Fate of League One season will depend on vote
THE EFL board had further discussions yesterday concerning the fate of the League One season.
Last week’s meeting resulted in proposals in which the EFL made it clear its favoured option was for clubs in all divisions to complete their remaining fixtures.
However, if a majority of clubs in any division was in favour of ending the campaign early the league table would be settled according to unweighted pointsper-game.
Promotion, relegation and the standard four-team play-off for a third promotion place would be retained.
The plan has split League One clubs, with Sunderland part of a group determined to play on to ensure the final table is determined according to sporting integrity.
Another group is happy to let the season go unfinished – either because using the proposed points-per-game system suits their cause at either the top or the bottom of the table or because they have little to fight for and see completing their fixtures as an unecessary expense.
Yesterday’s meeting will consider feedback from the clubs on those proposals but the battle lines are drawn and there appears to be little hope of a consensus forming – unlike in the Championship, where most clubs want to continue, and in League Two, where in an indicative vote clubs unanimously opted to end the season early.
There is expected to be an extraordinary general meeting, probably next week, at which a final vote will be held by all 71 EFL member clubs over whether to make the rule changes.
Then there will be divisional votes to determine whether the Championship, League One, and League Two continue playing or are cut short and settled under the new formula.
If the League One season is settled based on points-per-game, top two Coventry City and Rotherham United would be promoted automatically, with Wycome jumping from eighth place to finish third and earning a play-off place alongside Oxford United, Portsmouth, and Fleetwood.
Wycombe’s leap would result in Sunderland dropping one place to finish eighth, while Peterborough would be elbowed out of the playoff spots – with Posh chairman Darragh MacAnthony already threatening legal action if that is the outcome.
The EFL’s proposals have also caused anger at the bottom, where third-bottom Tranmere Rovers would be consigned to relegation despite the fact they are only three points behind AFC Wimbledon with a game in hand of The Dons.
Tranmere have put forward their own proposal which would, if the season is not completed, either do away with relegation entirely or would involve factoring in a margin of error to any points-per-game calculations.
Ultimately, though, the choice is likely to be between playing on or the EFL proposal, although the latter could be modified slightly to reflect the feedback from clubs.