Premier League and National League in talks over new cup competition featuring under-21 sides

[Old Bob]

As a cautionary tale, the Lowland league in Scotland included a couple of SPL B teams, Hearts and Celtic with the same goal in mind. A few years later this is seen as a bit of a disaster. A poor idea.

Why do you say "a few years later"? It was an obvious disaster from day 1.

[sugrues flying headbutt]

I’ve only seen the impact this season when the Albion Rovers were relegated down to the Lowland league. Zombie games and the aspiration that the local populace would come out to watch ‘sellick’ B has been an abject failure.

[Trouts]

you know this already happens in a similar vein in the EFL Trophy right...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EFL_Trophy


will probably give a fair idea of which EPL clubs will be involved too.

[AFC197273]

And it’s regionalised so we would get the excitement of playing Bournemouth, Brentford, Brighton and Fulham kids every season. No thanks beyond dull

[Peter macdonald]

I’ve heard some ridiculous things in football in the last decade or so, VAR, Wembley semi finals, no cup replays etc but this tops the lot

[Zippy]

I’d rather watch an old episode of rainbow

Thanks, I could do with the royalties.

[Wokingham Shot]

Had them for thick end of a decade in the Dutch second division and to be honest, once the initial outcry/match protests died down (took maybe 3 years) you almost forget what they represent and it becomes just another match.

Going to see one this afternoon. NAC v Jong PSV. Stadium will be full, beer will be flowing and an important 3 points at stake for NAC as they try to get in the play offs.

The other good thing now is they have to have their own stadiums, and matches can only be moved to the main stadiums when the police intervene on security grounds. Playing Jong Ajax in the JC Arena in front of 300 away fans and 150 home fans isn't great.

All that said, the one thing I do have an issue is there is too much fluidity in the rules around who can play. This means that the strength of team put out can vary significantly. Unsurprisingly the worse culprits are Ajax!! They will put much stronger teams out against the better/bigger sides than the lower. Mind I still chuckle about the time Luke de Jong played for Jong PSV in Breda!

[margateshot]

If the EFL want to be serious, why not let NL clubs enter the Carabou cup

[Old Bob]

I’ve only seen the impact this season when the Albion Rovers were relegated down to the Lowland league. Zombie games and the aspiration that the local populace would come out to watch ‘sellick’ B has been an abject failure.

You don't have to wait to see the impact of an obviously bad idea. An obviously bad idea remains an obviously bad idea when it is put into practice. Think VAR.

[Old Bob]

FFS. Tell me, exactly which "16 PL teams" will it be? You can bet your favourite pair of trainers that it won't include the arrogant "Champions' League" teams.

Bob your letting your heart rule your head....you normally think through your posts.

Ah, but there is a large amount of emotion in being a football fan. Letting your heart rule your head is part of the deal.

[lowerbourneshot]

So they couldn't get B teams into the Football league ,so this is how we'll tentatively work our way into the National league. 2026 27 no promotion this year as the top 4 were Leeds u 21 ,Brighton u21 etc . Perfect way for our leader not to pay out on a promotion.

[Old Bob]

So they couldn't get B teams into the Football league ,so this is how we'll tentatively work our way into the National league. 2026 27 no promotion this year as the top 4 were Leeds u 21 ,Brighton u21 etc . Perfect way for our leader not to pay out on a promotion.

Err ... dumb as it is, that is not the idea at all. It's a dumb, meaningless pseudo-cup competition, nothing to do with promotion. By all means criticise it for what it is, but not for what it isn't. This just hands a cheap victory to the opposition who can legitimately say: "Look, they don't even know what it is they are against ... haven't taken the bother to understand it" ... and so on.

OK, I understand that you are floating a conspiracy theory, but I don't have a lot of time for them either.

[lowerbourneshot]

So they couldn't get B teams into the Football league ,so this is how we'll tentatively work our way into the National league. 2026 27 no promotion this year as the top 4 were Leeds u 21 ,Brighton u21 etc . Perfect way for our leader not to pay out on a promotion.

Err ... dumb as it is, that is not the idea at all. It's a dumb, meaningless pseudo-cup competition, nothing to do with promotion. By all means criticise it for what it is, but not for what it isn't. This just hands a cheap victory to the opposition who can legitimately say: "Look, they don't even know what it is they are against ... haven't taken the bother to understand it" ... and so on.

OK, I understand that you are floating a conspiracy theory, but I don't have a lot of time for them either.

It's a start they wouldn't let B teams enter the football league ,so they'll go for the next best thing . The conference board are stupid enough to let it happen.

[Richard Petty]

So they couldn't get B teams into the Football league ,so this is how we'll tentatively work our way into the National league. 2026 27 no promotion this year as the top 4 were Leeds u 21 ,Brighton u21 etc . Perfect way for our leader not to pay out on a promotion.

Err ... dumb as it is, that is not the idea at all. It's a dumb, meaningless pseudo-cup competition, nothing to do with promotion. By all means criticise it for what it is, but not for what it isn't. This just hands a cheap victory to the opposition who can legitimately say: "Look, they don't even know what it is they are against ... haven't taken the bother to understand it" ... and so on.

OK, I understand that you are floating a conspiracy theory, but I don't have a lot of time for them either.

It's a start they wouldn't let B teams enter the football league ,so they'll go for the next best thing . The conference board are stupid enough to let it happen.

Whilst I am completely against this competition as it seems pointless I don't understand where you are seeing any connection to league football. This is a cup competition nothing to do with the league

[lowerbourneshot]

Err ... dumb as it is, that is not the idea at all. It's a dumb, meaningless pseudo-cup competition, nothing to do with promotion. By all means criticise it for what it is, but not for what it isn't. This just hands a cheap victory to the opposition who can legitimately say: "Look, they don't even know what it is they are against ... haven't taken the bother to understand it" ... and so on.

OK, I understand that you are floating a conspiracy theory, but I don't have a lot of time for them either.

It's a start they wouldn't let B teams enter the football league ,so they'll go for the next best thing . The conference board are stupid enough to let it happen.

Whilst I am completely against this competition as it seems pointless I don't understand where you are seeing any connection to league football. This is a cup competition nothing to do with the league

It's a start Richard what's to stop them in a couple of seasons time asking to put 4 teams into the National league . This cup is to test the waters .