English football considers league restructure

[Black Rod]

Of course, the other option is you let top flight clubs take over smaller ones. Struggling Oldham with no money for example suddenly become the farming ground for Manchester City's young superstars.

Basically, what Chelsea have done with Vitesse

 

[Tyrone Biggums]

Are Grimsby ever likely to produce six or seven young English players who could represent their country in 3-5 years time compared to Man United B?

So destroy smaller clubs just so the national and PL fat cats get to improve slightly? Nice one.

 

[MarioOrlandi]

Of course, the other option is you let top flight clubs take over smaller ones. Struggling Oldham with no money for example suddenly become the farming ground for Manchester City's young superstars.

Basically, what Chelsea have done with Vitesse

Is that not the loan system?

 

[Black Rod]

So destroy smaller clubs just so the national and PL fat cats get to improve slightly? Nice one.

Not saying it is right the thing to do. But people have constantly moaned about England not winning anything and asked The FA for answers. So they have looked at the most successful European teams - Spain and Germany. What do they do? They have their B teams in the league structure to offer competitive football that matters against senior professionals so that the youngsters can gain vital experience. The top flight clubs also have total control over playing style and tactics, so that the players in the B side are playing in exactly the same way they will be in the A side which eases the transition.

That last point is the massive flaw in the loan system in this country. Brighton obviously play a certain way and players need to know how that is and what it entails while they gain experience. So Shamir Goodwin going to Torquay and playing hoof ball will help him how when he is expected to come back here and partake in a patient passing style?

All the FA are doing is looking at what works elsewhere. So is the potential progress of the national side and attempting to make changes to help them lift the world cup worth putting some lower league teams noses out of joint for? That is the question

 

[studio150]

So a squad of 25 for the A team and a squad of 25 for the B team. What happens in the league cup where most PL teams currently play development or fringe players are they able to use B players or only enter A team players, which clubs no doubt would be against.

Are both A and B team eligible to enter the FA Cup and what if they are drawn against each other.

Does the creation of B teams also have a knock on effect on lower league clubs where they currently have loan players from higher league clubs but would now lose out as the parent club would prefer the fringe players to turn out for their B team.

Not keen on the proposal.

 

[Easy 10]

And who exactly is going to go and WATCH the ressies anyway ? The crowds would be paltry. You might go along to the odd game out of mild interest to see who's coming through, but if that B team isn't allowed to get promoted to the level of its parent club, theres no real incentive to really get behind the ressies and support them in the traditional sense of supporting a club.

RUBBISH idea.

 

[Tyrone Biggums]

Not saying it is right the thing to do. But people have constantly moaned about England not winning anything and asked The FA for answers. So they have looked at the most successful European teams - Spain and Germany. What do they do? They have their B teams in the league structure to offer competitive football that matters against senior professionals so that the youngsters can gain vital experience. The top flight clubs also have total control over playing style and tactics, so that the players in the B side are playing in exactly the same way they will be in the A side which eases the transition.

That last point is the massive flaw in the loan system in this country. Brighton obviously play a certain way and players need to know how that is and what it entails while they gain experience. So Shamir Goodwin going to Torquay and playing hoof ball will help him how when he is expected to come back here and partake in a patient passing style?

All the FA are doing is looking at what works elsewhere. So is the potential progress of the national side and attempting to make changes to help them lift the world cup worth putting some lower league teams noses out of joint for? That is the question

The national team shouldn't overide even the smaller of local clubs.

Local clubs have been parts of their communities for a long time. They are there all year round in some capacity contributing to their communities.

Remove their presence from local communities and those communities will suffer for it.

All for what? So that the national team gets a few better results?

It goes a bit beyond just football results when you potentially kill off clubs, it has flow on affects that can negatively impact towns and cities.

 

[keaton]

I care far more about the existence and history and tradition of 20-30 lower league and non-league clubs rather than a BS idea to will just enable big clubs to sign even more players.

If they want more English players playing why not create financial incentives to encourage teams to play English or homegrown players like they do in rugby.

 

[Seagulltonian]

I thought we already had a competitions for B teams - the Capital One Cup.

Don't forget the F.A.Cup as well!

