EL2 plans postponed

[sbgawa]

The ECA meeting yesterday in Geneva looks to have postponed the introduction of EL2 for the moment as the big leagues have come out against it.
Looks like the big will continue to get bigger and the small will etc etc.
Bad news for the small leagues like our own , regular or at least more regular access to group stage money is pushed further away

[Nesta99]

Dont see why the bigger leagues would be threatened by it unless they were going to lose places in to CL/EL1. Do they think that the money directed at a 3rd tier competition will mean less increase to other cash pots? Should be straight forward (in an ideal and less greedy world). It could be a careful what you wish for thing if they introduce it and lower ranked leagues go directly in to it rather than parachute when knocked out of the main comps!!

[seand]

It's hard to know if it's good or bad news for the league. The prize money was never confirmed. If the prize money was similar to the current EL then it'd be grand for us. But I suspect the plan is/was to squeeze the prize money there. The EL2 plan as it was definitely increased our chances of group stage qualification (specially for the league champions), but you'd be looking at an even less glamorous set of potential opponents than the current EL

[sbgawa]

The original plan had the 6th and also 5th (not 100% on he 5th)best teams from the big leagues playing in EL2 hence they were not happy with that but it would mean big teams in both comps.
This year it would be Man U and Arsenal and Espanyal and Getafe. They also did'nt like the 8 more match days although i don't know why that would matter although i suppose it interferes with domestic cup and league scheduling.
Given the size of those teams i think the prize money would have had to be decent but i suppose we don't know for sure.

[NeverFeltBetter]

The "big teams" like your Man Utd's and Arsenal's probably wouldn't consider an EL2 worth bothering with, just more games when they want to focus on qualification for the CPL.

[sbgawa]

You are right but a home draw against man Utd in the Aviva fleecing 47000 barstoolers at 60 Euro a pop sounds good.
Free entry for the loi club involved season ticket holders .....stuff to dream of

[seand]

The plan for EL2 had the 7th teams from the big countries. So Wolves, not ManU/Arsenal. The fifth and sixth teams were to go to EL1.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_Europa_League_2

[sbgawa]

Thanks for the link.
Doesn't it say the 6th place finish from association 1-4 ?

[pineapple stu]

I think that's assuming the Cup spot isn't passed down though?

Wolves took that spot because Man City won the Cup, which is ranked higher than the league (I think)

[seand]

Yeh the sixth league place in England/Spain/Germany/Italy is actually the seventh ranked place, with the FA Cup winners the top ranked of the non-CL qualifiers. Wigan in 2013 were the last team to actually use the FA Cup winners' place.

In fact in theory the seventh slot for England goes to the League Cup winners. The last team to use the League Cup route were Swansea in 2013. That season Spurs in fifth were the only English team to qualify for the EL via the league

[sidewayspasser]

The ECA meeting yesterday in Geneva looks to have postponed the introduction of EL2 for the moment as the big leagues have come out against it.
Where did you get that? My impression from what I read was that the disagreements at the ECA were more about the next reform after the EL2 introduction, i.e. the plans from 2024 onwards.

[TheBoss]

I'm not sure it is postponed. From a German sports paper Sport Bild yesterday, which are always reliable when it comes to European Football, says it will start in 2020 and be called the Europa Conference League.

https://www.t-online.de/sport/fussball/international/id_86426424/die-europa-league-2-wird-zur-europa-conference-league.html

[Yossarian]

I'm not sure it is postponed. From a German sports paper Sport Bild yesterday, which are always reliable when it comes to European Football, says it will start in 2020 and be called the Europa Conference League.

https://www.t-online.de/sport/fussball/international/id_86426424/die-europa-league-2-wird-zur-europa-conference-league.html

Sponsored by Vauxhall?

[sbgawa]

What was intended to be a crucial meeting on the road to major reform in European football ended in Geneva on Tuesday afternoon with vague statements about further talks and deadlines that had been extended for another 18 months.
It was not what the European Clubs' Association (ECA) had envisaged when they met in Malta this summer. Then, they hoped, this week they would be finalising changes that could be passed on to Uefa for rubber stamping ahead of their inception in 2024. (https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/49641315)

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/49653954

My read is all changes postponed for 18 months , obviously that could change

[sidewayspasser]

Well, that all relates to the 2024 changes, not the 2021 changes. UEFA works in 3-year cycles, with the current one running until 2021. The EL2 introduction is planned for the cycle starting from 2021.

To my understanding, what the ECA was recently debating was the package of changes that is envisaged to come in 2024, which, among other things, had included major changes to the Champions League, further towards making it a closed shop competition where the top clubs wouldn't even have to qualify through their national leagues. That, and the idea of European matches on weekends, was a worry for the big leagues as they see it devaluating their competition if the big clubs don't need the national leagues to qualify for the CL.

