Football League News

Outcomes from the Football League Conference

Hants

The Chairmen of the 72 Football League Clubs have had their Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Faro, Portugal. With the AGM they’ve had their Owners’ and Executives’ Conference.

The proposal for League 3 was presented by Greg Dyke of the FA and in Football_league_featgood news for football fans, was rejected. The Football League’s Chief Executive, Shaun Harvey, said:-

Greg Dyke provided a detailed and thought provoking presentation that helped clubs get a better understanding of the thinking behind his recent report.

Whilst it’s fair to say there is no appetite amongst clubs for the use of B teams or L2_wembley_play_off_finalStrategic Loan Partnerships in the football pyramid, they did share his overriding concern about the development of young English footballers and supported a number of the report’s other recommendations. We will continue to work with the FA to help find solutions that will be supported across the whole game.

The FA Commission also discussed the issue of artificial pitches. In the divisional meetings this matter was discussed. Leagues 1 and 2 have agreed in principle to their use in their division, but want further analysis before formal consideration later this year.

At AGM earlier this afternoon, clubs voted to extend regulations applying to club takeovers in the Championship to clubs in Leagues 1 and 2. Any application for a change of control at clubs in Leagues 1 and 2 will require the purchasers of the club to provide ‘Future Financial Information’ demonstrating the club’s ability to trade and evidence of the source and sufficiency of funding.

Shaun Harvey explained:-

Having operated these rules in the Championship for the last four seasons it is logical to now extend their implementation throughout our competition. They will assist our efforts to ensure that anyone taking control of a Football League club has the logonecessary funds, from a legitimate source, to support its business plan.

Finally, the Board discussed revelations about the award of the World Cup to Qatar. Football League Chairman, Greg Clarke, said: