A European Super League: The future of football?

I'm all for the Top 6 plastics fecking off and joining a European Super league Would make the Premiership a much better and far more competitive league, with none of this same old/same old teams winning it and coming in the Top 6 constantly, season after season, year after year. Doubt if we'll never have another Leicester City coming along and p*ssing on their parade. Unfortunately!

This season anyone from Bournemouth on 33 points up to Wolves on 38 points would have a chance of winning it, if the boring top 6 teams were in a European Super League.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/av/football/47177690

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mr Soul '68

I'm all for the Top 6 plastics fecking off and joining a European Super league Would make the Premiership a much better and far more competitive league, with none of this same old/same old teams winning it and coming in the Top 6 constantly, season after season, year after year. Doubt if we'll never have another Leicester City coming along and p*ssing on their parade. Unfortunately!

This season anyone from Bournemouth on 33 points up to Wolves on 38 points would have a chance of winning it, if the boring top 6 teams were in a European Super League.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/av/football/47177690

---

The trouble with that though, it would relegate the what's left of the EPL and the Championship further down the pecking order in terms of media coverage and games broadcast. One of the things I enjoy most about us being the EPL is the attention we get. Every game on live, (with commentary) discussions at half time, and we're on the back page of the papers. When we're in the Championship it's almost like we don't exist sometimes.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by NYCBlue

The trouble with that though, it would relegate the what's left of the EPL and the Championship further down the pecking order in terms of media coverage and games broadcast. One of the things I enjoy most about us being the EPL is the attention we get. Every game on live, (with commentary) discussions at half time, and we're on the back page of the papers. When we're in the Championship it's almost like we don't exist sometimes.

---

Fine with me. I've no interest really in watching it on the telly anyway. I watch far fewer games now than I used to, but 90% of them are live and I don't really give a monkeys what alan shearer or anyone else thinks about the way we play.

I agree with the OP. Let these big clubs bugger off and leave the rest of us with something of a level playing field.

It could go a number if ways. The league that’s left could lose a lot of TV money if Sky decided to back the european league. This could work out a good thing as it could be like the Championship, i.e. more competitive.

However, if Sky or another broadcaster kept pumping the money in, we would probably just end up with a different Big 6 in a few years.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Optimistic Nick

Fine with me. I've no interest really in watching it on the telly anyway. I watch far fewer games now than I used to, but 90% of them are live and I don't really give a monkeys what alan shearer or anyone else thinks about the way we play.

I agree with the OP. Let these big clubs bugger off and leave the rest of us with something of a level playing field.

---

It's going to happen anyway. The new PL chief exec met with the big 6 and then pulled out of the job. They're going to make it very difficult for anyone to come in and not be their puppet. If they get a lions share of the TV money, as they want, we may as well pack up and go home.

There's also no way anyone would pump money into our league if the top 6 left. However, I would be interested to see what happens in 5/6 years after they've left. I honestly don't think people would be that bothered in the UK and viewing figures would drop. CL viewing figures are tiny compared to PL games.

What's of interest is the fear that was suggested in some quarters that attendances would plummet with the smaller when the Premiership started showing live football ,it has in fact not been the case it simply advertised the product to an extent we see attendances rise and the Championship become one of the most competitive in the world .
If the top 6 left I do wonder it would level out the field , perhaps an opportunity to play against these teams I a cup format may work .

My gut feeling is it wont happen we may see an increased Champions League , or one merged with the Eurooa Cup would make more sense,almost creating a mini European league?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Pedro de la Rosa

It's going to happen anyway. The new PL chief exec met with the big 6 and then pulled out of the job. They're going to make it very difficult for anyone to come in and not be their puppet. If they get a lions share of the TV money, as they want, we may as well pack up and go home.

There's also no way anyone would pump money into our league if the top 6 left. However, I would be interested to see what happens in 5/6 years after they've left. I honestly don't think people would be that bothered in the UK and viewing figures would drop. CL viewing figures are tiny compared to PL games.

---

I hope it happens and I hope the remaining uk league is not bloated with sky money. I also hope that the clubs that leave are not allowed to keep.m a foot in domestic competition ie not allowed a feeder club in the English league, with no route to reentry if the experiment fails. Maybe allow them to stay in the fa cup though.

We would be left with, I think, a competitive league where skill and management play a bigger factor than money in deciding who wins stuff. I also suspect we would have a lot more domestic players playing which would benefit the home nations at international level.

I'm all for it :thumbup:

Fans of the top English clubs would not want to lose the tradition of domestic competition but the ownership model of English football means their views would count for nothing.

