“Chaos. Unnecessary pressure. Logistical challenges.”
That is how Norwich City sporting director Ben Knapper described trying to work on deals on transfer deadline day while matches were being played at the same time.
It was in fact a deadline day like no other in the English Football League (EFL) on Tuesday for that exact reason.
On what is already a frantic day for clubs, there were also 27 games taking place across the Championship, League One and League Two, which finished about an hour before the window closed at 23:00 BST.
Never before has a packed programme of EFL fixtures been scheduled on the same day as a modern deadline day – the most recent similar occasion was 22 years ago in August 2004 but even then, only five games were played.
“It’s chaos when you’re playing games that evening as well,” Knapper told BBC’s 72+ EFL podcast.
“It definitely adds another dimension and not just for people like me, but for players, for head coaches, for everyone really.”
While the Canaries lost 1-0 to Stoke City, Knapper was given a room to work out of by the Potters at the bet365 Stadium – a gesture he said he was grateful for.
But he believes EFL clubs are aligned on the position that the timing of Tuesday’s games were “far from ideal”.
“It adds unnecessary pressure and logistical challenges. I think if it was possible for that not to be the case, it would make everybody’s lives easier,” Knapper said.
“It might add to the drama in some ways maybe, but people in my kind of role, the less drama we can have, the better, that’s for sure.”
