To an extent it already is - while in practice the Unions use their internal competitions to decide how they allocate their nominations, they are not under any obligation to do so. Nor indeed are they obliged to nominate them in any specific order. This is the reason the draw is not announced until all nominations are in (ie so that no union can tactically alter their nominations).Sean Hewitt wrote:
Union competitions can still run to determine regional champions, but the ECF County Championships would then be a stand alone event.
Sean's idea to eliminate the union stage altogether is an interesting one - as with everything else it boils down to it being proposed and passed at council.