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Bristol Post
Bristol Post
Sport
Max Baker

Former Manchester United defender calls for Leeds United to be promoted and relegation cancelled

Former Man United defender Danny Higginbotham has called for Leeds United and West Brom to be promoted and for relegation in English football to be cancelled.

Despite all elite football in England suspended until April 30, the FA has expressed its desire to complete the current season after a meeting last week.

This could mean that clubs finish the season late, and throws up all sorts of complications with player contracts, but it's the course of action which the majority of clubs were keen to pursue.

In his column in the Sun, Higginbotham has given his verdict on the rest of the season and has said no clubs should be relegated.

He said: "If football cannot resume on April 30, which looks highly unlikely, we need to draw a line under this season.

"Lower league clubs — some of who have already had to lay off staff — rely so heavily on match- day revenues and everything has to be done to help them.

"We need to cancel relegation in every league, promoting those in automatic positions. Next season will be over-inflated but we can even it out over time.

"In the Prem, those bottom three teams will earn huge sums from another season in the top-flight and should therefore be made to give up a set percentage of it.

"We can then start to drip feed that money down."

West Brom are six points ahead of third placed Fulham in second, with Leeds one point ahead of Baggies and no team in the Championship has a game in hand.

If the season was cancelled, it would mean that Bristol City miss out on a chance of getting into the play offs.

It's team lower down the football pyramid that Higginbotham worries about most, and he claims that despite clubs in the Premier League missing out on TV money if the season is cancelled, they won't have their existence threatened like other clubs might.

He said: "Without a doubt, the biggest priority has to be making sure we don’t see smaller clubs throughout the football pyramid going bust, through no fault of their own.

"For me, the talk is far too weighted in terms of what is going to happen in the Premier League.

"But if we are not careful, a whole host of clubs up and down the country will no longer be with us when football is eventually back up and running.

"With this at stake, is it really worth arguing over trivial matters as to who should finish in the top-four?

"While top-flight clubs stand to lose TV revenues if the season is not completed, is their existence on the line? Further down the leagues, that is exactly where we’re at.

"More can and has to be done to save those threatened with closing their doors.

What we need is to get a plan in place so that EVERY football club can get through this."

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