Man City is nowadays essentially nothing more than an Abu Dhabi soft power operation and so would sign up to anything that increases their reach. The owners of the other top clubs would all follow the money rather than risk getting left behind.

So change is coming though perhaps more likely through evolution of the Champions League initially but with the threat of a Super League if this doesn’t happen.

If there was a European super league with no promotion or relegation it could give all national leagues a 'minor', secondary status. Imagine the Championship with no promotion. Finishing 2nd to 6th would be meaningless (I'm not sure there'd be European qualification - maybe to the Europa League but there's not a great deal of interest in that).

It'll probably still happen though, and if it does maybe the Football League should look at ways of maintaining interest. So here's my plan:

We lose 6 teams to the ESL leaving 86 in four divisions. We add a further 10 from non-league and create 8 divisions of 12. They play home and away once and the season is wrapped up by Christmas. Then starts again after a short break. Basically an autumn season and a spring season. There are two promotion and relegation battles over the course of the year. More excitement, fewer meaningless games and it keeps up the interest while the 'elite' count their filthy loot.

It might diminish winning the title but the ESL has already done that anyway.

I had this idea a few years back when one of our Championship seasons was interminable and destined for mid table, so it might just be a personal issue with patience.

The whole point of wanting and getting promotion to the Premier League in the first place is so that your team can play against the big teams like Liverpool, Man Utd etc. Take that away and the whole thing becones meaningless and pointless. If the best reward for getting into the top league was to play against teams like Wolves and Bournemouth then I would pack it in tomorrow. Playing against the big 6 gives you something to aspire to, to try to get to their level, like Leicester did a few years ago. Teams like Man Utd, Man City, Chelsea etc havent always been 'big' either. They all started at lower levels and been relegated in between as well. Why cant clubs like us get to their level. Even if it takes 20 years, it would be worth it.

I'd rather go the other way and have some attempt of keeping the biggest clubs in touch with their domestic leagues: think the NFL where they seek parity with a talent draft but perhaps a financial link between wealthiest team in the league and poorest so more is done for money to trickle down the system. The idea that Man City, Chelsea etc. have 70+ professionals on their books with 50 odd players out on loan turns me off football and increasing that divide with a super league, why would anyone want to bother? The ordinary punter would never be able to afford a matchday ticket anyway.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by surge

I'd rather go the other way and have some attempt of keeping the biggest clubs in touch with their domestic leagues: think the NFL where they seek parity with a talent draft but perhaps a financial link between wealthiest team in the league and poorest so more is done for money to trickle down the system. The idea that Man City, Chelsea etc. have 70+ professionals on their books with 50 odd players out on loan turns me off football and increasing that divide with a super league, why would anyone want to bother? The ordinary punter would never be able to afford a matchday ticket anyway.

---

Why not truly follow the US system and have the feeder clubs included in the main clubs structure?
In baseball and basketball they move players up and down their system.
The downside is that some famous old names would lose their independence but it may be that or go out of business. I have always maintained that the current structure cannot really support 92 full time clubs and maybe it is time foe a revamp. Obviously, it would be unpopular with many but the game has moved on hugely and the only thing that has remained static is the club structure. Time to re evaluate, maybe.

this has been discussed on here many times over the years and yes I agree some form of European league is just a natural progression of modern football . I remember when the prem league started there were many doubters about the future of the game back then . the game deffo needs restructuring and not before time

Can't see the top 6 clubs fans licking their lips for a European Super league ........ how many of their true supporters would be able to afford away games every couple of weeks all over Europe !!!!!!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Majorblue

Why not truly follow the US system and have the feeder clubs included in the main clubs structure?
In baseball and basketball they move players up and down their system.
The downside is that some famous old names would lose their independence but it may be that or go out of business. I have always maintained that the current structure cannot really support 92 full time clubs and maybe it is time foe a revamp. Obviously, it would be unpopular with many but the game has moved on hugely and the only thing that has remained static is the club structure. Time to re evaluate, maybe.

---

So basically a European super league but we're connected to a team? Who would Cardiff get linked to? I have no interest in supporting a Real Madrid just because these major owners aren't interested in local football thriving and football "fans" would rather access success by supporting a club hundreds of miles away. I can't see why anyone would want to bring that element of US sports in.

I can only see it running alongside a national league. Who are the big clubs Man City and Chelsea are only there because have had richest owners in the world. Any club can be a big one if you throw billions into them.

I think it running as a midweek league could work instead of champions league.
The league will lose lot of appeal with the big clubs gone and I think that will run down the leagues.

