B teams back on the agenda

[fred binneys head]

The attendances at the EFL Trophy games will have had, and will continue to have, no bearing whatsoever in any decision to allow B teams into the EFL.

 

[denzel]

These will still be used to justify B teams, how many turned up for the Ipswich game, more then a “few hundred” wasn’t it?

agree with the money aspect which was the reason used by our glorious now president for voting for it in the first year, thankfully since then the club has been one of two or three clubs to vote against the EFL Trophy in its current format but as I’ve said before the damage was done by that point.

Wasnt the Ipswich game the one which allowed home fans in the SJR end? I know a few who went to that game purely for the novelty value. We could have been playing Heavitree United in the Devon Bowl and it would have been just as well attended

 

[Oldsmobile-88]

Wasnt the Ipswich game the one which allowed home fans in the SJR end? I know a few who went to that game purely for the novelty value. We could have been playing Heavitree United in the Devon Bowl and it would have been just as well attended

It was on a Saturday(FAC 3rd Round day) that was probably the reason,doubtful a similar crowd would have turned up on a Tuesday evening.
The club did underestimate the interest with the switch to the Saturday.

 

[Red Devon]

It was on a Saturday(FAC 3rd Round day) that was probably the reason,doubtful a similar crowd would have turned up on a Tuesday evening.
The club did underestimate the interest with the switch to the Saturday.

The atmosphere at that game was superb proper banter being exchanged between both sets of fans.

 

[Sexton Blake]

The attendances at the EFL Trophy games will have had, and will continue to have, no bearing whatsoever in any decision to allow B teams into the EFL.

............totally agree Fred.

 

[denzel]

It was on a Saturday(FAC 3rd Round day) that was probably the reason,doubtful a similar crowd would have turned up on a Tuesday evening.
The club did underestimate the interest with the switch to the Saturday.

Thanks, my mistake.

 

[MJP_Exeter]

B teams Is a no go. Same as celtic n rangers jumping into thd efl. If they want n teams then they need to create a proper b team league. Unfortunately efl clubs in general have been allowed for too long to spend stupidly without check.

This is why there is zero enthusiasm within government to bail us out and the Premier league want to save it to enforce slow death by b teams

 

[Boyo]

B teams Is a no go. Same as celtic n rangers jumping into thd efl. If they want n teams then they need to create a proper b team league. Unfortunately efl clubs in general have been allowed for too long to spend stupidly without check.

This is why there is zero enthusiasm within government to bail us out and the Premier league want to save it to enforce slow death by b teams

There already is a proper B team league. It's called Premier League 2 https://www.premierleague.com/premier-league-2-explained It's basically an U23 league with a few over age players allowed. The problem (from the PL's perspective) is that no one is interested in it and it simply does not prepare players and teams for "real" football, as evidenced by these teams repeatedly losing when they play against L1 / L2 fringe and squad players in the EFL Trophy.

 

[richard_portland]

I think potentially for a boycott to work it maybe should have been targeted towards games specifically against the b sides. I don’t see a problem in a couple thousand Grecians watching us play another efl side on fa cup third round day with the added novelty of being able to stand in the new covered away end.

since the trophy began in the eighties the crowds have largely been poor , apart from the area finals and a couple of derbies. Since the b teams came in those crowds have dropped. We didn’t exactly have big crowds against Chelsea twice and West Ham. Think the biggest was 2k for the first Chelsea game which is the only b team game I have seen. I think it’s the only trophy game I have seen in recent seasons and I don’t think anything our fans have done will have caused a problem.

Agree any push to put b sides in the league needs to be fought, but still think there will be too much opposition against it. Covid is the biggest risk if a significant number of clubs go to the wall.

The competition would be far better with just league one and two sides, or introduce some from the conference, but it is valuable to our side for our players needing game time and youth. As long as we don’t have loads of injuries our squad can field a very competitive side in it.

 

[fred binneys head]

Boycott Schmoycott, Cornwall and Max are overstating the strength of fan power in situations like this. The benefit to the Premier League will far outweigh the fact that a couple of thousand people didn’t turn up to watch Rotherham vs Leicester U21.