Thomas: Decision to end season but keep play-offs was not straightforward

Cobblers chairman Kelvin Thomas admits the decision to end the season but keep the play-offs was not as straightforward as it might seem due to the ‘financial commitment’ required from the club.

The 24 League Two clubs met with the EFL last Friday and were overwhelmingly in favour of cancelling all remaining fixtures, with the final standings to be determined by an unweighted points-per-game model.

However, if ratified by both the EFL board and the FA, promotion will still take place with the top three - Swindon, Crewe and Plymouth - heading for League One and the final spot to be decided by the usual end-of-season play-offs.

Cobblers will take on Cheltenham Town over two legs while Exeter City face Colchester United in the other semi-final if the indicative vote is made official, something which will depend on how League One plan to proceed with clubs in that division still said to be split over how to end the season.

Although voting to give themselves a shot at promotion might seem a no-brainer for the Cobblers, Thomas has explained that the financial costs involved, which include taking staff off furlough and paying for players to be regularly tested, meant otherwise.

“The reality is that the financial commitment to finish the season would have been huge but the financial commitment just to play the play-offs is also significant and that wasn’t an easy decision,” said the Town chairman.

“Normally you’d get excited and you’d be encouraged to be in the play-offs and you’d have that celebration and you’d look forward to ticket sales and commercial income but this is a very different proposition we’re facing.

“You’re not getting any of that income while at the same time you’ve got increased costs because of furlough and the protocol of testing players two or three times a week.

“Those things add up and they’re expensive, so from a club’s perspective, there’s definitely a cost to the play-offs, but we’ve taken the view that we want to give ourselves as much of a chance for promotion as possible.”

The play-off semi-finals are expected to take place over two legs home and away with the final at a neutral venue, though all games will be behind closed doors.

Thomas described himself as ‘relatively confident’ that the play-offs will ultimately go ahead but admitted everything hinges on the virus.

“It’s good news for us as a club and the biggest positive to come out of the meeting on Friday was the fact that we started to see a direction and a road to travel on for the rest of this season,” added Thomas.

“With the amount of numbers that agreed in the indicative vote, it was the right way to go. It might look quite a simple decision to people on the outside but when you look at what the EFL have to do - talking to the Premier League, the National League, Sky Sports and all the TV obligations - there are a lot of moving parts in the background.

“It’s not as simple as people might think and there are also the health and safety concerns and dealing with COVID from that perspective.

“The overriding principle has always been to play the remaining games if it’s safe to do. There wasn’t a single person who said anything different, but you also have to weigh up the financial commitments for that at a time when football clubs don’t have any income.

“That’s why it’s easier for a Premier League club to decide to play for the rest of the season. All of those things have to be weighed up.

“But for us and the players and the fans, we can start to now look forward to the play-offs and other clubs are looking ahead to next season so we now have to get on to the serious business of planning for the play-offs once this decision is ratified.”