Ashworth’s desire for ‘B Teams’ forgets where Brighton have come from
Premier League sides fielding ‘B Teams’ in the Football League could be back on the agenda according to Brighton & Hove Albion’s Technical Director Dan Ashworth.
Ashworth has mooted it as a possible solution for helping League One and League Two clubs through the coronavirus crisis. Many lower league sides are facing an uncertain financial future, unsure as to when they’ll be able to open their gates to paying supporters and with the current seasons expected to be brought to a premature end in the coming weeks.
There are fears that many could be forced out of business before the Football League resumes. Speaking to the BBC, Ashworth believed that ‘B Teams’ and formalised links between lower league clubs and those in the Premier League could help.
“The sort of things we explored a number of years ago, during my time at the FA, were strategic loan clubs, B teams or partner clubs.”
“Maybe, just maybe, things like that come back on the table. If there’s a shortage of money and everybody has to cut their cloth accordingly, then maybe there’s ways we can share resources and help one another.”
Ashworth has long been of the opinion that ‘B Teams’ playing in the Football League would be good for the English game. It would provide an opportunity for talented youngsters in Premier League academies to play regular football in League One and League Two, apparently accelerating their developments in place of the current loan system.
He tried to instigate a move towards it during his time at the FA. Needless to say, the majority of Football League clubs were against it.
So were fans of Premier League teams who actually value the history and tradition that clubs further down the pyramid bring. Give us Harlepool United over Newcastle United B any day of the week.
It seems particularly opportunistic for Ashworth to be talking about reviving the idea now. Suggesting that Oldham Athletic might survive if they become Manchester City B or that Tranmere Rovers’ future lies in turning their club into a loan farm for Everton Reserves at the same time as those clubs are fighting for survival; it just comes across as jumping in their graves.
Although the idea was shelved, the Football League has experimented with the idea of Premier League B Teams taking part in the EFL Trophy – something the Albion have taken advantage of since 2017.
That’s proven to be a complete disaster for the competition. Attendances have fallen to record lows and the Trophy has become even more of a laughing stock than it already was.
The results of the EFL Trophy experiment suggests that putting Premier League B Teams into League One or Two would kill off the Football League as we know it. Perhaps that is secretly what the powers that be want?
The only saving grace from the EFL Trophy experiment is that we haven’t had the farcical situation of Chelsea Under 23s versus Everton Under 23s in the final at an empty Wembley.
A big payday and a memorable day out under the arch being taking away from long-suffering fans of a League One or Two club would probably represent the death knell for the competition.
Ashworth’s comments also show a gross misunderstanding and unawareness of where his current employers Brighton & Hove Albion have come from. Only a decade ago, we were one of those lower league clubs who would have been facing an uncertain future.
Had coronavirus hit before Tony Bloom took over as Albion chairman in 2009, then Brighton might have been teetering on the verge of going out of business.
Imagine if the Technical Director of a Premier League club suggested when we were struggling in League One that the only way to survive would be by Brighton establishing a formal link to become Arsenal’s B Team?
The Albion would cease to exist, over 100 years of history washed away just so some young Arsenal players can play League One football. That’s what Ashworth’s comments suggest he wants to happen.
Brighton may be a Premier League side now, but we shouldn’t forget where we’ve come from. Someone might want to remind Ashworth about that before he tries to attach the Albion’s name to a push for B Teams in the Football League or launches a bid turn Crawley Town into Brighton B.
Of course, there is another way that the Premier League could help their Football League counterparts through the crisis. How about passing on some of the obscene amount of money which sits in the top flight’s bank account or trickle down some of the vast revenue that top flight clubs receive?
That is surely a better solution than exploiting the coronavirus pandemic by having Premier League clubs taking over long-established Football League sides by stealth?
It’s something that nobody who understands the history of Brighton would ever countenance. As the highly paid Technical Director of a club who have been there and suffered it, Ashworth should know better.
