Saturday, 24 September 2016

League One: Limbo Land?

I've been meaning to write a piece on League One for a while and was prompted to do so by an interesting piece on the Football Supporters' Federation website recently about away ticket prices in the division.
It showed that prices have crept up, in certain cases, to £30 which is of course the same as the capped-prices for visiting supporters in the the Premeir League while paying more £20 or more is the rule rather than the exception.

 I don't particularly want to single out individual clubs (the blog has always been about highlighting interesting offers when they come up) but I do feel that, on both the playing and financial side, League One is gradually becoming more and more detached from the Championship despite the link between the two division that promotion and relegation provides.

 The most obvious example of this is Championship Under-23 sides taking part in the ill-judged Football League Trophy this season but it's also there in other ways. Channel 5, for instance, has changed its Saturday night offering from 'The Football League Show' to 'The Championship' with League One and Two goals shunted away to a separate programme.

 Despite this, clubs are still faced with rising costs from the standard obligations they have to meet and the knock-on effect of wages that are inflated in the top-flight and going the same way in the second tier.

 I'd love all clubs to be offering tickets for £20 or less but the best way of ensuring that is surely for a greater sense of togetherness amongst 'The Football League' as a whole and a fairer way of redistributing income to all of the members.

 It is pleasing that the 'EFL' have come out and confirmed recently that 'B' teams and the Old Firm are not part of the proposed expansion plans but a growing divide between the Championship and the rest could yet lead to a form of regionalisation or a 'Premier League 2' in the coming years.
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