The Gentlemen's Trophy: What Happens Next

​With the Premier League cancelled for two gameweeks due to Coronavirus sweeping the planet, the Gentlemen's Trophy has been left in a state of limbo. This is how the tournament will be structured once the Premier League resumes.

With everything going on in the world and the cancellation of Premier League games, the question that's on everyone's lips is, "What happens now in the Gentlemen's Trophy?" Myself and Jez Messing have been hard at work figuring it all out, and we have the answers for you now.

As long as the Premier League resumes, the competition will be played out. Now, I know some of you have been fretting. Jez has been on to me, he's all, "Lord Geord, the Official FPL have said that Gameweek 30 stands as it is. What a story, The Butcher has been eliminated by the ultimate giantkiller, Tits-Up Thompson! The Weekly Bullshitter will fly off the shelves with that story! Never mind the eliminations of King Ding and Deadly Daz! This is amazing!" I telt that little gobshite straight, no chance, Jez. The inaugural Gentlemen's Trophy isn't going down like that. So, this is what we're going to do.
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IF FPL RETURNS AS PLANNED, IN GAMEWEEK 32

The Second Leg of Round Two takes place in Gameweek 32.

The Quarter Finals take place over two legs, in Gameweeks 33 & 34.

The Semi Finals take place over two legs, in Gameweeks 35 & 36.

The Grand Final takes place as a one-off match, in Gameweek 37.

This is the same plan as before, just shifted along two weeks. For the purposes of the Gentlemen's Trophy, Gameweeks 30 & 31 are irrelevant. In the event the Grand Final is a draw, the match will be replayed in Gameweek 38. The original plan, if the replay was a draw, was it would go into a second replay, but that can no longer happen, so it will be determined via the tiebreakers. They were originally Goals Scored, Goals Conceded, Coin of Destiny, but we have added a new tiebreaker that will precede those three. So, the tiebreakers will be as follows:

First tiebreak: the Substitute's Shoot-Out.
Second tiebreak: Goals Scored.
Third tiebreak: Goals Conceded.
Fourth tiebreak: Coin of Destiny

The Substitute's Shoot-Out works as follows:

In a two-legged tie, only the substitutes in the second leg are counted. If one team has used a Bench Boost, they officially have fifteen starting players, so all their substitutes are classified as having scored zero points, irrespective of how many the players that occupy the substitute players score that gameweek.

Whoever scores the most between the first outfield substitute of each team scores one point.

Whoever scores the most between the second outfield substitute of each team scores one point.

Whoever scores the most between the third outfield substitute of each team scores one point.

If there is a winner, 2-1 or 3-0, after the outfield substitutes, that team wins. If, however, there is a tie in one or three of the outfield substitutes, leaving the score at 0-0 or 1-1, whoever's substitute goalkeeper scores the highest will be declared the winner. If the substitute goalkeepers score the same, then - and only then - we will turn to the Coin of Destiny to determine the winner of the match.

The Substitute's Shoot-Out applies for all Gentlemen's Trophy matches.

Please Note: The First Round match that was settled by a tiebreaker, in the Second Leg of Geord's Lords vs White Warriors, both teams had every substitute score zero points, so Geord's Lords still progress via Tiebreaker Two: Goals Scored. Even if first-leg substitutes were included - which they will not be - Geord's Lords would have advanced via their substitute goalkeeper outscoring the substitute goalkeeper of White Warriors. This is being clarified so nobody claims the rules are being invented to benefit Geord's Lords. 

IF THE PREMIER LEAGUE IS CANCELLED FOR FURTHER GAMEWEEKS

If the Premier League is cancelled until Gameweek 33:

The Second Leg of Round Two will take place in Gameweek 33.

The Quarter Finals will take place over two legs, in Gameweek 34 & 35.

The Semi Finals will take place over two legs, in Gameweeks 36 & 37.

The Grand Final will be a one-off match, in Gameweek 38, with no possible replay.

If the Premier League is cancelled until Gameweek 34:

The Second Leg of Round Two will take place in Gameweek 34.

The Quarter Finals will be one-off matches in Gameweek 35.

The Semi Finals will take place over two legs, in Gameweeks 36 & 37.

The Grand Final will be a one-off match in Gameweek 38, with no possible replay.

If the Premier League is cancelled until Gameweek 35:

As above, except the Second Leg of Round Two and the Quarter Finals will be shifted a week, and the Semi Finals will also be a one-off match in Gameweek 37.

The Second Leg of Round Two will take place in Gameweek 35.

The Quarter Finals will be one-off matches in Gameweek 36.

The Semi Finals will be one-off matches in Gameweek 37.

The Grand Final will be a one-off match in Gameweek 38.

If the Premier League is cancelled until Gameweek 36:

Gameweek 36 will be both the Second Leg of the Second Round, and the Quarter Finals. How it will work is this. Before the Gameweek begins, we will do the Live Draw for the Quarter Finals. At the end of the gameweek, first, we will work out from the gameweek score who advances into their respective Quarter Final, then, we work out from the Gameweek score who wins the Quarter Final.

As an example, say the draw for the Quarter Final is the winner of Match 1, Jockin' Jeeves vs Private Parvesh, against the winner of Match 4, King Ding vs Iceman Newton.

In Gameweek 36, Jockin' Jeeves scores 40 points, Private Parvesh scores 51 points, King Ding scores 48 points and Iceman Newton scores 32 points.

That would mean, for the Second Round, Jockin' Jeeves beats Private Parvesh 123-121, while King Ding beats Iceman Newton 103-91. The Quarter Final would be Jockin' Jeeves vs King Ding, which King Ding would win 48-40. So, despite Private Parvesh scoring the highest of the four teams, he is eliminated because his score, while enough to win the Quarter Final, was not enough to overhaul the Second Round, First Leg deficit.

The Semi Finals will be one-off matches in Gameweek 37.

The Grand Final will take place in Gameweek 38.
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If the Premier League is cancelled until Gameweek 37 or 38:

If the Premier League resumes in Gameweek 37 or Gameweek 38, a new contingency plan will be drawn up. In that situation, it would likely be the case that Gameweek 38 would involve six or more matches for each team. If so, when the fixtures are announced, we'll determine appropriate times to end each round. If Gameweek 37 is played, that will be the Second Leg of Round Two, then the Quarters, Semis and Final will all be played over Gameweek 38, but over separate sections of matches. So, for example, if every team ends Gameweek 37 having played 30 games, then in Gameweek 38, the Quarter Finals would end when every team gets to, say, 32 games, the Semi Finals would begin after that and end when every team gets to 35 games, and the Final would encompass games 36 to 38. As for the four teams who have an extra match to play, their extra games would fall into wherever they fall on the calendar.

If the entire rest of the season is played out over Gameweek 38, then the rest of the Gentlemen's Trophy will be played out over Gameweek 38, via the same principles as above.

If the rest of the season is cancelled:

Sadly, in these circumstances, the Gentlemen's Trophy will be forced to be cancelled.


This all might be a bit confusing, but I'll make sure everyone knows what's happening for certain whenever the Premier League resumes. It's all got a little bit complex, but it's nothing that can't be worked out once the football resumes. Rest assured, whatever uncertainty revolves around how the Premier League will end, there is a solid plan in place for the Gentlemen's Trophy, one that covers all eventualities. In the meantime, look after yourselves, gentlemen. Take care of yourselves and your families while the world adapts to the Coronavirus, and know that, when it gets back to normal, the Gentlemen's Trophy will be waiting.

All the best, lads.