Crunch EFL meeting expected to see light shed on how League One season will be concluded
ROTHERHAM UNITED and Doncaster Rovers are finally expected to receive confirmation as to whether the 2019-20 League One season will resume or be ended later today.
English Football League clubs will vote on the framework for ending the season at a meeting with the bottom two divisions then set to formally vote on whether to cut it short due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
On May 15, League Two clubs – including Bradford City – unanimously agreed in an indicative vote to end their season on an unweighted points per game basis with play-offs.
But while Championship clubs, barring a few dissenters, have stated a desire to resume the season – with a revised ninematch fixture list announced yesterday – clubs in League One have been at loggerheads on how to conclude the campaign.
Due to the financial ramifications of Covid-19 and the fact that many clubs – starved of match-day revenue – cannot afford to take players and staff off furlough or pay for testing costs to see the season out behind closed doors, it is expected that the majority of third-tier clubs will vote for a curtailment.
Last week, Rotherham chairman Tony Stewart revealed that he believed that 15 clubs
would vote to end the League One season with finishing the 2019-20 campaign likely to cost League One clubs between £500,000 and £1m.
The League has suggested that in the event that a division cannot be completed, its final standings are to be decided on an unweighted points-per-game basis, taking games in hand into consideration.
Under that system, Leeds United – leaders in the Championship – and Rotherham, second in League One, would be promoted, while Barnsley would be relegated to League One.
Two alternative framework ideas have been proposed, with Barnsley seeking for relegation to be scrapped in the event of a division being unable to finish – which is unlikely to succeed – and Tranmere Rovers keen on applying a ‘margin for error’ to the points-per-game system.
Two amendments to the EFL framework will also be voted on, with Lincoln City calling for a change in how points deductions are applied to the points-pergame calculation, while Ipswich Town’s motion involves further consultation with clubs on the play-offs format if the season cannot be completed.
Stevenage want to scrap League Two relegation if the division votes to curtail the campaign, but the EFL have stressed they want promotion, relegation and play-offs to go ahead in all three of its divisions.
The National League are waiting on decisions from the EFL before it can resolve its own season, with promotion-chasing Harrogate Town anxiously watching developments.
Halifax Town also finished in a play-off position, while the fate of National League North promotion-chasers York City depends on how final placings are resolved.
For any EFL framework or amendment to be adopted, it would require both a majority vote among Championship clubs and a majority among the full 71 member clubs.
Most clubs are expected to be represented on today’s video call by a proxy and the video conference call is due to start in the morning.