Play-offs Off… writes Andrew Walker

Following a meeting between the Football Association and the twenty Premier League chairmen, the vaunted Champions League 4th place play-off idea has been thrown to the scrap heap.

Richard Scudamore told the media today that the proposal did not receive sufficient support from top flight bosses and will not be examined further.

This development may surprise many, given that 14 clubs must support such proposals in order for them to be explored more seriously.

Outside of the traditional ‘Big Four’, one would expect almost universal support for a change that would dangle the gold-plated carrot of Champions League qualification in front of a team finishing as low as seventh in the league.

Is there any chance that some level of pragmatism is finally sinking into football authorities? Perhaps they fear the consequences of such a temptation.

The lure of more realistic Champions League qualification would surely lead many ambitious chairmen into spending beyond their clubs’ reasonable means. We could end up with six or seven Pompey’s on our hands.

If you look at the last three PL final tables, we might have had the salivating prospect of European giants Barcelona locking horns with the likes of Fulham, Blackburn and Bolton. On these grounds alone, it would seem a sensible decision.

Winning the Premier League is considered the most significant achievement because it measures results over 38 hard-fought matches. The same logic should apply to the 4th CL place.

The play-offs would add yet more exciting games to the schedule. However, with four teams currently vying for that one position, isn’t it exciting enough already?