O/T:- Southend

[upthemaggies]

York City finished 23 points and 37 goals ahead of Oldham.
It's York 0 Oldham 3

29 wins out of 46, a massive 95 goals, +53 goal difference and yet York stay in the NL.
I expect this will sway clubs who were on the fence into voting for 3 up 3 down when it comes up in June I think.

[magpie_mania]

Southend through to the final.

The first time a team finishing 7th have made it.

Tough on York, but everyone knows at the start of the season what the rules are.

[tied_up_in_notts]

Tough on York, but everyone knows at the start of the season what the rules are.

Knowing the rules doesn't make the rules right or fair, but I can't see anything changing in the near future - why would League 2 clubs vote for an extra relegation place?

[upthemaggies]

Knowing the rules doesn't make the rules right or fair, but I can't see anything changing in the near future - why would League 2 clubs vote for an extra relegation place?

"Turkeys voting for Christmas" immediately springs to mind, though of the current crop of L2 clubs for 25/26 - only Swindon, Crewe, Gillingham and MKD haven't experienced life in tier 5, the rest will understand the frustration with the current bottle neck system and that if you do go down (always a possibility for any L2 club) then you want to have a fair and reasonable chance of getting back up ASAP.

As a Notts fan, I very much wish they'd stuck with the re-election process, I also doubt the likes of Fleetwood, Morecambe, Crawley, Stevenage, Wycombe, Burton and Cheltenham are among the most anticipated fixtures of the season among fans of traditional league clubs who've avoided the humiliation of tier 5. For the existing FL clubs pre-1987, the benefits of auto promotion from non-league to the FL aren't obvious, whereas the last two teams to be elected in on a vote went on to hold their own in the top flight and reach the FA Cup final (Wigan and Wimbledon). There is a case to be made for the election process being the better system.
It's hard to argue against doing things on merit however. No team promoted from tier 5 has ever gone straight back down. There have been a few longer term disaster scenarios (Maidstone, Scarborough, Rushden & Diamonds*) but Yeovil, Burton and Wycombe have risen all the way up to tier 2.

If the FL voted to increase from 1 to 2 places, they can just as easily increase to 3. The York scenario definitely strengthens the case for doing so.


*Speaking of Rushden & Diamonds, I see they will be competing in the same division as Carlton Town next season.

[Robertomac]

*Speaking of Rushden & Diamonds, I see they will be competing in the same division as Carlton Town next season.

I was there when they stuffed us 5-1...

[KintoreMagpie]

Even though Notts currently don?t have to worry about getting out of the NL I still feel there should be 2 automatic promotion spots from NL. A 3rd may be available but the team finishing 3rd from bottom in EFL2 would enter the playoffs with those finishing 3-7th in NL to determine who gets that additional place. You could keep the existing p-o format except the teams finishing 3rd in NL and 3rd from bottom of EFL2 go straight into the semi final with a guaranteed home draw.

[Chicken Balti Pie]

With the vast majority of NL clubs being professional now, maybe it's time to discuss opening up the chance of EFL League 3. Change the NL to L3 go 3 up 3 down all the way through until League 3 where relegation is two places with the NLN/S having one promotion place each.

You could stop the need to force clubs to go professional by making all EFL leagues 20 teams each.

The missing 6 games could be recouped by making the early rounds of the League cup a 4 club group stage, with games home and away therefore no one loses the 6 extra games. Premier league teams come in after the group stage to stop them bellyaching about too many games interrupting their mid season friendlies