2024/25 League Two Promotion Thread

[Grimsby Road]

The TV Deal hasn't worked as expected as a lot more has been moved, its great if away and you can catch a game you wouldn't have seen otherwise but for us nearly all our "Big games" have been moved, Crewe and Walsall home and away, Notts Home, Doncaster Home, Tranmere Away is usually a decent away one for us as is Accrington.

The 12:30 Saturdays aren't the end of the world but then you get the Monday or Thursday nights which are more damaging to attendances.

Personally they will ditch the black out eventually so may as well just do it, have all the games on TV at 3pm on a Saturday and leave games where they are.

The 4 week notice period we have now which I thought was meant to be at the start of the season sold to fans as giving plenty of notice is ridiculous for fans who go via trains etc looking for cheaper tickets.

Agree with all of that

I have been shafted out of 5 or 6 games i would have gone to , Notts & Donny away 2 of my favourites and they were unviable .

It can't be all worth it for 150k extra , next season now people have realised I reckon in some cases they will lose that in ST sales it just won't be worth it to people .

That last paragraph was the thing that's irked me even more it came over early doors you would get loads of notice , I'm guessing this 1 month thing was down the bottom somewhere or in the small print . Our game with you will probably be moved i reckon , suppose we will find out in a week or 2 - i would be interested if they can move them at even shorter notice near the end of season , wouldn't suprise me .

 

[valefan16]

Agree with all of that

I have been shafted out of 5 or 6 games i would have gone to , Notts & Donny away 2 of my favourites and they were unviable .

It can't be all worth it for 150k extra , next season now people have realised I reckon in some cases they will lose that in ST sales it just won't be worth it to people .

That last paragraph was the thing that's irked me even more it came over early doors you would get loads of notice , I'm guessing this 1 month thing was down the bottom somewhere or in the small print . Our game with you will probably be moved i reckon , suppose we will find out in a week or 2 - i would be interested if they can move them at even shorter notice near the end of season , wouldn't suprise me .

Isn't it Easter Weekend so think they are all on TV anyway aren't they as not Saturday 3pm? (as are next weekend with it being International Weekend).

I imagine the only one likely to be moved of ours now would be the AFC Wimbledon one which ironically might be good in that it only has a small away allocation which will sell out at the first points cut off so if there is everything riding on it that might be the only way most can see it.

 

[loz]

League One really is a bloodbath these days. And with three smaller budget teams going down and probably Burton who've blown it all on crap it'll be even tougher to survive. In theory could see three teams spending lots of money in the Championship go down as well which means if you're a Northampton, a Lincoln or an Exeter you're up against it from the get go.

Just depressing everyones willy waving about budgets though. Let's face it if likes of Huddersfield, Bolton and Barnsley are making a pigs ear out of getting out of League One the right way then I can't exactly see L1/L2 yo-yo mainstays Bradford and Port Vale troubling the promotion spots themselves in the near future. Great we've got more money but what's the cost? 8pm games on a Thursday Night, 12:30 kickoffs, a lower ceiling for almost all our clubs than 20 years ago even with these newfound riches and a poorer match day experience for the average fan, with fans who work on Saturdays and kids who play Saturday Morning football short changed to the point where getting an ST just isn't viable anymore. How is that going to grow clubs long term?

Whole thing is a disaster. We're in a promotion/playoff race again after years of mediocre football, a pandemic and then disastrous football and as much as I appreciate this team and their efforts, even if we've struggled a bit over the winter, I'm struggling to get excited because we've had 1 Saturday 3pm kickoff between mid-November and the final day and I work almost every Saturday.

Maybe being poorer and having less TV exposure was great. Maybe this was just a ploy for Sky to get the blackout scrapped and screen 3pm Premier League fixtures from 2029 onwards. Because the current system just harms the game. Should be a cap on home fixtures being moved as well. We've only had 2 Saturday 3pm away fixtures moved but we've had 8 Saturday 3pm fixtures moved (6 directly because of Sky and 1 indirectly because of Sky with 1 being the clubs own choice). It stinks and just as lower league football was booming post-pandemic as well.

Football fans will sympathise with this but unfortunately true fans come at the bottom of the list that efl and certainly sky hold. They see support from an arm chair more important than us fans handing over our cash to cheer our lads on. To hell with the traditionalists for whom a couple of pints followed by the footie has always been a Saturday ritual. That said, if promotion is reachable, you have to go for it. It creates interest and dominates conversation. Willy waving doesn't come into it when wondering if survival in a division higher can be done. No one plans for promotion to be followed by relegation unless there is financial reward such as premier/championship parachute. At the moment, the fans of a dozen or so league 2 clubs have interest at the top end and we should enjoy that situation albeit with trepidation every time a key player goes to ground.