The devil, as ever, came in the detail.

In particular, the small matter of no promotion and relegation of said two-tier structure. For 36 clubs, Christmas will come early.

For the rest, Christmas will never come again. They will be cast adrift in a footballing wasteland as the chosen three dozen bury their noses in the TV trough.

Ipswich haven't been slow to voice their support but Norwich have been far more guarded in their thoughts. On the record, they've given none.

Off it, however, and senior officials will concede that should Gartside's plan ever go to a vote they would face a huge moral dilemma.

A 'Yes' vote might save their own financial skin but it would only come at the expense of the rest of the football family. And that would cause the club's current owners all manner of moral headaches.

Whether such a crossroads for either club will ever be reached is, however, increasingly a moot point.

For the word on the street is that membership of Premier League Two would be worth up to £25 million per club per season.

For that sort of cushion to be installed, primarily for the benefit of any Premiership club currently looking over the abyss and eyeing a life in the Championship – Bolton Wanderers, for example – someone is going to have to give up some cash.

Someone out of the top, say, eight clubs are going to have to give up some of their Champions League millions to fund the millions needed to feather-bed Bolton's life in the Championship.

And that, you suspect, is where Gartside's glorious vision will come a-cropper.

Because as minted as the Chelseas, Manchester Uniteds and Liverpools are in terms of income, you don't have to dig too deep to discover that they are also in debt up to their eye-balls too...

Given that, are they about to ride to the rescue of the Boltons, Ipswichs, Sheffield Uniteds and Blackburns of this world? No. Nothing taxes a man more than trying to persuade a rich man to part with his money. Particularly if that money is already in hock to a credit-crunched bank.

So, if anyone thought that the cunning plan of the man from Bolton was set to be the answer to East Anglia's financial prayers, think again.
Chelsea are unlikely to play ball.

And without Mr Kenyon's nod, no-one is going to be any the richer. It'll be as you were – north and south of the border.

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