Friday Freebie: When You Fraternise With The Enemy
An unwanted cup competition brings unwanted attention
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The National League Cup. This might be a feisty one, so grab a cuppa and sit down, make yourself comfy. On Thursday, all the details were finally announced for a competition that reeks of the Premier League throwing their cash around to get the best for themselves.
Announced in the summer a partnership between these two divisions for 16 NL clubs to compete against 16 PL Under 21 teams, that being Forest Green Rovers and Sutton Utd joined by the 14 clubs who finished from 2nd place downwards.
However, Barnet, York City, Southend Utd Hartlepool Utd, Eastleigh, Solihull Moors, AFC Fylde and Yeovil Town have declined to enter the inaugural competition.
Now the press release from the National League itself clearly states the cup is ‘designed to give young players from Premier League and EFL clubs additional opportunities to test themselves against senior opposition, with the aim of further aiding elite player development’.
Hang on, there are NO EFL clubs in this competition, what the hell are they banging on about?!? And read it closely, read it again, for the benefit of ‘elite players’, NOT the National League clubs or their fans, but their young players.
Their young players that they stockpile across the Premier League and less than 1% of all those players go on to make a Premier League appearance, who picks up the pieces? Oh yes, Leagues One and Two and the National League! Players who when they get released having earnt thousands per week (oh yes wages are rife even at those levels) and can’t understand they’ll only earn a fraction of that going forward because the rest of football isn’t money-laden.
Both the PL and the NL have done their best to dress up the competition in the remainder of the statement, but tell me as you read this, are YOU excited at the prospect of watching your team play an Under 21 team of youth players in a competition where there’s no mention of where the final is to be played, it’s not going to be Wembley is it!
Would you rather be watching that game or seeing your side taking on an EFL side in an FA Cup replay? TV cameras, proper exposure for your club or a meaningless cup competition with no benefit to any National League club. Why do you think the NL sided with the PL over scrapping cup replays? This is the result, seven extra games for supporters to fork out for instead of maybe one or two FA Cup replays, talk about creating congestion where there was none, its utterly ridiculous.
The final insult let’s chuck a wedge of prize money at it; money solves everything is the Premier League motto. £1 million up for grabs across the competition only for the NL sides, pound note chasing at its finest.
I can’t understand why the likes of Forest Green, Oldham or even Rochdale are entertaining it! Imagine picking up 4 serious long term injuries from these games, miss promotion because they can’t field their full strength team for the remainder of the season, it’s football suicide.
I’m extremely pleased my club Barnet declined to enter. It’s been done on a football and an operational point of view. Football wise Dean Brennan isn’t wanting any more injuries, we’ve already suffered up to seven so far this season and our aim is promotion, why stuff that up to play against kids?
The stadium costs a pretty penny to open even if you only go for one stand. Let’s be frank, these attendances anywhere will be very low, I’ve yet to find a National League fan who sees the benefit of the competition or whose planning on attending one of these games.
I really hope not one single attendance at these games tops 1000, vote with your feet and get this binned off after one season, I mean you just can’t take it seriously
The EFL is at loggerheads with the PL over money, the NL decide to partner with the PL at a time when they should be firming up 3 up 3 down with the EFL so instead they decide to fraternise with the enemy, not the cleverest move to me ever thought out.
The final stab in the statement is this bit, ‘The competition becomes a component of the Elite Player Performance Plan, which has seen £2billion of investment into PL and EFL academies over the last decade, with the aim of producing more and better homegrown players’.
It’s for the benefit of the  Premier League, not the benefit of the National League, just remember that if you step foot in the ground midweek when this gets underway……..
Footnote: On Friday afternoon Eastleigh FC produced a quite superb statement which you can read here, whilst Rochdale FC produced their own on how they plan to use the competition which you can read here, make of both what you will!
The glorious National League statement is written here.
Where do you sit on this topic then? Don’t be shy on your views, I want to hear them.
Spot on as usual, think your estimate of 1000 in attendance at these matches might I hope be a bit generous I hope so anyway. The fact is as you have said yourself the board who run or are suppose to run the National League are not fit for purpose and appear more interested in getting into bed with the Premiership and EFL than serving the interest of the league they were elected to serve. As you said glad our club have the bottle to stand up and be counted along with a few others.
Your passion and belief comes across 100% in this article Trev. I think you make a really valid point, extremely well.