Wrexham director Shaun Harvey has expressed his disapproval of contentious plans to expand the Championship play-offs from four teams to six. Clubs are due to vote next month on whether to overhaul the established format following the FA’s approval for the proposals to proceed to a ballot. The changes would see the sides finishing seventh and eighth enter the promotion race through a new eliminator round.
Harvey has voiced scepticism, cautioning that the change would add even more pressure to an already “too congested” fixture list. Speaking on the Fearless in Devotion podcast, he said: “I’m not a fan of including seventh and eighth and the fact that the semi-finals are still going to be two-legged.
“It just appears to me that we’re adding an extra game into what is an already very busy schedule. I’m not actually sure what the real chances of the teams that finished seventh and eighth are to go forward. I get the notion, but most clubs are getting big crowds by the end of the season anyway. I’m not sure it makes a massive commercial difference.”
Harvey formerly held the position of chief executive at the English Football League and has consistently championed reducing the number of clubs per division. His main objection to the new proposals focuses on the punishing schedule endured by Championship players, especially throughout the winter months
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He said: “The fixture list is busy and clubs up and down the country are making trips. (In terms of) the actual quality of the product of football over Christmas …we won at Blackburn, which I’m very grateful for, but the game was awful and that’s not down to a lack of effort from the players. It was just down to fatigue.”
“The fixture list is too congested. In a nutshell, I think we play too many league games. We’ve got 24 teams at this moment in time in each division. I think in reality, it needs to go down to 22 or 20 just to be able to manage the fixture list accordingly.”
He added: “When I was at the EFL, we talked about it. It didn’t happen for a number of reasons, but I think very shortly we have to be looking at the number of games we’re asking players to play.”
According to the EFL’s blueprint, initially suggested in September, the Championship play-offs would be extended from four to six clubs. The structure would bring in a single-match elimination round, with fifth entertaining eighth and sixth taking on seventh.
The victors would subsequently face third and fourth in two-legged semi-finals ahead of a Wembley final determining promotion. The overhaul reflects aspects of the National League format, though unlike that competition, the semi-finals would stay as two-legged affairs.
According to reports, the FA has approved a vote on the proposals at an extraordinary general meeting on March 5, despite opposition from the Premier League. Top-flight officials are said to harbour concerns about standards potentially declining if, for instance, the eighth-placed side secured promotion.
For the reform to succeed, 13 of the 24 Championship clubs must back it, along with an overall majority of 37 across the 72 EFL clubs. The EFL is understood to be confident of obtaining the necessary support.