Reliable journalist: EFL likely to end leagues ‘soon’; plan to promote Leeds & West Brom dead
National journalist Martin Lipton has claimed it is “increasingly likely” that the EFL will end Leagues One & Two soon, and added that the plan to promote three teams from the Championship – including West Brom and Leeds United – and not relegate anyone is “not going to happen”.
The plan was part of the EFL’s desire to decide seasons on ‘sporting merit’ if fixtures can’t be completed, with three promotions from each league and no relegations.
That would lead to a 23-team Premier League – a plan that was reportedly discussed in a meeting with clubs, the EFL and PFA this week.
The information was contained in a leaked recording of Alex Rodman, Professional Footballers’ Association delegate for Bristol Rovers, that the BBC received and subsequently published.
The plan would be to create a 23-team top flight with increased relegation in future seasons, although the EFL still want to see the remaining fixtures played if at all possible.
However, talking on the Breakfast show (talkSPORT, Friday, 7.30am), Sun journalist Martin Lipton said that plan was dead in the water.
“It seems increasingly likely that Leagues One and Two won’t finish and that should come to a head soon.
“The idea of three up and none down is really unwieldy. The Premier League rulebooks say that the league will contain no more than 20 clubs.
“14 clubs would have to vote for the changes… that’s not going to happen. The big six think they play too many games already.”
Ligue 1 became the latest major European league to end their season early this week.
And, while the message from the Premier League and the EFL is that they want the season to finish, it’s becoming apparent that it’s going to be expensive to stage games behind closed doors.
Extensive testing would have to take place, which would be costly, and there’s a big problem upcoming over player contracts.
The Championship might stand apart in the EFL, with a bigger will to play games out, but we could see a situation similar to the one in Scotland, whereby a precedent is set with Leagues One and Two ending early. That could give the EFL the power to do the same in the Championship if fixtures can’t be staged safely.
As for a 23-team Premier League – we can’t see it. We’re not sure that teams likely to be in the bottom half will vote for an expansion that could see five teams relegated in 20/21
And there’s no way that the Big Six will want any more games in an already congested season.
We’ve consistently said it – relegation from the Premier League is key to Leeds getting promoted.
In other Leeds United news, ‘Encouraging development’ – Kinnear delivers major boost to Leeds fans after Ligue 1 bombshell