4 from England
3 from Italy
3 from Spain
2 Germany
1 France
2 then made up from a pre tournament Holland Russia Portugal etc

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by dml1954

The whole point of wanting and getting promotion to the Premier League in the first place is so that your team can play against the big teams like Liverpool, Man Utd etc. Take that away and the whole thing becones meaningless and pointless. If the best reward for getting into the top league was to play against teams like Wolves and Bournemouth then I would pack it in tomorrow. Playing against the big 6 gives you something to aspire to, to try to get to their level, like Leicester did a few years ago. Teams like Man Utd, Man City, Chelsea etc havent always been 'big' either. They all started at lower levels and been relegated in between as well. Why cant clubs like us get to their level. Even if it takes 20 years, it would be worth it.

---

Sounds a bit negative. And defeatist. Get behind the boys. I'll never stop supporting Cardiff.

His point is valid. At its simplest this thread is about creating nothing more than The Championship. We can have that if we’re relegated but I’m happy having something to aim at. Man City were a home of a club less than 20 years ago. If the cash was there why couldn’t we do something similar. Difficult to argue against

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by NYCBlue

The trouble with that though, it would relegate the what's left of the EPL and the Championship further down the pecking order in terms of media coverage and games broadcast. One of the things I enjoy most about us being the EPL is the attention we get. Every game on live, (with commentary) discussions at half time, and we're on the back page of the papers. When we're in the Championship it's almost like we don't exist sometimes.

---

The joys of being an emmigrant.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Optimistic Nick

I hope it happens and I hope the remaining uk league is not bloated with sky money. I also hope that the clubs that leave are not allowed to keep.m a foot in domestic competition ie not allowed a feeder club in the English league, with no route to reentry if the experiment fails. Maybe allow them to stay in the fa cup though.

We would be left with, I think, a competitive league where skill and management play a bigger factor than money in deciding who wins stuff. I also suspect we would have a lot more domestic players playing which would benefit the home nations at international level.

---

There isn't a UK league.

They won't be able to stay in the FA Cup under UEFA rules as they won't be taking part in the domestic league. This is the reason why City can't play in the Welsh Cup anymore.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by SABlue

Can't see the top 6 clubs fans licking their lips for a European Super league ........ how many of their true supporters would be able to afford away games every couple of weeks all over Europe !!!!!!

---

It's not about them. It's about the ones who watch it on TV.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by dml1954

The whole point of wanting and getting promotion to the Premier League in the first place is so that your team can play against the big teams like Liverpool, Man Utd etc. Take that away and the whole thing becones meaningless and pointless. If the best reward for getting into the top league was to play against teams like Wolves and Bournemouth then I would pack it in tomorrow. Playing against the big 6 gives you something to aspire to, to try to get to their level, like Leicester did a few years ago. Teams like Man Utd, Man City, Chelsea etc havent always been 'big' either. They all started at lower levels and been relegated in between as well. Why cant clubs like us get to their level. Even if it takes 20 years, it would be worth it.

---

I must admit, for me, it was never about playing against the best 6 clubs - let's face it, some of us remember when Man Utd, Spurs and Chelsea were in Div 2, and it's only 20 years ago that Man City were in the 3rd tier of football. Top sixes change, albeit a bit more slowly these days.

For me, it's about seeing my team succeed. You can only sicceed against the teams that you are facing, if that means no Man C, Man U, Chelsea, Spurs, Arsenal or Liverpool, then so be it. Wouldn't bother me one bit. But then, I've seen us play more dungeon games than top level football.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by dml1954

The whole point of wanting and getting promotion to the Premier League in the first place is so that your team can play against the big teams like Liverpool, Man Utd etc. Take that away and the whole thing becones meaningless and pointless. If the best reward for getting into the top league was to play against teams like Wolves and Bournemouth then I would pack it in tomorrow. Playing against the big 6 gives you something to aspire to, to try to get to their level, like Leicester did a few years ago. Teams like Man Utd, Man City, Chelsea etc havent always been 'big' either. They all started at lower levels and been relegated in between as well. Why cant clubs like us get to their level. Even if it takes 20 years, it would be worth it.

---

I think one of the reasons why we couldn't do what Man City and Chelsea have done is the rules have changed. We'd need a very creative accountant to live within FPP guidelines (even if we attracted someone who wanted to put half a billion into the club to make us one of 'the elite'). Those guidelines were to safeguard clubs but have acted as a way of pulling up the ladder. But the ladder has been in the process of being pulled up since the PL and CL came into being anyway - the ESL would just be the culmination of that.

