Football League - Agree to consider

Football League clubs have agreed to consider a radical proposal for penalty shoot-outs to decide drawn matches.

Huddersfield Town, were represented by secretary Ann Hough, who voted against the plan at a League board meeting yesterday.

But a working party will consider the idea, as well as other ways of making the competition more attractive.

The shoot-out proposal was put forward by League chairman Lord Brian Mawhinney.

He explained: 'I suggested that for drawn matches each team gets a point and then maybe the team that wins a penalty shoot-out gets an extra point.


'Managers may hate shoot-outs but fans love them. The chairmen decided to use this proposal to have a broader look at a range of ideas that might refresh our product.


'Some people were strongly against it, some people were in favour of it but on both sides people said 'let's be constructive and have a broad examination of what we have on offer'.'


The League's working party will now seek other ideas from clubs and fans but will be limited by the rules of the game - for example they would not be permitted to abandon the offside rule.


Mawhinney said it was important to constantly seek to improve entertainment.


He added: 'We cannot afford to be complacent - people are always talking about how we can get more goals and more excitement.


'I understand that it is not instinctively where clubs would go but if you don't change in a changing world then you can fall behind.'


Vital view - I dont know about you but anyone who refers to a football match or league competition as 'product' will never be getting my vote.

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