Rotherham United wait for EFL promotion decision

ROTHERHAM United will soon discover  whether or not they will be a Championship club next season.

The Millers will join 70 other EFL clubs tomorrow in a virtual vote to decide how a curtailed should finish.

If clubs agree to accept the propolsals, a vote on whether to end the season is expected to quickly follow, with a 51 per cent majority required among the 23 League One clubs.

Proposals on the table include an unweighted points per game ratio which would see Rotherham automatically promoted alongside leaders Coventry City. The Millers were second in the table with nine ames left to play when the season was suspended in March due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Also up for judgement tomorrow is a proposal from relegation threatened Tranmere Rovers.

It takes the unweighted points per game but works in a "margin for error" formula calculated on EFL results over the last three seasons aimed at predicting a best and worst case scenario for each team. 

Only clubs who still occupy a promotion or relegation place after that formula has been factored in would go up or down.

It would see Tranmere, in third bottom spot, spared relegation, only Southend and Bolton relegated and Rotherham nudged into an expanded, eight-team play-offs competition for two promotion places alongside champions Coventry.

Whether the proposal can get the necessary support is still debatable, with some clubs accusing Rovers of self-interest. It would also mean solidarity payments having to be split between more clubs in a 25-team League One next term.

What is certain is that the appetite to complete the regular fixtures has diminished. Many League One clubs, including Rotherham, say the cost of playing on behind closed doors is too much.

Chairman Tony Stewart (above) has told the Advertiser that as many as 15 League One clubs could vote against playing on.