What if the Premier League was still 22 teams? (PART 1 of 3)
In 1995, English football ended its four-year return to a 22-team top flight league by condensing the Premier League down to 20 teams.
Immediately impacted were Crystal Palace who, fourth-from-bottom, were sent back down to the Football League.
Across the three EFL divisions, the likes of Reading and Brentford weren’t sent up automatically, Barnsley, Wycombe and Scunthorpe were barred from the play-offs and both Swindon and Cambridge were relegated down a level.
With continental club football and the international schedule constantly evolving and exponentially growing, Premier League clubs and—more pertinently—players benefitted from the slightly reduced schedule.
But what if nothing changed?
#PremierLeague
JOIN THE TEAM! Donate to our Patreon page for just £1, for bonus 5 days a week content such as your what if ideas made a reality, football podcasts, columns and Football Manager content: http://patreon.com/whatiffootball
WHAT IF FOOTBALL IS PART OF THE SPORTS SOCIAL PODCAST NETWORK: You can find our What if Football Podcast on the Sports Social Podcast Network every Wednesday, and everywhere else where you consume podcasts!: https://podcast.sport-social.co.uk/podcast/what-if-football/
FOLLOW US!
Twitter: https://twitter.com/WhatIf_YouTube
Voice: Jake Doyle (@jakedoyle93)
Words: Jake Doyle (@jakedoyle93)
Edit: Jake Doyle (@jakedoyle93)
What If Football is a form of footballing storytelling that takes the audience down a different path to our current reality.
What If Football covers football in all forms, from the Premier League to the Champions League, European football and the EFL as well as international tournaments such as the FIFA World Cup and the UEFA European Championships.
What scenarios would you like What If Football to cover? Please let us know in the comments section.