So they have agreed to let Premier League u21 teams enter league trophy

It is a first team competition. A football league competition at that. Premier league youth teams are neither first team nor football league.

End of argument really

 

Its a disgrace, and everybody involved with clubs in the football league, will think the same, especially League 1 & League 2 clubs. Disgusting.

 

As far as I'm aware the football league isn't in existence to service the needs of the Premier League. It's a competition designed to give league clubs a fantastic day our like we had. Everton u21s V Hull under 21s in the final would there be more than 10,000 there? Barking decision. Fans of league clubs should boycott any games involving teams that should not be in the competition.

 

Imagine if we'd have played Manchetser United U21s in the final. I couldn't see us taking anywhere near 20,000 to watch us play a youth team. I couldn't imagine Manchetser United fans caring about it for one minute either. The competition will become a complete non-event.

 

Maybe if Chelsea hadn't put Ruben Loftus Cheek on 50k a week before he was even a first team player to prevent other people getting him and then filled their team full of foreign players he might have got a game. There's more than one way to cracking a nut but unfortunately the way they've chosen is to facilitate the hoarding of players by premier league academies.

 

If the Premier League were only allowed to play two non English players, the youngsters on their books would have plenty of opportunities. However it is Sky that rules the game not the FA or FL.

 

I've always thought there should be some kind of prize for winning it. The fact cup gets a champions league place, league cup get Europa and JPT or whatever it's called get nothing like that. It would raise the profile considerably if the winners got straight through to the 3rd round of the years FA cup or something

 

The people that matter definitely did not vote on this. Or even have the opportunity to.

Think about that for a second

 

Player warehousing.
Chelsea etc, get an inflated, overpaid, overpriced 1st team squad.
The fringe players of that squad, plus a band of other well - thought of youngsters then get offered to the likes of Barnsley (think Kiwomya) where there parent club watches them sink or swim. We had Mannone to break in for Arsenal a few years back. Horrendous, but his parent club was happy to see him blooded for us rather than fail for them.
Then the ones who don't get to go on loan (invariably the cream of European youth) get a nice televised round of fixtures in a reasonably competitive league. I would hazard a guess that Chelsea U21 were on TV more than Bury last season .
Therefore top teams are covered on three fronts, before you even start to look at the infrastructure from U7 - U19.
Do they f00k as like need the JPT. That is the sacred property of the lower leagues. It was always intended to give lower league teams a decent shot at a big day out. But sadly football is no longer about giving the little boys a chance is it?


Sent from my SM-T800 using Tapatalk

 

They haven't confirmed the final plans for the proposed restructure but that wouldn't surprise in fact the minute I heard about the idea my first thought was that it was a way of getting the PL u21s into league structure without too much fuss.

I think they'll have a real fight on their hands if they do try to introduce them into the league pyramid.

 

http://www.againstleague3.co.uk/eflbteams/

 

I'd rather see proper reserve team leagues again like the central league, where these u-21 players could compete against "lesser clubs" alongside 1 or 2 of their first team colleagues who might be needing games after injury or suspension. Saw some decent matches at Oakwell in the 80s and early 90s, in front of decent crowds. Bryan Robson and I think Ian Rush played against Barnsley reserves. I also felt reserve football tested our own players more too.

Sent from my SM-T710 using Tapatalk

 

We have.

 

Premier league: We have a problem football league
Football league: Yes?
Premier league: Well you know how we hoover up all the best talent at U21 and they never see a competitive game of football until its to late and they're no good to anyone?
Football league: Of course because it take away valuable revenue from our smaller clubs who in the past nurtured these kids, the fans then got to see them play for their club then we sold them and made some money, note you appear to have taken all that away.
Premier league: Yeah soz about that, here's 1 million pounds, can our kids come and play in your FOOTBALL LEAGUE trophy?
Football league: Errrrr. Ok then.

 

Some clubs have chosen to release a statement confirming that they voted against the plans.

Portsmouth, Accrington, Wimbledon, Port Vale, Hartlepool and unsurprisingly Oxford, have all publicly announced that they voted against the changes.

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

 

The only crumb of comfort is that it's a one year trial. Hopefully the farce ends after one season.

It also potentially affects the PL clubs willingness to loan out young players if they want them to play in this competition. Ashley Fletcher is an obvious example to me of one who would have been needed for this last season.

I can't believe it's going ahead. It's the sort of thing you expect to see posted on April Fools Day. I'm just glad we've avoided having to take part in it.

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

 

The beginning of the end was the formation of the Premier League, designed to cut the rest of The Football League adrift, stubbornly though the League has hung around. The next significant event was the Champions League - vastly bloated and overbearing (who gives a t*ss about the group games?), followed domestically by The Championship, which they now routinely refer to as The Premier League Division 2.

 

Luton too.