Club clarify position on JPT
At the recent EFL AGM, clubs were asked to cast their vote in relation to the introduction of 16 Premier League academy sides into the competition, on a one-season pilot basis.
Wanderers’ vote was dependent on the proposals meeting a number of criteria which would ensure that the new format would be commercially beneficial for the club and not lead to the introduction of Premier League ‘B’ teams into the EFL.
The club were satisfied that these criteria were met and therefore voted in favour of the proposal, along with the vast majority of EFL League One and Two clubs, on the basis that the club will benefit from greater revenue from the new format due to increased central funding and prize money, whereas it had previously struggled to break even financially from the competition.
While the club acknowledges that some fans may not agree with or support the decision, Wycombe Wanderers must protect its best interests in terms of maximising its revenue during a period where it has long-standing debts to pay whilst striving to achieve sustainability under supporter ownership.
At the conclusion of the one-year pilot, the club will seek to conduct a review of the new format at its Fans Council meetings, prior to any further vote next summer.
The new format of the EFL Trophy will include 64 teams made up of EFL League One and Two clubs, plus an additional 16 category 1 Premier League academy/under-21 sides. Central to the competition will be the introduction of a new group stage format with 16 regional groups of four teams. The top two teams will progress to the knockout stages of the competition with the final staged at Wembley Stadium in April 2017.
Read more at http://www.wycombewanderers.co.uk/news/article/2016-17/club-clarifies-position-on-efl-trophy-format-3151498.aspx#pZRSjPjRB62V0FqJ.99
Comments
A solid financial argument in the short term but I find it very sad it seems to purely be a short term decision about money alone. It's an awful idea on every other level and should have been kicked out at source
Can't complain too much about that statement.
It's a fairly honest statement, but am I being overly cynical if my prediction is that at the end of the year the Fans Council will come out against extending the trial, but the club will vote for it anyway?
Better late than never, though why won't the club sound out supporter opinions before voting on a pilot? It's as though someone somewhere in the fan-owned club doesn't trust fans.
Also I'd like to know on what basis they're satisfied that this won't lead to PL reserve teams playing in Football League competitions - what is being proposed very much has the appearance of a classic thin end of the wedge, and it's something that the PL has made public that it's wants to introduce.
As PL have all the money in the English game, they've got the muscle to make it happen if they so desire (unless supporters of all clubs unite to oppose that of course). If they say they won't do it, it doesn't mean that they aren't manoeuvring to force it on FL clubs, usually with the promise of a few crumbs from the top table.
Statement seems exactly the polished response the mass of time they've bought to issue one would produce.
The super obvious scenario in the future is that more money is waved at us lowly teams, and the trial becomes permanent, and the reserve teams become part of the league system properly.
Inevitable i'd say.
Essentially they'd rather play games in front of empty stadiums for more prize money
Did they use the prize money to hire someone to write that!
Sold out, sorry if clubs like Portsmouth Bolton voted against it should tell you something.
@malone It's only inevitable if supporters don't show some backbone and properly organise against this.
I understand why the club has had to do this but I will be opting out of watching any games in this competition
There's no indication as to what the financial advantages will be, and how far in the competition you'll need to advance to gain any noticeable income from it.
Also the long-term financial damage (and general reputational damage to the Football League) of the PL's goal of shoehorning reserve teams into the established pyramid structure will surely be far more than a few grand the PL will dismissively drop in our cup when we inevitably go out in the first round.
The real problems clubs like WWFC face is the amount of money the PL hoards, the amount of young talented players they stockpile and cast on the scrapheap, and the damage done to the grassroots of football by the money being hoovered up to the top with negligible to no effort at redistributing it to avoid killing the goose that lays the golden egg. The proposals the board voted for do nothing but take a big step in reinforcing the root causes.
So why did it take so long for this statement to be released?
Pleased to finally see a statement, and even tho their decision is very disappointing, at least they've been honest that they're simply chasing the money.
I can't help but feel that it would have been better to simply can the competition, we've certainly set very dangerous precedent.
Seems like a side project for reducing the leagues down to 20 teams. Lose homes games from the league but gain them in the JPT. Football will eat itself and it's horrible watching and waiting for it to happen.
If we play like we did last season, the less home games the better!
what a load of crap, its a one season experiment which we are taking advantage of to make bit more money which we very clearly need.
Will be interesting to see how Holloway performs at Fleetwood in the coming season, which will shed some light on whether or not Ainsworth simply failed to motivate him.
How is that relevant to the thread? Although I do agree with you! I expect he will do well.
Not sure how it got on this thread Bledlow, as I was responding to StrongestTeam post on the incoming signing thread.
Still the Holloway obsession.
Never has one player who gave so little, been the source of such debate.
There is no debate about Ainsworth failing to motivate him sufficiently.
He didn't.
Whether that is Ainsworth's fault is a completely different debate.
No manager can motivate every single player. It's impossible.
Martin O'Neill must have come pretty close.
Sir Alec Ferguson?
@ReadingMarginalista "It's as though someone somewhere in the fan-owned club doesn't trust fans" .... He's always been like that, including the time at a WWFC AGM when he would only take questions on WASPS and not on the (perilous) finances of the club. But he feels right at home in Portugal. #nothinghaschanged
@mooneyman Paul Pogba might disagree.