EFL board want promotion, relegation and play-offs regardless of whether regular season is finished on the pitch

The EFL board have declared their intention for promotion and relegation to take place across its three divisions regardless of whether the season is completed on the pitch.
EFLEFL
EFL

And that will include play-off campaigns for each division.

Clubs in each division have met this week in a bid to reach a collective agreement on if to attempt to complete fixtures as planned.

All three meetings included a presentation from the EFL board, outlining the framework by which they hope to decide final standings, including promotion and relegation placings, using an unweighted points per game calculation.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Doncaster Rovers would remain in ninth place in League One should the season be decided by such a method.

Ultimately however, it will be up to the clubs in each division to determine the exact methods used to decide the campaign, with the possibility remaining that the season could be declared null and void.

The 23 League One clubs will meet again on Monday having failed to reach an agreement on whether or not to continue the season, with a group of six banding together in a bid to halt attempts to cancel the campaign.

League Two sides voted unanimously to end the season at its current point and will decide on the exact methods to decide final standings at a future date.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

And Championship clubs stated their ambition to complete the season on the pitch. It has been suggested a target restart date of June 12 has been set.League Two clubs however requested that no clubs are relegated to the National League - a suggestion that will be decided upon at a later date.

A statement from the EFL on Friday read: “Representatives of League One and League Two clubs have met today by division where they have shared a wide range of comprehensive views in respect of how the 2019/20 season is concluded.

“The rationale for playing the remaining matches has been fully debated with a particular focus on the issues COVID-19 has created in respect of health and wellbeing, ongoing testing requirements, player registration issues and the financial burdens clubs already face at this difficult time.

“In the event of a curtailment of the season, the EFL Board outlined how this could be addressed through a framework that includes maintaining the principle of promotion and relegation, league tables to be determined via unweighted points per game (PPG) and play-offs to remain in every division to determine the final promotion place.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“The EFL Board, whose aspiration has always been to conclude the 2019/20 season by completing the remaining fixtures, has previously stated that any decision on how to conclude the season is a matter for clubs to determine in their respective divisions.”

*

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper.

Thank you

Nancy Fielder, editor

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.