[sparky12345678]

It's hard to know if it's good or bad news for the league. The prize money was never confirmed. If the prize money was similar to the current EL then it'd be grand for us. But I suspect the plan is/was to squeeze the prize money there. The EL2 plan as it was definitely increased our chances of group stage qualification (specially for the league champions), but you'd be looking at an even less glamorous set of potential opponents than the current EL

Linfield would have qualified for it this year based on my reading.
Dundalk would have had one more European tie, theyd def have had a shout with some of those teams. Definitely the aim.

[Longfordian]

UEFA Europa Conference League confirmed from 2021. I'm far too lazy to check how you qualify but I'm sure someone else has or will post it.

[holidaysong]

Basically the countries below 15th rank will go into it rather than the Europa league. However for the Champions it gives one extra level to drop down into before elimination from Europe.

Linfield would have gone into the group stages of it this year for example (if it had existed) after losing in the Europa league playoff.

https://www.uefa.com/MultimediaFiles/Download/uefaorg/General/02/58/61/42/2586142_DOWNLOAD.pdf

[sbgawa]

Fantastic news. Winning the league next year guarantees 6 games in Europe....wow

[Nesta99]

So next year is definitely a year to do another 3 in a row!! Any mention of prize pot yet? I sense a slight sarcastic tone sbgawa...its a great opportunity for whomever are champions and will be great fun debating the use of Tallaght Stadium (unless Cork do a Lazarus or Pats season meets preseason expectations).

[sbgawa]

No , def no sarcasm, I still dream of us winning the league next year and having a guaranteed 6 matches, 1 win and it could be 8.....whoever wins t he league this business of canceling league matches in Euro weeks will have to end, way to many matches now to be screwing up the league, the sides in Europe who get the big money will have to play matches just like in England etc.

[seand]

I'm more than a little concerned with the lack of information on prize money

[Martinho II]

I for one hate the title of this new competition. Its very tacky imo!

[NeverFeltBetter]

Naturally makes me thing of the English fifth tier.

[El-Pietro]

This is a bad move for European Club football. It will lead to more money being pooled among the top clubs. The top leagues get guaranteed group places in the Europa League, and the mediunm leagues are compensated with much easier qualification for the Conference League. We will now have teams in the Non Champions Path of the CL dropping down into the EL and then Conference league.

This is good on paper for Dundalk or any Irish champion but it is not good for everyone else. This is one stoep closer to all European Leagues looking like Norway in the 90s, Scotland or Belarus. We are eventually moving to a position where all leagues are dominated by one or two teams.

[sbgawa]

Next years league is looking huge already, if DFC consolidate and get group stage EL2 the year after then a Norway type league could easily happen which would be terrible for the league.

With one point something million at least probably guaranteed for winning the league next year, you'd wonder will somebody "Waterford , Shels, Limerick's new investors" throw the kitchen sink at it in true GLITW style.
The only thing that might discourage a gamble from someone is how strong DFC look.

[Nesta99]

Next years league is looking huge already, if DFC consolidate and get group stage EL2 the year after then a Norway type league could easily happen which would be terrible for the league.

With one point something million at least probably guaranteed for winning the league next year, you'd wonder will somebody "Waterford , Shels, Limerick's new investors" throw the kitchen sink at it in true GLITW style.
The only thing that might discourage a gamble from someone is how strong DFC look.

Which would be terrible for everyone else in the league! ;)

In one of the papers today that the EL2 group stage prizemoney would be similar to what Dundalk earned in 2016 which is good, but in comparison to the supposed increases for simply qualifying for EL1 it will be well behind other comps. CL qualification money will increase significantly to levels that currently takes progression through a number of rounds to obtain.

[sbgawa]

If you can get to EL2 (which Linfield would have done this year if it existed) and pocket 6 or 7 million this league is worth a punt.
If i win the euro millions i might enter a team myself :)
Shamrock Strollers...playing in the Aviva naturally

[Real ale Madrid]

Shamrock Strollers...

Should be the obvious name for the Shamrock Rovers walking football team if an incarnation is ever started.

[seand]

I'm not sure if the medium/small sized countries' perennial champions have got themselves an effect lobby group or what, but the whole thing gets more and more skewed towards the champion clubs (obviously I mean at the level below the hyper mega clubs). The parachute into the EL was bad enough for the non-champions, with more places in the EL groups for CL losers than EL winner, but the double parachute to EL1 and EL2 is really going to help BATE / Astana / TNS / Dinamo Zagreb / Sheriff and possibly Dundalk consolidate and dominate their leagues.