The Football League has a plan to finish the season within two months once it is safe to resume. So how would it work, and which teams would it benefit?
English Football League clubs have been told the season can be completed in 56 days when it is safe to resume after the coronavirus pandemic.
How many games are left in the EFL?
(Image credit: PA)
There are 326 EFL matches left in the regular season after it was postponed in March. Collectively Sky Bet Championship clubs have 108 games to play while there are 106 matches left in Sky Bet League One and 112 in Sky Bet League Two.
How many rounds of fixtures are needed to finish the season?
In the Sky Bet Championship every team has nine matches left but it is more complicated for Leagues One and Two.
Not every side has played the same amount of games – seven clubs in League One, including leaders Coventry have two games in hand on others.
Both League One and League Two would need 11 rounds of fixtures.
Does the 56-day spell include the play-offs?
Yes, it would mean squeezing another three rounds of games – the two legged semi-finals and the final – if the format remains the same.
The EFL could yet decide to have one legged semi-finals at a neutral venue which would save one game.
Get FourFourTwo Newsletter
The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.
How often will teams have to play?
Championship teams who reach the play-offs will have to play a game every 4.7 days on average. For teams in League One and Two, it will be a game every four days.
Has this level of congestion happened before?
There have been more congested 56-day stretches in recent years. The most cramped since the turn of the century was the 162 matches which were played in League One from February 14 to April 9, 2012.
There have also been two clubs who have endured a run of 17 matches within a 56-day period since the turn of the century.
Burton, from March 1 to April 25, 2011, and Crawley, from February 22 to April 18, 2014, had to play through a packed schedule.
Who has the lightest schedule?
Ipswich and Sunderland only have eight matches remaining, though both could still qualify for the play-offs so can still face up to 11 games.
Any team with only nine games remaining and no chance of reaching the play-offs will have the lowest number of matches to play.
Sides in Leagues One and Two who have 10 league matches remaining and could potentially be involved in the play-offs face the busiest schedule.
Thank you for reading 5 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access
FourFourTwo was launched in 1994 on the back of a World Cup that England hadn’t even qualified for. It was an act of madness… but it somehow worked out. Our mission is to offer our intelligent, international audience access to the game’s biggest names, insightful analysis... and a bit of a giggle. We unashamedly love this game and we hope that our coverage reflects that.
