U23's & The Checkatrade Trophy - Wembley

[Ian Royal]

I think it's a great idea that's been badly implemented.

The boycotts all seem to be about slippery slopes and letting youth sides enter L1 & 2 Which of course should never happen.

But giving the best young players in the country the chance to play competitive football against seasoned pros in a cup competition that was alreay largely ignored and poorly supported is good.

It needs all the Cat 1s to buy in and acceptance it's not a step towards B teams. Even if all Cat!1s joined in I'd expect a L1 or 2 team too still regulalrly win the comp. And you could give minnows a chance to play at famous stadia like Anfield, Old Trafford, White Hart Lane, The Emirates etc.

[Stranded]

I think it's a great idea that's been badly implemented.

The boycotts all seem to be about slippery slopes and letting youth sides enter L1 & 2 Which of course should never happen.

But giving the best young players in the country the chance to play competitive football against seasoned pros in a cup competition that was alreay largely ignored and poorly supported is good.

It needs all the Cat 1s to buy in and acceptance it's not a step towards B teams. Even if all Cat!1s joined in I'd expect a L1 or 2 team too still regulalrly win the comp. And you could give minnows a chance to play at famous stadia like Anfield, Old Trafford, White Hart Lane, The Emirates etc.

The last statement is part of the problem for some lower league fans. I know you probably didn't mean it as such but reads like teams in L1/2 should be grateful for the chance to be on the same pitch as some of these youth teams. It seems a bit condesending.

Is it really a big deal or a selling point for say Gillingham might to get drawn away to Arsenal to play their youth team in front of 2000 people?

Agree though that it should be useful for youth development but even that has been lost a little bit with clubs fully utilising, in most cases, the rule to have 3 outfield players and a keeper over 23. If they make it that the Cat 1 teams have to use only players under 21 in the academy (or perhaps 2/3 over 21 that have come through their academy) then it may work better.

As is it though, the competition is pretty much dead already and I can't see it continuing. If they want competitive football with older pros then bring back the reserve leagues. Regionalised leagues of 10 teams, 18 game season.

Have say 8 leagues (4 North/4 South) of 10 (some clubs won't be able to afford to run reserves) and you could even feed it to a national play-offs. Top 2 from each go to regional knock out and have a North v South final. Max 22 reserve games.

Could even have a rule that at least one home game must take place before a first team fixture. So say Reading Reserves V Southampton Reserves kicks off at noon and then Reading V Fulham follows at 3pm. Ticket gets you entry to both.

[tmesis]

I think it's a great idea that's been badly implemented.

No. It's a terrible idea that been really badly implemented.

But giving the best young players in the country the chance to play competitive football against seasoned pros in a cup competition that was alreay largely ignored and poorly supported is good.

No it's not. It's a cup for League One and League Two clubs. It's not a cup run for the benefit of youth teams of clubs from the top two divisions. Why should fans of Gillingham give a shit about giving Stoke's youth players experience?

It's an insult to the clubs and fans of teams in Leagues One and Two to either think they'd benefit, or to regard them as less important than Blackburn's youth team.

[Ian Royal]

Stranded, when we were slumming it and hadn't really played the big boys, I'd have been very happy for the chance to see those big grounds and the best youth in the country. I'd also have been happy to see something that might help our national side by better developing our brightest talent.

I think it could be useful for forging loans as well.

I don't think the reserve leagues ever really worked. There wasn't much quality or competitiveness in them. It'd be a big step backwards to return to them.

But this idea has certainly been done very badly.

[Sutekh]

Tuesday 10 January, 7pm - Yeovil Town v Reading U-21

[Forbury Lion]

Could even have a rule that at least one home game must take place before a first team fixture. So say Reading Reserves V Southampton Reserves kicks off at noon and then Reading V Fulham follows at 3pm. Ticket gets you entry to both.

Would we need two away ends then for Southampton fans and Fulham fans?

If it was Reading v Southampton Reserves and then Reading v Southampton that might work, or maybe work better if the reserve game is after the main game - that way subs who don't play in the main game may get a run out and maybe also some of the first team who did play but maybe need a bit more time on the pitch.