Welcome to the first edition of this blog. Over the coming months we will be looking to showcase and discuss the good, the bad and the ugly of British football. We won't be discussing matches - there is no shortage of coverage of games already - but we will be providing a commentary on some of the big issues affecting the beautiful game.
Given that we are kicking off in a week where the National Leagues North and South have just voted to make the 2020/21 season null and void whilst the National League has voted to play on we have a look at the impact of that on clubs throughout the pyramid.
As things stand, it is not clear what will happen with regard to promotion or relegation. Given that less than half the season has been played, with teams having played only between 11 and 18 fixtures to date, this is a very different scenario to last season's shut down, where most teams had only 10 or so games left to play. Gloucester City, who currently top the National League North, are understandably hugely upset at the null and void decision and have said they will be taking legal action to enforce promotion and relegation. Logically, that could only be done on a points per game basis, but is it really fair to use points per game so early in a season and without playoffs? One of the characteristic features of the lower leagues tends to be the lack of consistency - clubs rarely sustain a strong run through an entire season, and the promotion spots can and do change hands right up to the last game of the season. With so much left to play for, the likelihood of PPG accurately reflecting what would have happened by the end of the season at either end of the table must be vanishingly small. Whilst those who benefit from being in the right place at the right time in the promotion race would no doubt argue that it is the least worst option, those at the other end of the table would doubtless beg to differ.
However, there is no promotion or relegation from or to the National League North and South, then that may well have implications all the way up the pyramid. The National League has voted to play on - at least for now. It is notable that 7 of its members voted to stop and Dover Athletic have furloughed all players and staff and publicly stated that they will not play on, in order to protect the long term future of the club. Cynical observers may point to the fact that Dover were one of the big winners in the method of distribution of the government support grant earlier in the season (taking a much higher proportion of the support than many clubs with much bigger average attendances) and now want the National League to be null and void because of their position at the bottom of the table. However, given that the vote was to play on, if Dover refuse to play, one assumes that they will either incur so many penalty points that their relegation will be inevitable, or even potentially be expelled from the National League altogether for failure to fulfil their fixtures. So long as that is one club, or even two, then the problem can potentially be contained to manageable proportions, but if all 7 of those clubs who voted to stop were to do the same then the National League may well find itself in a position where it is impossible to finish with any semblance of competitive integrity.
It is equally difficult to contemplate playing out the rest of the season with promotion being up for grabs, but no relegation. As soon as clubs know they are "safe" they will inevitably go into cost saving mode and furlough as many players as possible, fielding junior players and completely distorting the compeition for those at the top. Imagine a scenario where on the last game of the season the last promotion place is a fixture against a team at the bottom of the table fielding a team of 16 year olds or amateurs?
These issues are replicated as you go up the pyramid. If there is no promotion from the National League, there would logically be no relegation from League 2, which would mke a mockery of the competitive integrity of the League 2 competition. If there is no relegation from League 2, then there can be no promotion to it, because the EFL regulations limit the number of Clubs in the EFL to 72 and it is unlikely that the requisite number of clubs would vote to increase it based on the discussions that took place last season.
But if there is relegation from and promotion to League 2, then the National League will have 2 extra teams in it next season, with all the implications that brings for dilution of funding and fixture congestion.
Whilst is is accepted that this was an extremely difficult situation to manage, the question must be posed, was this vote really the only, or the best, way of dealing with the horrendous situation that clubs find themselves in due to the pandemic? Whilst no-one wants to see clubs being endangered by being forced to play on without funding or gate receipts, was the possiblity of pausing the season and resuming when crowds are allowed to return fully explored, particuarly given that the signs are promising that this may be the case by late spring or early summer? If there had to be a vote on stopping the season, should the implications for relegation and promotion not have been spelled out in advance? There is certainly no indication that these issues were discussed with clubs, which is why the outcome of the vote is causing such rancour.
This is a great example of the dangers of different governing bodies within the pyramid taking decisions in isolation from the others. Football has long lacked a coherent approach and this has never been more apparent than during the Covid crisis. Perhaps one of the biggest failings of all was that none of the governing bodies set out at the commencement of this season what the ground rules would be in the event of a premature termination of the season - a serious omission in context where that was always a resonably likely scenario. Instead, we are once again in a situation where governing bodies and individual clubs are making decisions with the benefit of the knowledge of the impact - good or bad - that it will have on their own club. It is human nature to look after one's own interests, but in the context of fair competition, it is a fatal flaw. The lessons of last season should have been learned, but haven't.
It would be nice to think that the current situation presents an opportunity for a rethink about the size, structure and financial platform of the football pyramid from top to bottom, given that any scenario other than voiding the season for the entire pyramid is going to end up with the "wrong" number of clubs in divisions somewhere in the pyramid. That would require full and frank consulation between all of the governing bodies and a willingness to take the long view for the good of the game. We live in hope rather than expectation.
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