Six League One clubs lead calls to finish EFL season amid promotion pushes

Peterborough chairman Darragh MacAnthony is leading the calls
Getty Images

A group of six promotion-chasing League One clubs, led by Peterborough United, have urged the EFL to play out the remainder of the season ahead of crunch talks this week.

While there is a clear desire to finish the Premier League and Championship campaigns behind closed doors if possible, there are fears about the viability of doing so in the bottom two tiers of the EFL, with some clubs unable to bare the financial burden of staging matches without fans.

League One and Two clubs are due to meet in a videoconference on Friday to discuss the issue ahead of a potential vote.

Peterborough United, Oxford United, Fleetwood, Ipswich, Sunderland and Portsmouth are all inside League One’s top ten and in with a chance of at least reaching the playoffs as they look to secure a potentially lucrative promotion to the Championship.

League One and League Two clubs will meet via video conference on Friday
Getty Images

If the season was declared void there would be no promotion or relegation, but even if the rest of the season was cancelled and a points-per-game model used, none of the sextet would be in line to go up.

In that instance, Coventry and Rotherham would keep their current positions in first and second, while Wycombe, who are seventh but have a game in hand, would be elevated to third and could be in line to join them if a third team was promoted automatically in the absence of play-offs.

Posh chairman Darragh MacAnthony tweeted: "I have been asked to relay this message on behalf of Oxford, Fleetwood, Portsmouth, Sunderland, Ipswich, Peterborough to the EFL & the media ahead of our League One meeting tomorrow morning.

"We as a collective are united in our goal to finish this season. We have no desire for voiding the season, PPG (points per game) scenario is letting a computer decide our footballing fate.

"For our fans/staff and for the integrity of our sport we are all looking forward to completing our pending Fixtures/ season under guidance from the EFL at a time it is deemed safe to do so. Thank you for your time."

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