The new Football League Trophy

[MrWoodySir]

I wonder which way our lot voted?

[DonnyOsmond]

https://www.change.org/p/the-head-of-the-efl-abandon-the-2016-17-efl-trophy-proposals?recruiter=31417874

If anyone wants to sign that.

At the end of the day no one cares what us fans think. The Premier League are holding the Football League over a barrel, they did it once with EPPP and now they've done it again with this and give it a few more year and they'll get their development teams in the Football League. Since 92 football was ruined by people not supporting their local clubs on TV because they can watch PL on TV and now online, then the PL became super rich and decided to use and blackmail the Football League how they wish.

It makes me sick aswell when clubs go bankrupt for sums of money which players like Rooney earn in a week. English football is going to the shit.

[RedJ]

I wonder which way our lot voted?

Would be interesting to know, agreed.





Just seen, apparently 1/3 FL clubs didn't back this.

[BigKeif]

That's me not ever watching a JPT game again! Absolute farce!

[DonnyBazR0ver]

Yes, a bit of a farce really. It's a mish mash and I'm sure its popularity will be reflected on the terraces.

[DonnyOsmond]

This will hopefully end up with people marching on the FA and Premier League headquarters in mass and showing them how we feel.

With EPPP I don't get why they didn't just give more money to the lower down clubs to increase the academies and coaching in the whole of England to get the greatest chance of developing players not just limit it to about 30 clubs.

[steve@dcfd]

We should boycott all the games in the group and hope other league 1 and 2 clubs do the same. Send a message to the EFL they can't disregard the views of supporters.

It appears 2/3 rds of EFL clubs have been seduced by the money and not thought about their supporters.

Doncaster Rovers ????

[DonnyOsmond]

I really hope someone other than Spain or Germany win the Euros like a Northern Ireland then we'll copy them and decide teamwork is better than B teams. Us copying the winner thing is really odd.

[daib0]

U21 Teams Welcomed To The FL Trophy

The Football League, or as it now wants to be called, the English Football League (EFL), have held their Summer Conference and confirmed that member clubs have agreed that from the 2016/17 season, 16 Category One Premier League/Under 21 sides will be welcomed into a new and fresh format for the Football League Trophy.

Most will know it as the (old) Johnstone's Paint Trophy, but their sponsorship expired this summer, and with already plenty of talk of format changes to the domestic cups and even the suggestion of introducing a new League Three to the football pyramid in the future - and the idea of introducing Under 21 sides to the Trophy competition is (supposedly) a logical first step with it also being suggested that Under 21 sides could also fill a spot in the speculation League Three introduction.

Whilst it's tagged as an 'ongoing commitment to creating more and better home grown players' any potential boost in reality that this might give to the next generation is offset by the fact that the emergency loan window has now been abolished, so youngsters will miss out on that chance to gain professional league football under their belts in that manner. In any event, it's no great surprise to see this idea come to fruition as it has been spoken about for a while, but it is only an agreement to trial it for a season at this stage.

With changes to the Trophy now agreed, it will see 64 sides from League One and Two, plus the 16 Under 21 set ups, and the competition itself will now include a group stage format with 16 regional groups of four sides competing against each other. Each side will play the other once, but the Under 21 side will have only one home game. The top two sides in each group will progress through to the knockout stages of the competition, which will continue to be North/South based, and the Final will be, as usual, at Wembley Stadium in April.

The full details are expected within the next fortnight, and by then probably the 16 competing Under 21 sides will also be confirmed - but it's very much expected they will be Premier League based and any Championship Category One sides will miss out.

As part of the agreement, it's also being said the Premier League are contributing £1million to the competitions prize fund to take it to £1.95million, and bonuses will be spread based on victories. It's also reported the vote itself wasn't straight forward with a number of clubs voicing their displeasure - but the vote count hasn't been released either from what I tell. But not every club being on board with this would've been expected to be honest.

With wider changes up for discussion as well, such as the introduction of a new division to allow the Championship, League One and League Two to reduce to a 20 side make up, chief executive Shaun Harvey said of the Summer Conference: 'I would like to commend clubs for engaging in an open-minded and thought provoking discussion of these important matters. As outlined at outset, any decisions can only be made by clubs themselves and it was therefore essential that they had the opportunity to hear more about the thinking that has underpinned the Board's approach and were able to debate all the relevant issues. Clubs have asked for more information, further consultation and the opportunity to discuss additional matters at subsequent meetings during 2016/17. In parallel, we will develop discussions with the FA and Premier League alongside other stakeholders across football, as we look to find what is best for the English game.'

For the wholescale changes that are up for discussion, no vote or final decisions will be taken prior to the Summer Conference in June 2017.

The current list of possible U21 teams - Arsenal, Aston Villa, Blackburn Rovers, Chelsea, Everton, Fulham, Leicester City, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Middlesbrough, Norwich City, Reading, Southampton, Stoke City, Sunderland, Tottenham Hotspur, West Bromwich Albion, West Ham United and Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Other clubs could achieve that status at the next audit, and equally some clubs also don't highlight their rank. Whilst some will no doubt welcome this, namely the Premier League sides looking to boost the experience of their youngsters, plenty of fans will see it as the start to a slippery slope where wider football is again and further marginalised for Premier League priority.

