West Brom promotion bid receives boost
Albion have received a boost after EFL chairman Rick Parry warned of “outrage” and serious legal challenges if the Premier League attempted to block promotion for Championship clubs.
Parry said the league still expect three clubs to be promoted, with three coming down from the top flight, whether or not the season is completed.
The EFL is facing a “critical” few days over a possible restart, with Parry telling the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport committee the campaign realistically needs to be completed by July 31.
Whether promotion or relegation would occur has been a topic of conversation since football was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic in March.
A number of Premier League clubs are thought to be lobbying for relegation to be removed should their season have to be completed at neutral venues.
Parry warned any effort to block clubs being promoted would get “very messy”.
He said: “I think you can expect the lawyers are going to get wealthy (if that did not happen). There would be a varying degree of outrage from a number of our clubs in the Championship.
“It would be a breach of the tripartite agreement between us, the Premier League and the FA. I suspect the FA would have a position on it as well.
“I think the safe answer is it would get very messy. Our expectation is there would be three clubs promoted from the Championship.”
Parry insisted the EFL still wants to complete the season for reasons of sporting integrity but will be guided by the government on whether or not that is possible.
Though the Premier League see playing at neutral grounds as their only option, the EFL’s preference remains on using the 71 club grounds.
Parry explained: “We are not sure there is an overwhelming argument, particularly as you go down our divisions, that the probability of fans congregating is a major one.
“We are not going to take any decisions which will impose strain on the emergency services. Any decisions we take can only be guided by government and the safety authorities.
“We need within days to be taking decisions. We need guidance on the criteria to return to play and we need that very quickly. We can’t delay decisions. Players have to be back in training pretty soon. Critical days are coming up for us.”
