Tranmere chairman Mark Palios believes deciding who would be relegated by determining the League One standings on a points per game basis is unacceptable.
Rovers sit in the bottom four, three points off safety albeit having played a game less than 20th-placed AFC Wimbledon, and Palios called for the season to be voided if there is no way to complete the remaining fixtures.
While League Two clubs last week voted in favour of curtailing their campaign, agreeing a PPG system and promotions but no relegation to the National League, there was no sense of unanimity one step up the pyramid.
However, the English Football League (EFL) is insisting that all three of their divisions must conclude with both promotion and relegation in order to protect the integrity of the competitions.
Palios, a former Football Association chief executive, said on Tranmere’s official website: “In a sporting competition, you set the rules at the start of a competition and everybody’s happy, understands the rules and the consequences of success and failure - you don’t change the rules of the league mid-season.
“If the decision is made that we will not play the season out then I think it’s quite clear that the season should be voided, rather than deciding on what is a mid-season change of rules and a fairly arbitrary decision as regards how we deal with promotion and relegation.
“In order to find an acceptable compromise, it has to be just that: a compromise that is fair.
“Our suggested solution follows on from what League Two voted in favour of last week and while that’s not a binding vote, it’s indicative of where their intentions were and that is promotions, without relegation.”
Palios added that PPG is “flawed as a mechanism” before writing on Twitter: “If you want to change the regs in mid season then do so but don’t penalise teams as a result so no relegations. Use PPG with a margin for error.”
Palios’ wife and Tranmere’s vice-chairman, Nicola, then wrote on the social networking site: “If PPG had been used to determine the outcome last season, at the same point in the season, 3 out of the 4 teams who would have been relegated were not in fact relegated. Those who argue it is the “fairest” way are factually wrong.”
Relegation for Tranmere via PPG would be even more frustrating for the Super White Army, given that before lockdown, the team had ended a barren spell by recording three back-to-back victories that put them within touching distance of AFC Wimbledon, with a game in hand.
Rovers have also demanded an explanation from the EFL after a social media post featuring Tranmere’s play-off promotion success last year on the league’s official Instagram account had user comments disabled, preventing supporters from airing their views on the possibility of a PPG relegation.
A statement on the club’s website said: “We understand that the EFL’s policy is that comments should be available on all EFL posts and should not be deleted unless in breach of rules.
“As far as we are aware, the Tranmere-related post was the only post affected by any issue with commenting.
“The EFL advised us, and have since confirmed their understanding, that no EFL employee disabled or re-enabled comments, or deleted comments.
“Given that this begs the question of how it did in fact happen, we are now awaiting a further response from the EFL upon completion of their own internal investigation.”
At the time of the Globe going to print, Tranmere updated their statement, saying: “We have still not had a substantive explanation from the EFL. We will continue to press for a response and will keep you informed.”
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