Many of you have been asking whether the Club intends to take legal action against the EFL in respect of the vote to demote Tranmere from League 1 last week. We have been very clear that we regard the vote as unfair, unjust and an entirely unnecessary infliction of damage on our Club when we are already grappling with the impact of a global pandemic.
Emotions are running very high, but our first duty is to act in the best interests of the Club. The EFL changed the regulations to require arbitration proceedings directly challenging the vote to be commenced within 7 days of the vote, but the Club intends to take a more considered approach, as we have many other legal remedies with no such time constraints.
We have been taking detailed legal advice from experts in this specialist field of litigation and are closely following the legal actions in Belgium, France and Scotland (amongst other places) where similar decisions are being challenged and overturned on the basis of anti-competitive behaviour and unfair prejudice.
At this stage we are keeping an open mind as to what legal action may be appropriate and/or necessary, and the timing of that.
Our preferred option is of course to resolve the dispute in an amicable fashion working together with the EFL – and we invite the EFL to do so with the best interests of the footballing pyramid in mind – but to date the EFL has given no indication of any inclination to work with us to find a reasonable solution without resorting to formal legal proceedings. Accordingly, all options remain open, including a legal challenge if required.
Given the legal nature of the matter, the Club's ability to openly comment is necessarily limited, but it will do what it can to keep supporters and others updated.