EFL transfer deadline day: A day of 'chaos' like no other

"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."

Colchester United manager Danny Cowley was more scathing about what he called a "crazy" situation with all 24 League Two clubs in action.

"I don't understand how these decisions get made," Cowley told BBC Radio Essex .

"Do they not have calendars? Why don't they just look at the calendar and just try to work it out accordingly?

"It blows my brains, football sometimes - just the lack of planning, the lack of care for people, particularly with a League Two club."

Cowley highlighted how the impact was felt even more keenly by clubs in the lower leagues who have a smaller group of staff working on transfers.

"We have to pretty much, as coaches and managers, do it all ourselves. The fact they put a full schedule of fixtures on is just not joined up in their thinking," he added.

"I don't know why they don't communicate with us to ask us what our preferences are. We easily could have played last week, could have played the week after.

"For whatever reason they decided to put it on this day. So we just have to do our best to be in two places at once."

Portsmouth manager John Mousinho simply said: "It is slightly strange."

Why were EFL games scheduled on transfer deadline day?

BBC Sport understands there are several issues which have reduced the number of available fixture dates and limited the flexibility of the EFL season.

Among those are an already congested football calendar with the expansion of international competitions, changes to the international match calendar and the continued growth of Uefa club competitions.

This has restricted when midweek fixtures can be scheduled, while the EFL also has to factor in dates for potential rearranged matches because of postponements.

Transfer window dates are decided in conjunction with the Football Association and Premier League, while consideration is also given to the dates adopted by leagues on the continent to allow European clubs to operate to the same deadline.

EFL clubs are consulted in relation to the wider scheduling process but the transfer window dates were not confirmed when those discussions took place.

Should the transfer window close before the season starts?

Another issue causing problems for clubs, according to Knapper, is the transfer window staying open several weeks into the competitive season.

When asked if he would prefer it to close before the campaign starts, Knapper said: "I'd be in that camp to be fair. I think it'd be miles better.

"To be honest, I feel for coaches most in that scenario. You've worked all pre-season to prepare a squad and the season starts, you're full of optimism.

"Then there's players that are unsettled. There's noise. There's all sorts of stuff going on around them and it's crazy trying to operate in that kind of context."

Despite the upheaval the transfer window causes, Knapper says finding a perfect solution is "complex".

"I think it starts to get tough if the EFL is out of sync with the Premier League, particularly for us Championship clubs because that is a market that we'll sell to, we'll deal with, we'll take loans from," he said.

"If we could do it, we'd need to bring the Premier League with us. Without that, I think it'd be tough."

And there is also the added problem of other leagues who operate on different calendars for the transfer window, said Knapper, who was still working on a deal to send Amankwah Forson on loan to Israeli side Hapoel Be'er Sheva until Thursday.

"It's complicated and it could do with definitely being cleaned up in some way, even though I know that that's a pretty tricky thing to try and tackle," he added.