In the latest of his regular columns Hillary Street-Ender takes a look at the controversial 'League 3' plan put forward by Football Association chairman Greg Dyke, which if implemented, would see a new league added to the current Football League system to allow Premier League teams to field their second string.As the Brazil World Cup nears its’ conclusion, with the inevitable outcome of one of the ‘big’ nations winning it, I can't help but wonder if it’s caused us to take our eyes off the ball regarding Greg Dyke’s plans to slip League 3 in there between League Two and Conference Premier. With the attention of the football world being focused on events in Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, Brasilia and elsewhere this may well have allowed plenty of leeway for anyone wanting to develop the plan to slip any progress made under the radar and then present us with it as being a step nearer to a done deal. The Football League is opposed to the idea, as is the Conference, and I've yet to hear any fan of any club in the lower divisions say that they'd welcome the development and why would they? Why would they welcome the sacrificing of all that’s good about lower league football in order to advance the very faint possibility that the grafting-on of a Fat Cat Division would eventually lead to the national team finally winning a penalty shoot-out. How could we not be thrilled at the prospect of a home game on a cold February evening against Burnley under 21s. I intend no disrespect to Burnley but you'll know what I mean.
The suggestion that Dyke’s Disaster would ultimately create a stronger England team is patently ludicrous. How would it benefit Premier League youngsters to be playing against the likes of Walsall or Luton or Mansfield or any of the others down here? If they're meant to be the elite of their age group don't they need to be playing at the top level? Why should the Football League and the Conference be expected to bend over and take six of the best when all of the answers regarding the reasons for the England team being perennially useless lie with the Premier League? Why can't a quota system be brought in where two thirds of a matchday squad must be English born? Why can't they ditch the side-stepping of the issue caused by the allowing of foreign-born youngsters to be classed as homegrown providing they’ve been here for long enough? For how long is the tail going to be allowed to wag the dog?
As a dyed-in-the-wool Saddlers fan there’s no way I'd ever welcome any development of the kind suggested by Dykey and it won't happen as long as the FL and Conference oppose it. But how long will the two authorities remain in opposition? You would think that continued holding-out would eventually see the dangling of financial carrots and for how long would the skint legions of the Football League’s arse-end hold out then? Maybe Dykey and Co will go for the old divide-and-conquer tactic to bring onside just enough clubs to force the whole thing through. Whatever, I don't think the issue will go away and neither will the hypocrisy inherent in the whole thing. If my little bit of research informed me correctly then Greg The Great was non-executive chairman of League One regulars Brentford from early 2006 until the summer of 2013 so should know full well what the reaction to his risible plan would be. So, it’s not the least bit strange, then, that plans for Dyke’s Disaster should be revealed just as the Bees have climbed onto the Championship. Or am I just being cynical?
By: Hillary Street-Ender.
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