Luton Town, Leeds United….are the penalties too harsh?

Coventry fans have definitely got a long season ahead of them. Having entered administration, endured relegation in to League one, and now be faced with a 10-point penalty for the campaign, it will be very tough for the Sky Blues to avoid consecutive relegations, and drop down in to the 4th tier of English football. All this because Coventry had financial difficulties within their club, and could no longer sustain their wage budgets and other expenses. The real blow for the club was struck when arguing over the rent of the clubs stadium.

Having received these points, Coventry are sitting at the foot of the table, on -7 points after 2 games. A loss on the opening day of the season would have done no wonders to the fans, however a scintillating 5-4 victory over Bristol City last Sunday has at least started their journey to reaching positive figures.

Now, the question remains on quite how useful the point penalty on football teams are. Does it really serve any purpose other than twisting the knife on a team already at its lowest point? Granted, it should impose some sort of penalty on clubs who do not stay within their means, however are all cases treated equally, and perhaps should the FA consider how they hand out the punishments.

Plenty of teams since the turn of the Millennium have succumbed to the same fate as Coventry just have, and most of them are still struggling to return to where they once were. Leeds were the first to stumble with this, and were forced to sell some of their best players, whilst simultaneously slipping from Premier Division football down the leagues. They were initially handed a 10-point deduction in May 2007, followed swiftly by a further 15 points at the start of the next season. This meant that a club once known as being one of the best in Europe were now in League One. Luton Town similarly were dealt a bitter blow by the FA, and it is one which still resonates around the club. They were handed a 10-point deduction in the 2007-2008 campaign, whilst in League 1, which secured their fate in dropping down to the fourth tier of English football, before being handed a monstrous 30-point deduction at the start of the 2008-2009 season. A penalty of this magnitude is near enough relegating a team before the season even starts, and on the face of it seems extremely harsh by the FA. Moreover Portsmouth, who won the FA Cup merely in 2008 are now dwindling down in League 2.

It is certainly one thing to punish a club, but to force relegation without even leaving the club with a fighting chance? That surely cannot be justified. Luton are still down in the Conference, spending their 5th season in the league, and whilst they may have now achieved a slightly more secure financial state, they were left to rot by the FA.

Several teams have suffered the pain of points deductions, and as such relegations, but perhaps these punishments could be given on a fairer basis for all clubs involved. Rather than dishing out point penalties for example, a ban on promotion could be imposed for a certain number of seasons. This way, the club has the ability to start rebuilding, whilst maintaining enough of a lure to keep some of the important players within the squad. If the team who has the ban on them finished 2nd in the league, then the team in 3rd would take the automatic spot. Of course it would be possible to be relegated, but it would ensure that these clubs have a fighting chance to stay in the league and rebuild. In most cases it is former chairman who have brought the wrath on the club, and they are no longer there to take the medicine. It is the fans who suffer the most, as well as the board members who in most cases are new, and therefore knocking them down straight away is not the ideal situation.

Of course, there are several teams who play in the lower leagues who stay within their means financially who have never entered financial difficulties who may find this article slightly bemusing. If a club messes up, they should get punished for it, which is completely understandable. I just feel that the FA should punish them, but not grind the club in to the ground at the same time. A different approach should certainly be tried by the FA, or at least considered just to see quite how different the implications are on the teams involved.

The idea of banning promotion seems like an ideal solution. It leaves all teams happy, as it will not prevent the financially sound squads from getting promoted, whilst similarly it does leave economically stricken teams with a fighting chance of survival, and ultimately that is what the FA should want in their leagues.