Why are Wycombe & Peterborough leading anger at EFL’s proposals

The owner of Peterborough United has led the indignation over the EFL’s proposed ‘weighted’ points per game system which is set to decide League One and League Two’s final standings next week. 

The home and away based system is set to be utilised in the coming days, as the governing body prepares to abandon the 2019/20 seasons of the third and fourth tiers of English football, with Wycombe Wanderers the hardest hit by the change.

How does it work?

The term ‘weighted’ is a little misleading, as the system purely determines if any games in hand were home or away, and mathematically considers what a team has done in previous matches this season.

A team with game(s) in hand on the road with poor away form will be worse off than under a standard points per game system, whereas a team with good home form with a game in hand at home will be better off.

Each League One and League Two side is given their average points per game number at home, which is extrapolated out to the total number of home games in a season, and then the same for their away results, and then the numbers are combined for what is deemed a fairer result than a straight PPG, which would cover up any poor form, either home or away.

The system, taken from Rugby League, essentially means that teams with away game(s) in hand end up with a lower PPG total as teams traditionally pick up less points on the road, except for in a handful of cases.

There is one huge casualty, and that is Wycombe, who under normal PPG would finish in the top three ahead of Oxford, but due to their game in hand being away from home, their low PPG on the road sees them drop to sixth.

The other controversial move, Cheltenham leapfrogging Exeter into the promotion places, would happen anyway under a standard point per game system, with Cheltenham’s solid home PPG ensuring they still move up a spot.

The other real controversy is the EFL’s decision to maintain promotion and relegation with the League One and League Two seasons set to be abandoned early next week, as sides cannot afford to stage the remaining games without matchday revenue supplementing their income in a ‘behind closed doors’ scenario.

One of a glut of six sides separated by a point set to miss out on fighting for promotion in League One are high scoring Peterborough, with their owner, Darragh MacAnthony, Tweeting his contempt for the idea.

Happen/Get voted on according to the press laying down... not a chance. Prepare for a legal battle of epic proportions & that won't just be from our club, trust me on that.

— Darragh MacAnthony (@DMAC102) May 8, 2020

Playmaker crunched the numbers for all three leagues of the EFL, although the Championship is still purely hypothetical, with the league expected to continue behind closed doors, and the Premier League yet to make a decision on promotion and relegation.

Fans flooded our social media replies with their feelings, as most singled out Exeter as the worst off after a fine season, losing their promotion spot by mere decimals as they are leapfrogged by Cheltenham.

Exeter will be so unlucky again 👀 https://t.co/14CO414hsy

— James List (@jameslccfc) May 9, 2020

While many expressed their symapthy for the likes of Portsmouth and Wycombe, who look set to miss out on promotion by less than a point.

A point between 3rd and 7th in this model...not sure I’d be happy if I was Pompey, Posh etc https://t.co/HZeqCbhRry

— Adam Bridge (@abridge75) May 9, 2020

For a full list of all EFL standings converted to home and away points per game, see our Twitter feed, @playmaker_EN