Greece's top division is a Super League. There's a women's football Super League too. Super Leagues are old hat. Hysterical hype would require a new competition to be dubbed at a minimum the European Super Duper League. I'd plump for the European Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious League. Curmudgeonly Ivors, Dilwyns, and many others from the egg-loving community, along with a substantial number of Brighton fans, would likely prefer a new competition to be known as the European Poofball League.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by dml1954

The whole point of wanting and getting promotion to the Premier League in the first place is so that your team can play against the big teams like Liverpool, Man Utd etc. Take that away and the whole thing becones meaningless and pointless. If the best reward for getting into the top league was to play against teams like Wolves and Bournemouth then I would pack it in tomorrow. Playing against the big 6 gives you something to aspire to, to try to get to their level, like Leicester did a few years ago. Teams like Man Utd, Man City, Chelsea etc havent always been 'big' either. They all started at lower levels and been relegated in between as well. Why cant clubs like us get to their level. Even if it takes 20 years, it would be worth it.

---

:yikes: exactly as I feel about it

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mr Soul '68

I'm all for the Top 6 plastics fecking off and joining a European Super league Would make the Premiership a much better and far more competitive league, with none of this same old/same old teams winning it and coming in the Top 6 constantly, season after season, year after year.

---

Top 6 plastics? You reckon clubs like Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester United are 'plastic'?

So far this season, Cardiff City have beaten a grand total of six teams - Fulham, Brighton, Wolves, Leicester, Bournemouth and Southampton (twice). Each of those victories has been greeted with great celebrations by City supporters and there's a very good reason for that.

Anyone who has supported Cardiff for any length of time will have previously seen their team beat the six clubs listed above, and beat some of them on plenty of previous occasions in the lower divisions. But this season's victories are viewed very differently by most fans as they have provided points in the battle to remain in the top flight of English football - the Premier League. And the Premier League holds the fascination that it does because it contains the likes of Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal.

Remove those huge clubs and the attraction of the Premier League would diminish rapidly. Does anyone seriously believe that Cardiff City would be attracting averaging attendances of approximately 31,000 in a division where the most glamorous opposition was the likes of Everton, West Ham and Newcastle?

If you took the top six out of the Premier League, it would be no more interesting than the Championship to most football fans. Indeed, I firmly believe both the Premier League and the Championship would prove far less attractive to almost everyone if competing against the big guns was no longer the target.

I would love to see our top 4/6 go into a Euro Super League only for no broadcasters to pay to show it in the UK. The plastics would explode. I know I’m just dreaming, but that would be great.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by SABlue

Can't see the top 6 clubs fans licking their lips for a European Super league ........ how many of their true supporters would be able to afford away games every couple of weeks all over Europe !!!!!!

---

No away fans :angry: its coming i tell you

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Harry Monk

I must admit, for me, it was never about playing against the best 6 clubs - let's face it, some of us remember when Man Utd, Spurs and Chelsea were in Div 2, and it's only 20 years ago that Man City were in the 3rd tier of football. Top sixes change, albeit a bit more slowly these days.

For me, it's about seeing my team succeed. You can only sicceed against the teams that you are facing, if that means no Man C, Man U, Chelsea, Spurs, Arsenal or Liverpool, then so be it. Wouldn't bother me one bit. But then, I've seen us play more dungeon games than top level football.

---

Exactly this. Barcelona are a great team but it doesn't bother me that we won't get to play them. The gap between the elite and the rest is so cavernous now that the only way to cross it is to spend the sort of money that has distorted the competition in the first place, and I don't want that. So let them disappear into a European super league designed for the armchair supporter and leave the rest of us to enjoy a proper competition back here.

If it did happen, then every country that has more than one team in the ESL will be affected in the same way as the PL.

At the moment the top 6 are used to winning most of the time and being the top 6 (in PL). In the ESL, some of those 6 or certainly some of the ESL, will become the cannon fodder for the top 4 or 6 of the ESL.

Fans of those teams will go from regularly winning to regularly losing. How will they cope?
What impact will that have on their sponsors and the potential to buy significant players?
What impact will it have wage structures and transfer fees just for the ESL teams?
What other impacts does it have on the remnants of the domestic leagues?

The European super League concept doesn't work because nobody will be interested when the team in fifteenth play at home to the team in sixteenth if the two clubs are 1000+ miles apart

If the ground is half full for Arsenal v Atletico Madrid but there are still millions of people watching and paying their subscriptions globally, no-one running the ESL will be that bothered.