FL proposes radical shake-up

English football could be heading for its biggest shake-up since the introduction of the Premier League under radical proposals which include a fifth professional division.

The Football League wrote to all its clubs on Thursday to explain the ideas, with the aim of bringing the changes into effect within three years.

Each league will consist of 20 teams. The Premier League will remain the top division, with the Football League administering the next four, creating the opportunity for 100 professional teams.

The new innovative approach to the fixture calendar, which will need ‘Whole Game’ support, will come into play from the start of the 2019/2020 season, if agreed following a period of consultation with the Football League’s member clubs.

The congested fixture list is seen as one of the game’s biggest concerns, with insufficient dates available in each season to accommodate league and cup matches without significant clashes, a concern shared with the Premier League and Football Association.

Among the key objectives of the League’s ‘Whole Game’ solution is to maximise the number of weekend and Bank Holiday fixtures and to remove, where practical, fixture congestion and scheduling conflicts.

It also proposes to look at protecting and improving financial distributions and income generation for Football League clubs and to maintain play-off finals as the last event of the …

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