Got something to say or just want fewer pesky ads? Join us... 😊

FA Commission report - the plan to save English football = B Teams



Husty

Mooderator
Oct 18, 2008
11,996
Wonder how many we'd take to Old Trafford to watch us play Manchester United B in league 1? Doesn't sound that appetising does it.

It wouldn't ever be played at Old Trafford, it'd be played at Gigg Lane or possibly somewhere even shitter.
 




Herr Tubthumper

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Jul 11, 2003
59,776
The Fatherland
Bonkers and desperate idea.
 




portlock seagull

Why? Why us?
Jul 28, 2003
17,213
I haven't read anyone in the National media talk about the potential scenario that these B teams could be filled with foreign players anyway - what's to prevent that? Then you've destroyed centuries of heritage and culture without achieving the planned objective! Nice one Greg, brilliant brainstorming!

Second point: who on the commission represents the lower leagues? Rio F? Danny M? It seems the entire panel are either major CEO corporation types or Premiership experienced.

Lastly, if this proposal goes ahead then it's like the creation of the Premiership and thank god we're on the up. We we're on a massive slide when Sky arrived and missed that boat. I fear for clubs, some like Pompey, Bristol clubs, Luton, Sheff Utd, Coventry, Notts County etc, who historically may be used to life in the upper echelons but 'when the music stops' find themselves without a chair. This is what's often forgotten by the Wigans, Cardiffs and Fulhams at this particular moment in time. You've spent many a season at the bottom when times were tough. You have a duty now to others like you doing their 'time' currently, just like we did, to reject this proposal.
 


Geriatric Seagull

New member
Nov 10, 2009
979
Littlehampton
An absurd proposal. The real cause of the shortage of English players is the Greed League aka Sky League aka Premier League. It will completely ruin lower league football and destroy at a stroke the hopes and dreams of hundreds of clubs and tens of thousands of supporters. You can just see the crowds pouring in to the Emirates to watch Arsenal B v Gateshead or into Stamford Bridge for Chelsea B to see Southport or the like. There will be no atmosphere and, perhaps more importantly, not much opposition, as there will be no incentive for players to join lower league clubs if they are faced with playing what will be not much better than reserve team football most weeks. No, this stupid idea must be dumped without trace, preferably along with Greg Dyke and his cronies!
 




The Birdman

New member
Nov 30, 2008
6,313
Haywards Heath
Help all schools to Build all weather pitches and Running Tracks school uses them during school term hire out to senior clubs during the week which will help schools pay for the running costs and make a profit for the schools and at the weekends can be hired to youth teams and clubs at a reasonable price job done our skill levels in all sports will improve win win as we are short of decent playing surfaces ! Also we won't get backlogs of fixtures due to bad weather.i also agree money needs to be put into grass roots coaching.
 


Kinky Gerbil

Im The Scatman
NSC Patron
Jul 16, 2003
57,941
hassocks
So we have B teams, Brilliant.

what will that achieve? half the u21 players in the top 10 clubs are foreign anyway.

If a player is good enough they will make it to the top flight - Kyle Walker played for Sheff Utd and was then picked up by Spurs and is better than anything that came through our youth ranks.
 


TWOCHOICEStom

Well-known member
Sep 22, 2007
10,593
Brighton
It's not as black and white as people on here are making out. And there are a LOT of assumptions on this thread.

It wouldn't devastate anything IMO, but at the same time, I can't see it doing much good either.
 




Simster

"the man's an arse"
Jul 7, 2003
54,244
Surrey
It's not as black and white as people on here are making out. And there are a LOT of assumptions on this thread.

It wouldn't devastate anything IMO, but at the same time, I can't see it doing much good either.

This is a problem created by the super rich clubs, and a solution paid for by everybody else. It's a shit idea, and it didn't work in Germany. If these clubs have got money to spunk on bribes to smaller clubs to let them have their way, then they've got money to pay for more grass roots coaching, which is where the real problem for the national team lies, as everybody knows.
 


beorhthelm

A. Virgo, Football Genius
Jul 21, 2003
35,332
I haven't read anyone in the National media talk about the potential scenario that these B teams could be filled with foreign players anyway - what's to prevent that? Then you've destroyed centuries of heritage and culture without achieving the planned objective!

exactly, unless you have rules around use of local/national players in the squad the proposal is pointless, and you could apply such rules to the existing teams without the upheaval. maybe with a loan rule changes to allow a large number of home grown players to be loaned in on half season/season terms for L1/L2.

anyway fear of being without a chair when the music stops as you put it is why this wont happen - there are more clubs at risk than those that stand to benefit in the league, so they'll never vote for it. we should really calm down about and treat it for what it is, kite flying ideas for discussion.
 


BigGully

Well-known member
Sep 8, 2006
7,139
Exactly.

One thing we have is a brilliant league structure with good attendances numbers going way, WAY down the pyramid. No other country comes close to us and the FA wants to destroy it for the sake of maybe getting a couple more CL trophies in the UK.

