Checkatrade Trophy - Format Survey

[Andy S]

Derided by fans - and some clubs, the tournament has been saved by the Premier League offering additional funds, proving, in a week when Accrington have questioned their involvement in the lower league, just how important their financial input actually is.

A million poxy quid!

That's it! At the same time that the Premiershite signed a TV deal worth GBP3BILLION (I think) to put up an extra million is just plain derisory.

More boycotts it is then!

Where is that quote come from Andy? It is staggeringly myopic.

http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/39895497

It's in the 2nd part of that Mark.

Sorry Mark, that is the link for my comments BUT...

If you want some seriously eye-watering numbers, read this.

[b]http://www.totalsportek.com/money/premier-league-prize-money/[/b]

It's GBP5.136BILLION that was paid last year, to cover 3 years. A 71% increase on the previous "rights" deal.

And the slimeball b*st*rds throw in a whole phuquing million quid!!!

Disgusting!

 

[PAFC94]

Anyone that is not against this farce of a trophy in it's current guise is an enemy to football. Can't believe so many scabs attended these fixtures last season.

 

[Mark Colling]

Derided by fans - and some clubs, the tournament has been saved by the Premier League offering additional funds, proving, in a week when Accrington have questioned their involvement in the lower league, just how important their financial input actually is.

A million poxy quid!

That's it! At the same time that the Premiershite signed a TV deal worth GBP3BILLION (I think) to put up an extra million is just plain derisory.

More boycotts it is then!

Where is that quote come from Andy? It is staggeringly myopic.

http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/39895497

It's in the 2nd part of that Mark.

Thank you; another Premier League apologist masquerading as a journalist.

At least Chris Errington has spoken sense on the subject

So, if the Premier League offered enough money – and they have plenty of it swishing around with their various TV and sponsorship contracts – who is to say they could not get their 'B' teams into the EFL? That has to be a possibility, based on recent events

 

[Martyn]

Anyone that is not against this farce of a trophy in it's current guise is an enemy to football. Can't believe so many scabs attended these fixtures last season.

Very OTT

 

[Emu]

Anyone that is not against this farce of a trophy in it's current guise is an enemy to football. Can't believe so many scabs attended these fixtures last season.

Charming!!

 

[Fat_green_belly]

Oh well. At least i will be saving some money again for the next couple of seasons.
Sad, sad days for english football. PAFC v u23/reserves as a first team fixture is an
effing insult to my citys professional football club and its proud history.
To me as a loyal supporter it deems me as lesser class than those that worship at
the premier altar. They can stuff it up their ###!

 

[Gary Wills]

There are classes of supporter?
Good to know.
The fact England U21 could beat, say, Scotland must make the jock fans real low class.

 

[Fat_green_belly]

There are classes of supporter?
Good to know.
The fact England U21 could beat, say, Scotland must make the jock fans real low class.

Nope. The checkacrap creates it.
By the way england womens team would beat the jocks at the moment.

 

[Shm]

Oh well. At least i will be saving some money again for the next couple of seasons.
Sad, sad days for english football. PAFC v u23/reserves as a first team fixture is an
effing insult to my citys professional football club and its proud history.
To me as a loyal supporter it deems me as lesser class than those that worship at
the premier altar. They can stuff it up their ###!

:clap:

 

[X Isle]

Anyone that is not against this farce of a trophy in it's current guise is an enemy to football. Can't believe so many scabs attended these fixtures last season.

Very OTT

I'd replace "scabs" with 'staggeringly naive automatons', but broadly I agree entirely.

We don't have to wait for the thick end of the wedge to recognise the thin end of it. Unless of course folk are reassured by Sean Harvey's words alone that this isn't a precursor to an EPL B Team league... in which case I raise my descriptor to 'unfathomably naive'.

I am pleased to hear Argyle voted in line with the wishes of the fans. It is a marginal improvement that we can use whichever players we want and give our first team a rest, but it is still a poo sandwich we should not be eating.

I will continue to boycott it, I would urge all others to wake up and smell the coffee and do the same :thumbdown:

 

[SWTT]

So what is it, 3 mil total in prize fees? A mil roughly spread evenly between the 48 shmucks who degrade themselves for the participation fee. That leaves 2 mil to be spread unevenly, between the 64 (or however many b teams there are)?

Its hardly a cash cow worth selling ourselves for. We played the same opposition twice in cups this year. The crowd for the ropeadope trophy compared to FA Cup was down around 60% and 80% down on our average season attendance. A ticket at around a tenner for the extra 60%, even being cautious of 50%, attendance covers the fee.

Personally I enjoyed the JPT and went when I could. Some good away days at Cov, Swindon and Cheltenham. Seeing our second ever penalty shoot out win I think it was? A thriller against Leyton Orient springs to mind? Also went to pens?

Its a shame. I'd love to see the 40% of clubs that said no refuse participation and put in a vote of no confidence in the leech that is Shaun Harvey.

Is there a breakdown of how clubs voted?