Many will of course see it as a first step towards B teams, and again the advantages or disadvantages of that depend on where you sit in the pyramid and how much cash you have behind you. And with mixed views already about the Trophy, the regulations surrounding squad changes and the like, many will also wonder if increasing the game schedule - given all the talk of reducing fixture schedules of late - will see the competition quickly lose more of its potential shine with weaker sides being picked, which defeats its purpose of being a better opportunity for a day out at Wembley for clubs at that level.


Are you happy to see U21 as the first sign of "B" sides entering English football cup competitions, and who knows, league status in the future?

[bpoolrover]

Does that mean if we got drawn against Man U we would possibly play at old trafford?

[phil old leake]

Typical of football governing bodies. Everything revolves around the premiership. Sod the football league.  No one will benefit from this apart from the under 21's clubs. Under review in a year my arse.  This is in to stay until the premiership find something better.  In my view the league clubs should all go out and play their under 21's it might just humiliate the so called big clubs who produce players that never see the premiership

[phil old leake]

Old Trafford no chance it will be at buryorvwherever there under 21's play.  Would any of these so called BIG clubs want the likes of donny stepping foot on their holy turf   I would be very surprised

[Muttley]

I really hope fans, and clubs if possible, boycott this now completely pointless competition.

The clubs voted for it.

Under how much duress?

[Sammy Chung was King]

Why not allow the big clubs to play from the first round in fa and league cups?, and allow them to field entire under twenty one sides until the later rounds. Then they get the experience, and it doesn't devalue a lower league cup.

[keith79]

Would we be able to play our under 21s

[Sammy Chung was King]

Yes, but i would think smaller clubs would play the strongest side, to make sure they win. Bigger sides have europe to contend with plus the league itself.

[phil old leake]

lower league should turn this on its head and play under 21's the same as them. I would imagine that a lot of young players in lower league are as good as the supposed future superstars from premiership.  Look at some of the crap we've had on loan.   

Another point premiership players on their way back from injury often turn out for the under 21's. Will they be able to do that in this competition if they can it makes an even bigger farce of it

[The Red Baron]

I agree. I think next season we have to be a bit single minded and not worry too much about Cups. This competition in particular seems an opportunity to field some of the young lads.

[The Red Baron]

http://www.derbyshiretimes.co.uk/sport/football/chesterfield-fc/chesterfield-ceo-initially-opposed-football-league-trophy-changes-as-fans-threaten-boycott-1-7960817

I wonder if we will find out how DRFC voted?

[The Red Baron]

Two things from this:

http://mobile.Scunthorpe-united.co.uk/news/article/2016-17/iron-board-attends-efl-conference-3141941.aspx

1. Scunthorpe voted in favour.
2. The academy sides will play at their first team ground.

[dknward2]

I would love all 16 of the under 21s to be knocked out first round.
Hope we voted against
Think that some clubs could have been conned into voting for this and now are realising that fans dont want this so the money gained from the pl will be lost be fans not going to the games

[wing commander]

It's a one year experiment so we need to boycott those games and as a club play our youngsters and hope they abandon it....We need to concentrate on the league this year and we play to many games as it is ...

[The Red Baron]

The Scunny CEO said they voted in favour because they were told it was the best way to protect the competition. Not sure it would have been impossible to find another sponsor though.

[Chris Black come back]

We need to be playing less games and the money needs to be more equally shared.

Let's be honest, nobody cares less about the JBT really.

Scrap it and get the EPL to chuck a few million around to compensate the FL clubs impacted.

[Muttley]

From https://twitter.com/AgainstLeague3

Known voting so far:

[Copps is Magic]

When I get the opportunity to watch Rovers at Old Trafford or Anfield I want it to be an event, an occasion. I want us to work hard to get there and I want the stadium to be packed.

I don't want a few thousand people in an empty stadium in a competition no one cares about in the early stages.

[WheatleyRover]

If this kind of crap keeps going on, i dont know if its possible but coudn't football league teams start breaking away and form a new league and give the middle finger to the top flight, big money boys and leave them to it in a league all by themselves.

[The Red Baron]

I would love all 16 of the under 21s to be knocked out first round.
Hope we voted against
Think that some clubs could have been conned into voting for this and now are realising that fans dont want this so the money gained from the pl will be lost be fans not going to the games

I can just imagine the FL pitch on this:

1. We don't have a sponsor.
2. The competition is dying on its arse (attendances were down last season).
3. It's only for one season.

There's also the possibility that the plan wasn't put forward until the meeting and was then presented as take it or leave it. So those clubs who might have wanted to consult fans had no opportunity to do so.

[The Red Baron]

Latest position. DRFC still silent.

http://www.againstleague3.co.uk/efl-voting-tracker/

[Chris Black come back]

Nice idea but we would lose the few drops of trickle down money in form of EPL guilt cash that probably help keep many clubs afloat.