The relief that against-all-odds, Luton Town retained their Championship status was overwhelming.
Survival looked impossible at one stage of the season but survive we did and not just by the skin of our teeth.
But, looking at how the relegation situation has panned out, I can’t help but feel elated that our fate doesn’t hinge on the ineptitude of the EFL.
On that fateful final day of the 2019 / 2020 Championship season, Wigan Athletic dropped through the relegation trap door courtesy of the points deduction they received for flouting the rules, a points deduction they are currently fighting.
However, Wigan were not the only club to be handed a points deduction with it being announced that Sheffield Wednesday would also face a 12-point deduction, also for flouting the rules.
But the Owls punishment won’t come into effect until next season.
If the 12-point deduction had been applied this season, then Sheffield Wednesday would have gone down, and Charlton would have stayed up.
Understandably, Charlton are more than a little peeved believing, like me, the points deduction should be applied this season, seeing as it was the season the offence was committed in.
Quite how the EFL have worked this one out is beyond me.
But matters could still get worse, if Wigan win their appeal then the farcical situation will continue.
Like I said earlier, I’m thankful Luton, on that last day, put some distance between themselves and the relegation places, it really is a muddle of the EFL’s own doing.
But what are your thoughts on this unholy mess?
Please feel free to have your say in the comment facility beneath this article.
COYH’s
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Yesterday Was The Icing On The Cake For Luton Town Supporters
Hi mh, surely it comes as no surprise that the efl yet again have tried to support “big clubs” from religation. At the expense of small clubs. They have an agenda which is money talks meaning that TV companies want to see”big club” on thier channels I. E. Sheff weds mid Derby Wigan as they have crowd support 15,000 an more to view not the likes of luton Barnsley Charlton Wycombe an so on. We will always get the worst deal. Expect the 12 point deduction to be overturned on appeal
Gutted for Charlton though, Sheff Weds should be relegated
listerning to the official broadcast from SW, its wasnt the EFL that decided when they would recieve the points deduction, it was the appeal hearing that decided that, there arquement was thr hearing was heard and points added after the regular season had finished and it it wasnt for covid the new season would have started and thefore the points would be added to the new season, lets hope they have the same thought process to wigab appeal.
thanks for the info, still a mess though!
End of the day we all know what football governing bodies are like and for once who cares, we are not effected
Bizarre timing, but kind of unfair to have done it for 2019-2020 if the team was no longer playing and they could (with some justification) argue that they would have done more to escape the points deduction had they known of it. But it was the EFL’s choice of timing, so who knows?
Interesting to see how the appeals go. Remember when Luton appealed a red card and got slapped down with an extra £10k fine for lodging a “frivolous appeal”? I have never seen anybody else get that, only us. They make the rules up as they go along.
Anyway, I think Wednesday will shrug this off. They are apparently chasing big money signings and their wage bill is already (near enough) 4 times bigger than Town’s. Cooking the books while you are prepared to spend big must be the way to do it.