Under a proposed new structure, the league's involving the Championship, League One and League Two will be shortened from 24 to 20 teams (like in the Premier League) whilst adding an extra division to divide League Two and the National League.
The idea of this venture, designed and created by Shaun Harvey (FL) is to take off pressure of midweek fixtures and allowing more fixtures to take place on Saturday's. In addition to this there would be the restructure of the Football League Trophy (JPT), allowing teams with category A Academies to field a B-side in lower Divisions and an 'group' phase which would be played out on International weekends.
But for such a venture to be carried forward, 65 out of the current 72 clubs must vote in favour of this proposal. Currently there are no plans to restructure the League Cup, nor are there plans to abolish promotion and relegation between the Premier League and Championship.
One chairman already set against such a new scheme is Bradford City’s joint chairman Mark Lawn; ‘We’ve had this structure for years because it suited the majority of clubs. Why change it? Losing four home games means we lose income. We need the crowds. It’s ridiculous.’
What Would I Do?
I am no expert at all things Football League but I have been watching football long enough to form my own opinion on how it could be structured. Personally I am in favour of such a revamp. My only concern would be to the lower league clubs whom would lose much needed revenue through the extra gate receipts, the clubs' shouldn't lose out but supporters shouldn't have to wave the deficit either.
The League Cup ought to be abolished. The majority of winners do come from the Premier League but the majority of clubs take less interest and only field stronger sides towards the latter stages of the competition, getting rid of this competition would free up midweek fixtures, the Europa League spot on offer to the victors could be awarded to the top flight and the winner of the FA Cup should be rewarded as a UEFA Champions League place - again this would extra bite to the competition with top flight clubs more hungrier than ever to be lifting the trophy come May.
As for the Football League Trophy, with the competition expanding to 60 teams I would either allow the winners (in this case Barnsley) to compete in the competition should they win promotion to the Championship or relegated to the National League and invite 3 or 4 teams from the latter (depending on region) to make up 64 teams.
Under this proposed new system it is likely that the two teams finishing at the foot of the Football League, in this season instance York City and Dagenham & Redbridge would be exempt from relegation for one season and allowing further teams to progress from the National League.
If the aforementioned system was to take place with immediate effect then next season's Football League could look something like this;
| Premier League | Championship | ||
| 1 | AFC Bournemouth | 1 | Aston Villa |
| 2 | Arsenal | 2 | Barnsley |
| 3 | Burnley | 3 | Birmingham City |
| 4 | Chelsea | 4 | Blackburn Rovers |
| 5 | Crystal Palace | 5 | Brentford |
| 6 | Everton | 6 | Brighton & Hove Albion |
| 7 | Hull City | 7 | Burton Albion |
| 8 | Leicester City | 8 | Cardiff City |
| 9 | Liverpool | 9 | Derby County |
| 10 | Manchester City | 10 | Ipswich Town |
| 11 | Manchester United | 11 | Leeds United |
| 12 | Middlesbrough | 12 | Newcastle United |
| 13 | Southampton | 13 | Norwich City |
| 14 | Stoke City | 14 | Nottingham Forest |
| 15 | Sunderland | 15 | Preston North End |
| 16 | Swansea City | 16 | Queens Park Rangers |
| 17 | Tottenham Hotspur | 17 | Reading |
| 18 | Watford | 18 | Sheffield Wednesday |
| 19 | West Bromwich Albion | 19 | Wigan Athletic |
| 20 | West Ham United | 20 | Wolverhampton Wanderers |
| League One | League Two | ||
| 1 | AFC Wimbledon | 1 | Accrington |
| 2 | Bolton Wanderers | 2 | Blackpool |
| 3 | Bradford City | 3 | Bury |
| 4 | Bristol City | 4 | Cambridge United |
| 5 | Bristol Rovers | 5 | Carlisle United |
| 6 | Charlton Athletic | 6 | Chesterfield |
| 7 | Coventry City | 7 | Colchester United |
| 8 | Fulham | 8 | Crewe Alexandra |
| 9 | Gillingham | 9 | Doncaster Rovers |
| 10 | Huddersfield Town | 10 | Fleetwood Town |
| 11 | Millwall | 11 | Leyton Orient |
| 12 | Milton Keynes Dons | 12 | Luton Town |
| 13 | Northampton Town | 13 | Mansfield Town |
| 14 | Oxford United | 14 | Oldham Athletic |
| 15 | Port Vale | 15 | Peterborough United |
| 16 | Rochdale | 16 | Plymouth Argyle |
| 17 | Rotherham United | 17 | Portsmouth |
| 18 | Scunthorpe United | 18 | Shrewsbury Town |
| 19 | Sheffield United | 19 | Southend United |
| 20 | Walsall | 20 | Swindon Town |
| League Three | |||
| 1 | Barnet | ||
| 2 | Braintree | ||
| 3 | Cheltenham Town | ||
| 4 | Crawley Town | ||
| 5 | Dagenham & Redbridge | ||
| 6 | Dover Athletic | ||
| 7 | Eastleigh | ||
| 8 | Exeter City | ||
| 9 | Forest Green Rovers | ||
| 10 | Grimsby Town | ||
| 11 | Hartlepool United | ||
| 12 | Morecambe | ||
| 13 | Newport County | ||
| 14 | Nott's County | ||
| 15 | Stevenage | ||
| 16 | Tranmere Rovers | ||
| 17 | Wrexham | ||
| 18 | Wycombe Wanderers | ||
| 19 | Yeovil Town | ||
| 20 | York City | ||