League 2 and National league or League 2 and 1 to merge

[xmastree]

Love the idea, more local derbies, more of a fan connection and less costs, with the exception of the mighty GA away supporters are a dying bread due to cost and distance and more importantly time, a shorter trip will help all bank balances,

How many Torquay fans would come to HP as opposed to those from Barrow

Total sense I& you ask me

More local derbies? Where are they coming from? If L1 and L2 had been regionalised this season, we would have had the benefit of fixtures against Bristol Rovers (120 miles away, is this a local derby?). Apart from Rovers there's no one else in L1 who's within 150 miles. There will also be clubs in the midlands, close to the dividing line, who will actually lose some local derbies due to neighbours being on the other side of the line.

Where you get the idea that GA away supporters are a dying breed, I've no idea. Have you experienced the great atmosphere at some of our away games this season? Don't forget that Argyle has fans living in all areas of the UK, and that the away ends are not populated exclusively by those who have travelled from Devon and Cornwall.

 

[Vampires11]

I live in Shropshire, and like most exiles the majority of games I go to are away fixtures.........................Home Park is the furthest league ground from my house.
So where is the benefit in a north/ south divide for me and hundreds (thousands?) of others who don't live in Devon?

 

[Devongreenowl]

Bradford
Grimsby
Carlisle
Oldham
Scunthorpe
Morecambe
Macclesfield
Barrow

How much do you think it costs Argyle to travel to and stay at these places overnight?

Hopefully nowt next season! :scarf:

 

[Kersie]

I travel from Cornwall too every Away game and I prefer the long trips more than the shorter trips.....I know majority of the time the shorter trips have more fans and are more vocal but I feel once I get to a long distance away game: Carlisle,Scunthorpe,Bradford etc I look forward to the match more...so a North/South divide would be a bad thing to me...you can’t beat a road trip to Carlisle :thumbs:

 

[Kersie]

I’m sure the players appreciate fan more on long trips as well

 

[mervyn]

It won’t happen because travel costs are such a tiny percentage of overall club costs.

 

[edengreen]

Watch the last Virtual Board Meeting & you will see that Simon Hallett & Andrew Parkinson are dead against. They said that travel costs are a very small percentage of their overall costs. The football director (can't remember his name) said that the travelling was very good for team bonding & they watch videos of their opponents on the way up.
Hallett concluded that the travelling is what makes Argyle fans special.

We are not talking about the Devon Bowl! There will still be plenty of travelling to do to places like Peterborough. Not a short journey. If you are so worried about NOT travelling! A strange kind of logic.

Exactly.
1. So ok, apparently we can afford it, but what about the likes of Torquay, Barrow, Macclesfield? Or are we just saying screw them they'll have to find ways of affording it?!
2. If there's to be no turnstile revenue until 2021 is it realistic for teams like Torquay or their Northern counterparts afford to travel the length of the country and fork out for a hotel?!

That's exactly what we are saying if they cant afford it let them play in the southern or south western leagues

Argyle would lose supporters there are a lot of us up north who's nearest game would likely become a 2 hrs journey to Northampton or Peterborough whilst we do go there currently its nit right that these would become our closest games

 

[Kersie]

I’m reckon lower League clubs like Torquay probably don’t stay in hotels...go up and back the same day....when they go Barrow and Gateshead they do...but trips under 300 miles they don’t.

 

[IJN]

We can still sing 'Grim Northern Sh**hole' to them. :scarf:

I hate the idea though, feels like a backward step.

 

[xmastree]

Does anyone know for which away fixtures Argyle travel the day before and stay in a hotel? I can't see them travelling on the day if the journey is anything upwards of 3 hours. Maybe it's less. So, the vast majority would involve a hotel stay, and that would hardly change with North/South divisions.

The seasonal mileage saving with North/South divisions would be less than many would think. I make our scheduled mileage round trips to away games for this season (had it been completed) to be around 11,200. Splitting the 48 teams due to start the season (incl. Bury) into North and South, I reckon Walsall would be the most northern in the south. Away round trips for this notional division would be about 9650 miles - including Ipswich (610 miles), Peterborough (570), Southend (535) and Gillingham (510). So you'd save just over 1500 miles on the season (just under 14%). That's not going to make much difference.

 

[IJN]

Does anyone know for which away fixtures Argyle travel the day before and stay in a hotel? I can't see them travelling on the day if the journey is anything upwards of 3 hours. Maybe it's less. So, the vast majority would involve a hotel stay, and that would hardly change with North/South divisions.

I would say this season all but Exeter.

They don't for Bristol, Swindon maybe Cheltenham but other than that, there's hardly any they don't.

 

[mervyn]

I’ve got this second hand, but apparently Swindon’s Chairman has today predicted on talksport that up to 10 league 2 clubs are within a few months of going bust.

 

[demportdave]

It won’t happen because travel costs are such a tiny percentage of overall club costs.

Exactly, travel costs are not the reason so many clubs are in trouble financially.

It's the ineffectiveness of financial fair play rules which are being exploited by some clubs which pushes up wages at League 1 and 2 levels.

There is a very good case for a salary cap to stop the likes of Fleetwood, Salford and one or two other clubs paying wages which they could never afford without their sugar daddies which has an adverse effect on many clubs at their level.

 

[xmastree]

I’ve got this second hand, but apparently Swindon’s Chairman has today predicted on talksport that up to 10 league 2 clubs are within a few months of going bust.

No surprise at all. How does any organisation function without income?

 

[Lundan Cabbie]

Returning to regionalisation of the third tier would make the Championship harder to get to.

I can't see the Championship having any more than four relegation places so that means there would be 48 teams chasing 3 or 4 promotion places including those via play-offs.

That is going to mean automatic promotion for the regional champions only.

The play-offs will then either be one promoted from each region if the EFL are relegating four Championship clubs or, if it is only three coming down then play-offs would be one winner from a competition involving clubs from both North and South.