 

[Luke93]

'B teams' already play each other in the youth leagues...

 

[Superphil]

As I said before, in the most highly regarded league in Europe they have 'B' or '2' teams competing all the way down the leagues, yes there are restrictions on them being promoted, there are other requirements too that ensure it works out for the other teams in the lower leagues. It Shouldn't be discounted out of hand without first reviewing and understanding how it works in Germany.

 

[MattBackHome]

Terrible idea.

If the issue is that young talent doesn't get the chance to come through then the fault is with the big clubs who stockpile such talent. So force/incentivise them to loan them out, on longer term deals, and everyone wins.

 

[Joe Gatting's Dad]

Stupid idea - would kill the loan system for lower division clubs.

 

[Carrot Cruncher]

What happens if a Championship club is relegated? Will their 'B' place be taken by the promoted League 1 team?

 

[keaton]

As I said before, in the most highly regarded league in Europe they have 'B' or '2' teams competing all the way down the leagues, yes there are restrictions on them being promoted, there are other requirements too that ensure it works out for the other teams in the lower leagues. It Shouldn't be discounted out of hand without first reviewing and understanding how it works in Germany.

Do people think the German league is the best? People say it's the best for the fans due to low-ticket prices, safe standing, businesses/rich people not being being allowed to take over clubs but in what is it the best league?

 

[St Leonards Seagull]

What would happen if a prem team gets relegated to league 1 over 2 seasons (eg Wolves), and their B team is in league 1. Would they automatically be relegated regardless of where they finished the season before?

 

[Superphil]

Do people think the German league is the best? People say it's the best for the fans due to low-ticket prices, safe standing, businesses/rich people not being being allowed to take over clubs but in what is it the best league?

The talk on here was how it would ruin the teams down the leagues, the influence of the top teams would ruin competition etc etc.

I don't think I wrote best (sorry if I did), but I did write most highly regarded, which is how it is often spoken of here. People seem the think the German leagues can do no wrong, largely for the reasons you suggest, and the system there don't negatively impact crowd sizes, it doesn't lead to higher prices. And they have turned out some decent CL clubs and their national team is somewhat more successful than ours.

My point is, there is a system, within a considerable league structure, where the concept of 'B' teams would appear to work, and one assumes benefits football in that country otherwise they wouldn't do it.

 

[PILTDOWN MAN]

The very fact our league system is so strong is down to the ability of all the clubs to rise and fall. That along with the support from locals for local teams the idea is plain wrong. Who cares about the national team? It only plays a handful of games a year, international football is usually turgid boring rubbish and competed with weaker teams than most top domestic teams worldwide.

 

[The Large One]

The talk on here was how it would ruin the teams down the leagues, the influence of the top teams would ruin competition etc etc.

I don't think I wrote best (sorry if I did), but I did write most highly regarded, which is how it is often spoken of here. People seem the think the German leagues can do no wrong, largely for the reasons you suggest, and the system there don't negatively impact crowd sizes, it doesn't lead to higher prices. And they have turned out some decent CL clubs and their national team is somewhat more successful than ours.

My point is, there is a system, within a considerable league structure, where the concept of 'B' teams would appear to work, and one assumes benefits football in that country otherwise they wouldn't do it.

One of the principle issues here is mostly influenced by some ludicrous salaries on offer in England. There is a greater personal (not necessarily professional) incentive for non-English players to come to England than to say, Germany, thanks to higher wages here.

The way English football finances itself (through some pretty awful business practices - how many companies in other walks of life survive on constant loss-making?) means that English clubs are effectively 'buying' success, where other nations' clubs - in Germany for example - focus more on nurturing it.

Therefore, this re-structuring plan doesn't get to the root cause of the problem, while having the added concern of risking putting smaller clubs out of business.

 

[cunning fergus]

Jeez, quite depressing that this kind of vandalism is coming from the very people that should be doing everything in their power to safeguard the unique traditions of lower division football in England.

Had this proposal been seriously considered up to 2007 I suspect finding BHA fans in favour of such a change would have been like trying to find Liberal Democrat voters today.

One last point for the pot though...................is this the opportunity our footballing friends north of the border have been waiting for?