League Format 2020 ideas

Hi all,

We now have 28 teams confirmed for 2020.  Originally I had planned for 4 divisions of 7 teams but I think it is worth discussing other options.

My ideas are:

1) The 4 divisions of 7 teams, with division 1 being the strongest and division 4 the weakest containing the new teams joining (Channel Islands, Ulster, Cambs, Surrey, Bucks) and the lowest scoring teams in the current division 3. 

2) 4 divisions of 7 again but with 2 parallel division 3 groups.  Divisions 3a and 3b will contain the new teams and the current lowest positioned teams - with the aim of making them of equal strength. 1 team from each will be promoted to division 2 as long as the number of teams in the Championship remains the same.

3) Divisions 1 and 2 containing 9 teams and a division 3 containing 10 teams.  The league will have to start in December and one month will have to have two matches so the final matches can start in July. 

Any other suggestions are welcome, please let me know your thoughts.

Thanks Matt

The way I see it is if it's not broke don't fix it  

I like idea 1 the most. 

Yeah I like 4 divisions most.

Maybe if we ever get to 5 divisions, that might be the right time to time to split the lowest 

Option 1 would probably be the easiest to manage, its a format we know works.

Personally I prefer the last option with larger numbers in each division but can understand Div 3 with 10 teams might be a real challenge for new teams or others who are struggling a little. Does reducing Div 1 mean relegating one of the three teams who scored 4 points. That seems a little harsh on someone. What about Divs 1 and 2 8 teams and Divs 3 and 4 6 teams. More commitment from established clubs, less expectation for newcomers and less successful clubs.  

My preference would be :

Div 1 - 10 teams; Divs 2 & 3 - 9 teams each (thus, if we get 30 teams for 2021, we can simply go to 3 divisions of 10 teams). Presumably, two teams promoted/relegated from each Division.

I think larger divisions would be good.  We will get more variety in the matches.  
The last option (I changed my mind)

I think I like more, smaller divisions because it allows for more movement between them, which gives more teams something to aim for, and because it makes expanding easier in the future: we can just add to the existing divisions. 

Larger divisions should give more players the opportunity to participate AJ. If there are only 7 teams in a division that means just 6 matches, some of which could have a low number of players involved. I think the success of a competition lies in the number of players participating and that one aim we should all have is to field teams of larger numbers.

I would favour the 10 / 9 / 9 proposal. I think there may be some evidence that smaller teams might struggle to get minimum turn outs and therefore prefer that to the 9/9/10. 6 matches seems too few

Thank you for the suggestions.  I am now thinking the 10,9,9 idea is the way forward.

It would mean only one team from the current division 1 (Devon) will be relegated, avoiding relegating any of the teams that finished equal 5th.  3 teams will be promoted from division 2.  

To keep the divisions exciting I would like to aim to promote and relegate 3 teams from each division and allow teams to move swiftly through the divisions.

The 2020 season will have to start in December 2019 and there will have to be 2 matches in one of the months, probably March or April.

Does that mean there will be 10 teams in division 3, as in your proposal, or 10 teams in division 1?

Sounds good !! Thanks for the opportunity to contribute Matt, and as always thanks for all your hard work! 

10 teams in division 1. 9 in divisions 2 and 3.

Sounds good to me!

Yes, thanks Matt

Thanks Matt, sounds good to me and your suggestion of 3 teams promoted/relegated will give more variety from season to season (and keep things 'lively'  ).

4 groups of 7 would be my prefered option but would be happy with any.

I like the idea of larger divisions, although it still wouldn't give any new games in the latter half of the year where there is a big dearth of new matches, so I don't mind too much either way.  Obviously matches starting later in the year cause problems so we can't really do that anyway.

I'd probably go for 10/10/8 rather than 10/9/9 just to put lower expectations on the division that new teams will enter, but either works fine.