours ago, BradKnowles1 said: Looks like we are getting a b team competition. From the athletic Premier League and National League in talks over new cup competition Matt Slater The National League and Premier League are in talks about the creation of a new cup competition between the top 16 teams in English football’s fifth tier and 16 under-21 sides from the top division. The proposed competition would involve four groups of eight teams, comprised of four teams from each division, arranged on a regional basis, with each National League side playing each Premier League U21 team at home. The National League teams would not play each other in the group stage. The host National League club would get all of the gate receipts and half of the prize money, with the other half going into a central pot to be split between the 56 non-participating clubs in the National League and sixth-tier National League North and National League South. The Premier League, therefore, would be heavily subsidising the competition. The participating National League teams would be the top 16 sides in the previous season’s table, with the two teams relegated from League Two replacing the two promoted sides. Final details are still being ironed out but it is likely that the top two from each group would progress to a knockout round, which would no longer be regional. There is even a possibility that the final could be staged at Wembley, much like the final of the competition this idea is based on, the EFLTrophy. Officially known as the Bristol Street Motors Trophy, the EFL Trophy is a midweek knockout competition, which starts with a regional group stage, between the 48 teams in Leagues One and Two and 16 U21 sides from Premier League and Championship clubs that have top-level “category one” academies. The EFL Trophy dates back to the early 1980s and has been through various formats and sponsors, including a six-year period when sides from the National League were invited to take part, but the current format has been in place since 2016. The participation of Premier League academies was highly controversial at first, as many fans of lower-league clubs believed it was the first step in an attempt to introduce B teams to the pyramid, and attendances were often embarrassingly low. In fact, gate receipts remain tiny for the group stages but the Premier League has funded the competition as its clubs want their youngsters to play older, stronger players, making the EFL Trophy far more popular with club executives than supporters. That said, attendances for the competition’s knockout rounds, particularly the semi-finals and final, are now significant, which suggests the initial concerns about B teams have eased. This is probably helped by the fact that no U21 team has made the final yet. More than 42,000 watched this month’s 2024 final between Peterborough United and Wycombe Wanderers, which Peterborough won with an injury-time goal, but more than double that number saw the 2019 final between Portsmouth and Sunderland. The proposed National League/Premier League competition is very unlikely to attract those numbers but it should go some way to compensating National League sides for the abolition of replays in the first two rounds of the FA Cup, which were scrapped last week, provoking widespread anger. Some of that anger has even been directed at National League general manager Mark Ives, as he wrote to his member clubs telling them he supported the Football Association’s decision to shelve replays because of fixture congestion. The Athletic has spoken to several National League clubs about the matter, all of whom have said they were not consulted by the FA or their own league, and that they categorically disagreed with the need to axe replays in rounds one and two. After all, they pointed out, that is before the Premier League teams most concerned about fixture congestion even enter the competition. In truth, Ives was not consulted about the decision to scrap replays either and he has already told his clubs he will argue to keep them for the qualifying rounds, which involve hundreds of amateur sides, that precede the first round proper. It is also possible that he will lobby the FA to reverse the decision to scrap replays in rounds one and two, if that is what his clubs ask him to do at the league’s annual general meeting this summer. However, he, the FA and the Premier League, clearly believe that National League clubs will feel differently about the decision to scrap replays once they learn more details about the extra £33million the Premier League is giving to the FA to share with the grassroots game, including clubs below the EFL, and it is explained that more lower-round FA Cup games will be televised in future. If that does not do the trick, perhaps the new EFL Trophy-style competition will, particularly as it is pencilled in to start in the pre-Christmas period just made slightly less congested by the scrapping of cup replays. But what this means for the stalled plans to expand the actual EFL Trophy by inviting all 20 Premier League clubs and increasing the group stages to five games is unclear. Those plans appear to be another casualty of the breakdown in talks between the EFL and Premier League over a new financial distribution model for the professional game. sounds like FA Cup scraps and they can fuckoff. hope nobody attends. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monty Burns Posted April 27 Share Posted April 27 heartening responses all round 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
latics22 Posted April 28 Share Posted April 28 How they going to squeeze more fixtures into an already packed season ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankly Mr Shankly Posted April 28 Share Posted April 28 They should have a mega cup competition. The super cup of super cups. Every team in the world involved and takes a decade to complete. Deportivo Morón away on a Tuesday night for the willy-wavers. George topoff would be over it like a bonnet. *takes off marketing wanker hat* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BP1960 Posted April 28 Share Posted April 28 2 hours ago, Frankly Mr Shankly said: They should have a mega cup competition. The super cup of super cups. Every team in the world involved and takes a decade to complete. Deportivo Morón away on a Tuesday night for the willy-wavers. George topoff would be over it like a bonnet. *takes off marketing wanker hat* Or a non league Champions Leage, I'm sure fans would like an away trip to AS Cannes or 1860 Munich who like Latics have seen better days. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy_b_100 Posted April 29 Share Posted April 29 Darling Facist bully boys If you want the U21s to gain real matchday experience then send some to us on loan free of charge and stop paying them 10K a week. You bastards. May the seed of your loin remain fruitful in the belly of your womaaaan Neil ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ackey Posted April 29 Share Posted April 29 On 4/27/2024 at 10:08 AM, Frankly Mr Shankly said: A division of physical cloggers against a division of entitled, wrapped-in-cotton-wool kids. It'll last a season, tops. BIN. This is why I am all for it - bring the little shits in to the real world and have a bunch of NL teams kick the living piss out of them! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BP1960 Posted April 29 Share Posted April 29 1 hour ago, Ackey said: This is why I am all for it - bring the little shits in to the real world and have a bunch of NL teams kick the living piss out of them! But we did that with Sachdev. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BradKnowles1 Posted Wednesday at 08:19 PM Author Share Posted Wednesday at 08:19 PM The athletic saying it’s happening from next season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaticMark Posted Thursday at 10:14 AM Share Posted Thursday at 10:14 AM (edited) Edited Thursday at 10:16 AM by LaticMark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave_Og Posted Thursday at 11:02 AM Share Posted Thursday at 11:02 AM 47 minutes ago, LaticMark said: Why 16 sides from NL and which 16? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaw_blue Posted Thursday at 11:20 AM Share Posted Thursday at 11:20 AM 17 minutes ago, Dave_Og said: Why 16 sides from NL and which 16? The top 16 in the league Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave_Og Posted Thursday at 11:32 AM Share Posted Thursday at 11:32 AM 12 minutes ago, shaw_blue said: The top 16 in the league Yay, we've won something... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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