Last May the FA published a report on how to improve youth football in England, with the central idea being the creation of a new league within the pyramid for Premier League B teams to compete in. The Football League really weren't having that but fresh proposals which would see these newly-created sides go up against teams from League One and League Two in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy have gone down a whole lot better.
47 of the 48 sides from the third and fourth tiers of English football have voted in favour of the plan, with only AFC Wimbledon voting against, and the new format could be rolled out as soon as next season.
But...
Walsall will play Bristol City in this year's final at Wembley on March 22nd, having each played six games to get there. With extra teams involved that run would probably stretch to seven, but they can't all reach the final. Is it really worth creating these teams, and disrupting the current format of the competition for the sake of four or five games (on average) against lower league opposition?