Papa Johns

why are we the only team in the whole of the pizza competition to have played two games? Yet Bradfords first game in this cup will be against us in our last game???

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Quoted from JMT

why are we the only team in the whole of the pizza competition to have played two games? Yet Bradfords first game in this cup will be against us in our last game???

We are desperate to get knocked out as quick as possible .

To accommodate Man City U23's packed European schedule (and to avoid a repeat of the nonsense last season where we had to postpone a league game in order to play them in the trophy because they were too busy to play any other dates).

Because its a fking joke and we should abstain.....not that anyone would notice given our absolutely woeful record in it  since its reinvention.

Quoted from JMT

why are we the only team in the whole of the pizza competition to have played two games? Yet Bradfords first game in this cup will be against us in our last game???

Its got sod all to do with pizzas now.

Get us out of this joke comp as soon as possible.

2 glorified friendlies early on in the season for our 2nd string players isn't a bad thing.

Sh1t pizzas

Sh1t competition

I'm impressed that the players have obviously picked up on our disdain for the competition and are looking to be eliminated as quickly as possible.

There’s no sponsor so probably no prize money for competing so we should be refusing to play it . The whole competition is a farce since the EFL bent over for the PL teams .

Quoted from louth_in_the_south

There’s no sponsor so probably no prize money for competing so we should be refusing to play it . The whole competition is a farce since the EFL bent over for the PL teams .

Remember when Fenty voted in favour of it and then criticised the response from fans…then Day let slip that they knew it was a excrement idea as did the EFL so insurance was offered to the clubs to negate the losses made from non attendance…

Quoted from louth_in_the_south

There’s no sponsor so probably no prize money for competing so we should be refusing to play it . The whole competition is a farce since the EFL bent over for the PL teams .

In the absence of a sponsor, I do wonder how long the EFL can keep propping this competition up. Prize money is:

£20k for everyone across the board - £960,000 (presuming the 16 invited clubs don't get this)
£10k for every group win - £480,000 (48 games across group stages)
£20k for first knockout round win - £320,000
£40k for second knockout round win - £320,000
£50k for quarter final win - £200,000
£50k for semi-final win - £100,000
£100k for final win - £100,000

Just shy of £2.5million in prize money alone.  There's no way the TV revenue from Sky picking up two semi-finals and the final is covering that alone.  

The competition doesn't really need sponsorship, the Premier league financially backs it..under its old format the competition was dying, no sponsorship no league funding and very little crowds(especially in the early rounds)..think the whole thing should be scrapped..personally I wouldn't object to a proper reserve league that included under 21 teams from the prem..we used to have that pretty much back in the day anyway.

I thought backing was a three-way thing between EFL (via sponsorship), Premier League and the FA?  Somehow the sponsorship from Papa Johns was worth £1million a season (great negotiating from the EFL Team, less so from the Papa Johns team).  That's a big gap in the finances.

Completely agree on the reserve league.  Pontins League was a great competition.  Genuinely competitive with a good mixture of young talent and fringe players/those returning from injury.  For me that was the natural bridge between youth and first team football that hasn't been replicated since it's demise.

Hurst answered a question about it at the last fans forum, his response was along the lines that the format is dead in the water.  No-one took it seriously and it just became an extended fixture list for youth sides. As soon as one side decides to field mainly kids in it, the value of the games decrease for everyone else so they all follow suit.

Quoted from diehardmariner

In the absence of a sponsor, I do wonder how long the EFL can keep propping this competition up.

Just shy of £2.5million in prize money alone.  There's no way the TV revenue from Sky picking up two semi-finals and the final is covering that alone.  

Well, they have £10M in reserves and made over £1M last year, so they could fund it for at least 5 years.

Quoted from louth_in_the_south

There’s no sponsor so probably no prize money for competing so we should be refusing to play it . The whole competition is a farce since the EFL bent over for the PL teams .

And some would say that they got backhanders of cash holidays and free tickets but I don’t reckon that would ever happen in football

Quoted from SteffiMariner

Well, they have £10M in reserves and made over £1M last year, so they could fund it for at least 5 years.

Fair point, that £1mill profit is likely to be jaff all this year though if they're picking up the shortfall of no sponsor.  

Be interesting to see if the FA and Premier League are happy to pick up the bill for the lack of a sponsor, or the FL just eat into their reserve for it.  Or, a more likely scenario I suspect, the prize money is significantly reduced in the near future.  There seems to be a bit more seriousness taken for this competition by a fair few sides, which is understandable with the prize money at stake.  Can't see that continuing if the financial value is removed though.

Quoted from diehardmariner

Fair point, that £1mill profit is likely to be jaff all this year though if they're picking up the shortfall of no sponsor.  

Be interesting to see if the FA and Premier League are happy to pick up the bill for the lack of a sponsor, or the FL just eat into their reserve for it.  Or, a more likely scenario I suspect, the prize money is significantly reduced in the near future.  There seems to be a bit more seriousness taken for this competition by a fair few sides, which is understandable with the prize money at stake.  Can't see that continuing if the financial value is removed though.

Was gutted when I saw a group of Town fans waiting for a bus yesterday afternoon.....also there were over a couple of thousand at the game which seems higher than the previous norms for this stage. I hope the public aren't losing sight of the long term implications

Yeah, without looking at the numbers it definitely seems that there's more attendance at these games.  Although I'm still not sure the numbers are there (for the majority) for it to be financially viable alone.