The EFL has released a statement following yesterday’s board meeting ruling out the proposal to extend the League One play-offs to eight clubs and outlining the options available to clubs to resolve the current impasse.
The Blues are among a number of clubs who want the 2019/20 season played to its conclusion behind closed doors - the approach still favoured by the EFL - but most League One sides are understood to favour ending the season now, largely due to financial concerns.
At Friday's conference call involving the 23 clubs Peterborough chairman Darragh MacAnthony proposed extending the play-offs to eight clubs. The idea appeared to gain traction but has now been ruled out by the EFL in their latest statement.
The EFL board met yesterday to consider the feedback and subsequent implications of last week’s divisional club meetings, as the League continues to address the many complex financial and operational matters resulting out of the Covid-19 crisis, including how the 2019/20 campaign is concluded.
The various proposals and counter-proposals received from clubs have been reviewed and, as a result, the board has finalised the draft framework that would be adopted into EFL regulations, in the event that a division is to make the decision to curtail its season as League Two indicated last Friday.
Clubs are now required to give the matter further consideration, before the board formally proposes the appropriate regulation changes, which will then be voted on by all clubs.
The recommended framework is as follows:
1. Resuming the 2019/20 season with the existing format remains the most appropriate course of action from a sporting integrity perspective, but the board accepts there are circumstances that may lead to curtailment (as has been demonstrated with League Two) or a situation subsequently transpires whereby the season is unable to conclude.
2. This means that, in the event of an early curtailment:
a. Final divisional placings should be determined on unweighted points per game (if required).
b. Promotion and relegation should be retained.
c. Play-offs should be played in all circumstances but should not be extended (beyond four teams).
3. If a scenario arises whereby the play-offs cannot be played, the EFL board will determine the appropriate course of action.
4. The board considers that the majority required to curtail the 2019/20 season in any division should be 51 per cent. Determining whether or not to curtail the season is a decision for each division to take.
5. The principle of relegation across all three divisions is integral to the integrity of the pyramid, from the Premier League down to the National League, provided we have assurances that the National League will start season 2020/21 (ie the relegated club in League Two has somewhere to play).
6. Any regulatory solution should be relevant and specific to the current challenges posed by the Covid-19 outbreak and reach a conclusion that is clear and effective with the impact and justifications easy for all stakeholders to understand.
EFL chair, Rick Parry, said: "In the event that a divisional decision is made to curtail the 2019/20 season, the EFL board is recommending that the League adopts the original framework with the amendments as identified, as there is a strong desire to remain as faithful as possible to the regulations and ensure there is consistency in the approach adopted across the EFL in all divisions.
"The board has always acknowledged that a single solution to satisfy all clubs would always be hard to find, but we are at the point now where strong, definitive action is need for the good of the League and its members.”
League One clubs are expected to vote on whether to end the season now or play it to its conclusion next week.
If the division is settled on unweighted points per game, the Blues would finish 11th, their their lowest position since 1952/53 when the Blues, then managed by Scott Duncan, were 16th in Division Three South.