This is something posted on ITTV by Revilo that sounds interesting. I cannot find a free link to this story (nothing on the BBC that I could see) This link provided is to the Telegraph online, which is behind a paywall I'm afraid... https://www.telegraph.co.uk/footbal...vers-efl-clubs-bannedunless-approved-advance/ If anybody knows of a link to this story in a free-to-read online newspaper please post it here. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ My guess about the way this might work could be wrong, but as I understand this so far... Any new owner could still actually buy a football Club - they could not be prevented from doing so. A rejected take-over would be banned, but not actually stopped. However all potential owners would know that unless their take-over had already been approved by the EFL in advance, the Club they are buying would automatically be expelled from the EFL Leagues. In other words, both the new owner and the terms of their take-over would have to pass a new version of the OAD test. And if they fail, that potential owner knows that the consequence of pushing through their take-over will mean certain expulsion. No quibbling, no grey areas. This sounds like a good idea in theory. Two areas would have to be made watertight though in my view for this change to offer real extra protection to vulnerable football Clubs and help to prevent another Bury FC failure; 1. Potential owners should be restricted as much as possible from being able to launch legal challenges to the decision of the EFL if it rejects them and their take-over bid. Or try to gain injunctions preventing others from buying the Club while they are challenging the EFL in the courts. One appeal (not court-based) should be allowed against an EFL rejection, but that appeal should be dealt with quickly and decisively, and its decision accepted as final by both parties. The details of the appeal should be made public if possible as well. 2. The assets of football Clubs - chiefly their stadiums and training grounds - should be strongly protected in law from being developed for any other purpose by a new owner if that Club goes out of business (especially if the reason for the Club closing is expulsion from the EFL leagues because of a deliberate take-over after an EFL rejection). This would prevent asset strippers / property developers buying Clubs purely to get their hands on the land, while using the EFL's own automatic expulsion to destroy the football Club and so free the land for development. There is absolutely no way that an automatic expulsion rule should be taken advantage of by those who would happily murder a football Club in order to rob its corpse.