 

[PL2 3DQ]

Against League 3 have put out a great statement which highlights the hypocrisy of the EFL and the PL with a hint at stronger boycotts.

Link

Against League 3 acknowledges the statement released by The EFL earlier today confirming the EFL Trophy will continue in the current format, with several cosmetic changes, for the next two seasons.

The EFL has consistently disregarded the views of the game’s key stakeholder, the supporter. Where fan consultation was conducted, it was ignored. In two extreme cases, Carlisle United and Notts County ignored over 95% of their respondents. Why should any EFL fan ever take another club survey?

For years supporters have been spoon-fed excuse after excuse for lower league clubs being required to bend to The Premier League and The English National Team. The Football League was forced to vote in EPPP, allowing youngsters to be stockpiled at Premier League clubs rather than gaining first team experience in The EFL. When those stockpiles become too large, the Premier League invades a competition it deliberately split away from in 1992 to retain a larger share of the money flowing through the sport.

Furthermore, the Premier League responded to Andy Holt’s criticism of Premier League finance distribution with a small minded, threatening, cowardly press release. It threatened the funding, and therefore the users of Accrington Stanley’s community outreach programmes. Shame on the Premier League for threatening those in need.

What concessions is The Premier League making for the England team? Is it playing English youngsters? No. Are they conducting responsible business in the transfer market? No.

Every other club in the pyramid has to wait and see whether the FA and the Premier League need a winter break. Whether they want the FA Cup is to be changed. Whether they want to play in the EFL Trophy. How long can this continue? When will enough ever be enough?

Worst of all, the EFL sees this disgraceful trophy as a bigger problem than the clubs it is allowing to fail. Leyton Orient, Blackpool, Blackburn, Coventry, Charlton. Countless others. If the FA and EFL will not stop pointing fingers at each other, then action must be taken.

Against League 3, over the next week, will survey campaign supporters over our direction for the next two seasons. Social media feedback seems to indicate a desire for a stronger boycott, possibly including more direct action and protests. No decision will be confirmed today, but it is the intention of the campaign to continue our efforts.

We’d like to thank every one of our followers for all of the support we’ve received during our three years of campaigning. Here’s to two more years challenging the incompetent and, frankly, insane governance of our sport.

 

[Ollieargyle9]

Yet another nail in lower league football's coffin and with it comes the sound of FL chairmen rubbing their grubby little paws together in celebration as few quid falls from the Premier League's table.

I think Against League 3's statement has it spot on. The Premier League have been taking advantage of lower league clubs for years, throwing us a bone now and again to keep us begging at the altar. The line about EPPP allowing them to hoard up talent we could all share only to realise they haven't got enough fixtures to play it all in so they have to hijack our tournament as well is particularly telling. The injustice of it all makes me so angry.

I understand it of FL chairmen; some too greedy and self absorbed to care what their fans think and others so desperate to keep their struggling clubs afloat they're left with no choice but to accept short-term handouts but fellow supporters? How can any fan of lower league football tolerate this. How can you roll over and accept that this is our lot in life. We are better than this, we deserve better, we deserve our share. As a full-time professional football club playing somebody else's reserves in a competitive fixture is wrong and degrading. It's the kind of defeatist attitude on this thread that allows FL chiefs to get away with this. Just enough drones to keep the turnstiles ticking over to make sure it doesn't look a complete farse, just enough sheep to join the one day wonders at Wembley to make the final look a success at least. You are doing our club and lower league football a disservice. Turning up to see Argyle labelled as worthy opponents for Swansea's kids, a team we competed with and finished above less than a decade ago. You are selling us short, recognising this as anything other than an abberation is not support however you dress it up.

I don't care if Adams has a few more games to test the team in. We already had that, we had a tournament of our own, it was called the Football League Trophy. It was ours, free of Premier greed, a chance for two of the FLs best clubs to battle it out at Wembley once a year. It wasn't perfect but that's the beauty of lower league football. Instead we have had that stolen away from us, they've taken our trophy away and entered us all into something even the FA will only recognise as a reserve league and some of you are more than happy to trot along with your fingers buried deep within your ears.

WAKE UP! We are under attack!

 

[CornishPaul]

Agree with the above. Nothing to wrong with the old format. This new trophy is a mess. I didn't attend any games last season and won't be going to any going forward. Absolute shambles. I shall treat it as a pointless mid season friendly and I'll have no interest win loose or draw. Who ever voted in favour of this needs to give their heads a wobble.

 

[AdelaideGreen]

I agree that the inclusion of the U23 teams is wrong.

However, I am not sure about boycotting all games - why not only boycott the ones that involve the U23 teams? It seems their own supporters are doing this anyway.

If Argyle were playing (say) Pompey or Blackburn perhaps the team deserves support?

Going further, perhaps Argyle and like minded teams should only field their own youth teams against the U23 teams??

By the way, talking about Argyle's youth/development team, the other South West Peninsular League teams are not all supportive of Argyle's inclusion there - so are we being a tad hypocritical?