Tim Sherwood calls for lower league teams to become feeder clubs for Premier League

[jimmy]

It is creeping in and has been since the inception of the premier league.

I guess this brings us back to the question that arose a couple of years ago...Does the Under 21 teams in the New Autoglass Windshield Johnstone's Paint Cup mean the beginning of the 'B team' style clubs we see for example in Spain?

For me, any next step of the hugely wealthy clubs/Premier League to move in that direction needs to be met with an even stronger rejection than the under 21s into the Checkatrade. I could see reserve sides and feeder clubs climbing the league pyramid in the next decade or so, this needs to be fought against!

As a side note, MK Franchise was met with such disdain that I'm sure anyone with that idea would think long and hard about it.

The backlog of players these mighty clubs have really needs to be addressed too. Chelsea having 40 players out on loan is beyond a joke.

The priority of football needs to be community over money. Fight the power.

Excuse the rant. What were we talking about again? :S

 

[Banksy]

Well said Jimmy.

 

[Terryhall]

The way I see it if a team wants to put a B-team into the UK football league pyramid, then that is a new team and has to start out right at the bottom of the pyramid, the same as any new club.

"Taking over" another club, or being parachuted in at some artificially high level (and I would count even the Conference North/South as "artificially high") is an insult to the other clubs at levels below whose promotion chances are immediately taken away just so that Premier League clubs can get the benefit.

The FA needs to grow a pair and demonstrate some strong governance to protect the EFL from the PL. This is something the EFL should be doing but under Shaun Harvey it seems to be doing the opposite.

 

[Jason H]

The way I see it if a team wants to put a B-team into the UK football league pyramid, then that is a new team and has to start out right at the bottom of the pyramid, the same as any new club.

Yep, my take too. OK, Chelsea, you want to enter your B team? Please fill in a Combined Counties League application form. We'll stick you in Div 1, just the six promotions needed to get to the EFL.

 

[Temporarily Exiled]

I wouldn't even want that - all it would do is postpone the problem. Sooner or later, we'd see 7/8 clubs in each of League 1 and League 2 as academy sides. What happens to attendances then? Where's the away support for Everton U21s? League Two and National League sides struggle enough as it is, I think a lot of clubs would find themselves going under if they lost that revenue stream. Who's gonna make the trip up to see us play Newcastle U21s (not playing at their SJP either). It'd kill new support dead, too. Why would you support Exeter if they played in a Micky Mouse league? Why not just watch the real teams play?

It would also incentivise even more the hoarding of youth players.

 

[DanceMagnet]

It's a big NO to B teams from me even if entering at the lowest level. I'm sure most fans of EFL teams wouldn't want it. I boycott the Checkatrade Mickey Mouse competition and won't attend while that format exists.

The answer to allow developing players to come through is simple and obvious, but continues to be avoided by the Premier****e and FA. They need to set a cap on the number of foreign players, forcing clubs to either develop and progress their own players, or buy from clubs that have done so. Clearly, there is a fear of reduced income in doing so.

I believe a system to force clubs to include a minimum of 2 home grown players in the first season would be easy to introduce, and this could be increased annually up to 4 or 5 players per team. The advantages are 2 fold in that it helps the development of players in this country, and also benefits the England team. The youngsters at U17-U21 really have proved that the talent is there.

 

[Terryhall]

There are too many problems with it to list.

What happens when Tottenham A pulls out Tottenham B in the FA Cup draw? How do you maintain the integrity of the competition - not just so that it is fair, but just as importantly so that it is seen to be fair? How do you manage clubs drafting players out of their U-23/U-21/U-19 side into the first team - without fundamentally damaging the integrity of the reserve side and whatever division they are playing in? Or even worse, first team players dropped to the B team for that crunch game that decides on promotion, or the FA Trophy final, or whatever else it might be...

The whole concept is offensive.

 

[DanceMagnet]

Even forcing clubs to include a number of “development” players on the bench would help. You can stick feeder clubs and B teams where the sun don’t shine as far as I’m concerned.

 

[tonykellowfan]

Leagues in other countries dont have the support though that we have in the UK. There are clubs in La Liga getting 5k at home. They need the B team system otherwise their lower leagues disappear.

 

[Grecian2K]

Yep, my take too. OK, Chelsea, you want to enter your B team? Please fill in a Combined Counties League application form. We'll stick you in Div 1, just the six promotions needed to get to the EFL.

So, with all the money sloshing about in the PL about seven years then before (to start with) League Two starts to become the "new Football Combination" with increasing numbers of the matches played at empty training grounds (a bit like the Chucksumcash already is). Then, how long, before this all filters upwards until even the Championship starts to get clogged by B Team Wannabes?

Plus, what happens to all of the REAL clubs squeezed out by this daft suggestion....following the Torquay/Darlington/Stockport/Hereford models into a slide down the pyramid and (probable) ultimate insolvency???...unless, of course, this is what the media oligarchs at Sky etc ultimately want, of course.