TALKS over a radical restructuring of English football have been halted with immediate effect after the Football Association made it clear they would not consider switching FA Cup ties to midweek dates.

The English Football League (EFL) announced a set of proposals in May, called the 'Whole Game Solution'.

Member clubs were asked to consider a raft of ideas, including changing the Championship, League One and League Two into four leagues of 20 teams.

It was immediately unpopular with supporter groups, including Oxford United's OxVox, while U's chairman Darryl Eales questioned whether the central justification for the plan held water.

At the time the EFL said the idea "stems from English football’s collective concerns about the fixture calendar and enjoys the 'in principle' support of executives from the Premier League and FA."

One of the other changes was to move some rounds of the FA Cup to midweek dates, freeing up extra Saturdays for league fixtures.

But the FA have now decided they are not in favour of the move, which means the consultation will now stop.

Shaun Harvey, EFL Chief Executive, said: “As a result of the FA’s decision, the Board has been left with no option but to end the Whole Game Solution discussions as, in its current form, it is no longer viable.

"If the weekend slots are not available, then there is simply no way we can meet the financial conditions (to be no worse off) as outlined at the very outset.

“The stance the FA has adopted has brought the discussions to a premature end, before fully understanding what the financial outcome from the creation of a new distribution model could be.

“If the FA are willing to change its position then we are, of course, open to re-engaging in what is a hugely important debate that was designed to help shape the future of football in this country.”