There lies the conundrum.

England perhaps has the most progressive and professional lower leagues, some managers and players in leagues 5 & 6 being paid £100-£500 plus jobs a week/game.

It hardly encourages a nurturing and developing environment, it mirrors the flaws of short termism of the higher leagues, instant success required or they will have to get a proper job, it really is unique to England.

Younger talent not yet picked up in the professional system or recently released, probably ends up in league 8 or 9 before he can put on a shirt to play a competitive game, but by that level the coaching is non existence.

I am not too sure if local teams even reflect local players anyway, so not so sure what we are trying to save.

The choice is this, lets forget about the National team and continue our vibrant lower league football 'warts an all' or try and create a structure that might deliver greater success at the higher level.
 




Kinky Gerbil

Im The Scatman
NSC Patron
Jul 16, 2003
57,941
hassocks
This is a problem created by the super rich clubs, and a solution paid for by everybody else. It's a shit idea, and it didn't work in Germany. If these clubs have got money to spunk on bribes to smaller clubs to let them have their way, then they've got money to pay for more grass roots coaching, which is where the real problem for the national team lies, as everybody knows.

That's a point, who would actually pay for these B teams? cant imagine Levy wanting to finance another football team.
 


cunning fergus

Well-known member
Jan 18, 2009
4,747
exactly, unless you have rules around use of local/national players in the squad the proposal is pointless, and you could apply such rules to the existing teams without the upheaval. maybe with a loan rule changes to allow a large number of home grown players to be loaned in on half season/season terms for L1/L2.

anyway fear of being without a chair when the music stops as you put it is why this wont happen - there are more clubs at risk than those that stand to benefit in the league, so they'll never vote for it. we should really calm down about and treat it for what it is, kite flying ideas for discussion.



The nature of the players here is a really key point, because when this report sets out "English" players I assume they mean players who are qualified to play for England.

I can think of plenty of players who were born in the UK, like our own Mark Lawrenson, Bobby Z, CKR and CMS all who were born in England, and would have probably been eligible to have played in this proposed structure but have then chosen to play for other nations.

I suspect the % of English born players in the Premiership is higher than the report suggests, a point which is important to know because if say this is around the 10% mark then England would not be that far off the other peer countries % of home grown talent in its top league.

If true this would indicate the current training frameworks are not poor, just that England has a population of native players who are eligible to play for other nations.

Alternatively, maybe this was an issue they didnt want to confront.................
 


rrruss

Wandering Seagull
In Spain only Real Madrid and Barcelona have B teams playing at the highest level they can (Segunda). Back in February they met in Madrid in front of 4,036 fans. Their stadium only holds 6,000 fans in all. These B teams are not overly competitive in general. Atletico Madrid's B team are in danger of sinking down into the regional leagues while their A team is on the verge of the title.

When I was teaching in Pamplona I taught a couple of Osasuna B's players. They got relegated to the regional leagues and have just about made the promotion play-offs in a league I would say is like the Northern League Divison One!

For me the big obstacle to this happening in England is our strength in depth of professional football clubs. It would be grossly unfair on our widely envied pyramid system. In the Spanish second division there is still one part time team (Mirandes). Below that the only professional set ups are generally the B teams and by their performance, few if any players could make the step up.
 




Steve in Japan

Well-known member
NSC Patron
May 9, 2013
4,468
East of Eastbourne
An absurd proposal. The real cause of the shortage of English players is the Greed League aka Sky League aka Premier League. It will completely ruin lower league football and destroy at a stroke the hopes and dreams of hundreds of clubs and tens of thousands of supporters. You can just see the crowds pouring in to the Emirates to watch Arsenal B v Gateshead or into Stamford Bridge for Chelsea B to see Southport or the like. There will be no atmosphere and, perhaps more importantly, not much opposition, as there will be no incentive for players to join lower league clubs if they are faced with playing what will be not much better than reserve team football most weeks. No, this stupid idea must be dumped without trace, preferably along with Greg Dyke and his cronies!

This, with bells on. The sorry saga started with the PL breakaway in 1992, motivated by the top clubs greed to grab more cash at the expense of the rest. Thus nicely set up, the PL clubs have progressively earned more and more TV revenue, hoovered up all the talent available and even with all that cash falling out their pockets manage to break the FPP rules. Most of the top clubs will have 30+ "elite" players (always more than their named 25-man squad), another 20+ U21 pro`s and countless more youth/academy players. No wonder nobody gets a game. They have also let the U21 Premier League flounder because they won`t play their "Elite" players in it, they`d rather loan them out.

Rather than even try to address any of these issues, Dyke and Co have instead opted to start the process of taking control of the Football League - bit by bit of course. On the spurious basis that this might be good for the national team...maybe. I am far from convinced.

The pyramid of independent clubs is worth holding onto. Look at the effort put in on the last day of the season, even by teams to whom the result didn`t matter. Sign the No petition - I did.
 




Albion and Premier League latest from Sky Sports


Top
Link Here