Gillingham chairman Paul Scally has welcomed the debate sparked by the Football League’s proposals to add a fifth professional division in England.

The Football League is asking all its clubs to give feedback on proposals for a radical revamp which would see each league limited to 20 clubs, with the addition of the new fifth tier taking the total of professional clubs up to 100.

Many have criticised the proposed shake-up but Scally said the proposals could offer improvements for clubs and supporters.

“With anything that’s so drastically new, it’s a shock at first but to be honest, going forward, it’s worthy of consideration,” said Scally, whose League One club have in the past flirted with relegation to the National League.

“The more I think about it, it could be quite exciting.

“The prospect of having less games every season is quite attractive to me. We have a very, very heavy schedule as it is now – this season alone, we did over 300 miles on Tuesday nights four times.

“If this cuts down the amount of travelling our fans have to do in a season, they could have more money for matches home and away. That has to be good for football and has to be good for the clubs as well.”

Scally said the restructuring could cut down on the need for midweek away games and open the possibilities of a winter break for a week or ten days, but added that players would still have plenty of football to play each season.

“They’ll still be playing over 40 games a season, with cup games and other games,” he said.

“All these things really will help players to get through a season. We struggle now with injuries from players over-playing.

“If we can make it a sport that’s more desirable for supporters, with less games on Tuesday nights, more games on Saturdays, maybe less games over the Christmas period, then it has to be good for football.

“I’m not saying I’m in favour of it, I’m just saying that it’s worthy of consideration.”

Another key debate will focus on where the extra eight clubs would come from to join the professional ranks of 100 being proposed across the five leagues.

Possibilities include clubs joining the Football League from the National League, but the debate may also resurrect the idea of some Scottish clubs, such as Celtic and Rangers, joining the English leagues, plus the concept of Premier League clubs running ‘B’ teams.

The Football League thinks fixture congestion is hurting the game and said the proposals are designed to all but end midweek league fixtures.

It has launched at least a year of consultation with the aim of introducing changes for the 2019/20 season.