Fairly certain that 2 week rule is flaunted quite a bit around the European games.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr A
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Fairly certain that 2 week rule is flaunted quite a bit around the European games.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr A
CROSS-BORDER LEAGUES: UEFA PRESIDENT Michel Platini said yesterday that depending on how an experiment with the women’s senior game in Belgium and the Netherlands turns out, the organisation could change its stance on cross-Border leagues over the coming seasons, something that could have enormous implications for the future of the Airtricity League.
A shift in policy would open the door to initiatives like the Celtic League proposal, a competition involving leading clubs from the likes of Ireland (North and South), Scotland and Wales, that was floated a few years ago but which failed to gain the necessary support, in part because of the lack of Uefa approval and fear that the status of the participating countries’ separate national teams might be undermined.
Now, however, with an increasing number of leagues struggling due to the international financial climate and many lacking the depth required to make them genuinely competitive, Platini has said a major change in policy might be only a few years away.
As part of their attempt to assess the implications of permitting difficult leagues to merge at the highest level, Uefa has sanctioned the women’s senior league in Belgium and the Netherlands to be played on a cross-border basis, with the leading teams from each country at the end of the campaign progressing to the Champions League.
At present the BeNe League project is intended to run for three years after which, Platini says, it will be assessed and a wider discussion can take place on the desirability of merging leagues elsewhere across Europe.
“We have to decide whether to allow two leagues to play together,” he said at a press conference in Monaco yesterday. “At the moment we don’t allow it but in the future it’s possible that we will.
“There are many things to be considered; it has an effect on European competitions and it’s really complicated but there are crises in many countries and so there are leagues that fear for their existence and so it is something that we need to consider.”
If the changes are ultimately approved, the transformation of club rugby in recent years could serve as a rough model, with clubs from participating countries, such as the “Celtic nations” forming a “superleague” style top flight with regional , or national, lower divisions and movement between the two via some form of promotion/relegation and play-offs.
Over the last few years a variety of proposals that included Norway, Denmark and Sweden as well as Scotland and possibly Ireland have been floated and Uefa could see such changes as a way of revitalising the professional game outside of the continent’s major leagues like England, Spain, Italy, Germany and France.
“It’s an interesting experiment and something that everyone will be following with a lot of interest,” said Airtricity League director Fran Gavin yesterday.
But, he suggested, the FAI’s most immediate interest is its own women’s game.
“It’s an area that you might develop,” he said, “if you didn’t have enough teams or the required quality to develop the game here.”
Shamrock Rovers chairman Jonathan Roche was more taken with the possibilities for a senior men’s game that is embroiled in yet another, sometimes acrimonious, debate over league structures. “I think even without Scotland or Wales it could be a positive thing because it could open the door to an all-Ireland league,” he said. “I think the IFA are fairly attached to their national team and I can’t really see them letting it go but I think they’d be far more inclined to give up the league if it was all going to be done within the structures of Uefa.
“I know it’s a different sport but if you look at the RaboDirect Pro 12, I think you can see the wider possibilities and if Scotland were involved this could be far more than just a shot in the arm for the Irish game. They have a football industry over there and a game like Dundee United against Cork City would have a real appeal.”
Ultimately, the proposal could give rise to a number of regional leagues across the continent and might even result in some of the championships that were dismantled in the wake of the break up of Eastern Bloc being partially reconstituted. There, as here, more competitive games would be seen as a way of rekindling public interest in watching games live and generating greater revenues http://b-static.net/vbulletin/images...er_offline.gif
From the Irish Times.
Platini is very keen to have a major legacy left from his tenure as Uefa President, this following on from his proposal of having the European Championships played across different cities.
Love the idea that clubs vote against a reserve league on the basis of costs but will join a league that involves them flying to games 10-15 times a season
Whatever about an All-Ireland League, I certainly wouldn't be in favour of having a Celtic League. What works well in rugby may not apply to soccer.
I can't see the prospect of Cork City vs Motherwell or Derry City vs The New Saints attracting any more fans to games than present. It could eventually lead to franchise footballl, with clubs with proud histories having to give way.
I'm sure the irony of a Galway fan posting this isn't lostQuote:
Originally Posted by gufc2000
I like the idea. More clubs, larger market, more money. Plus it would give the Irish clubs a golden opportunity to revamp their image. A huge advertising campaign would look a lot better if it promised a new and exciting product. And from what I've heard from Scottish supporters, they're pretty jaded from constant trips to the Greater Glasgow area, and would love the chance for a few weekends away in Dublin, Galway or Cork. They'd probably travel in pretty large numbers.Quote:
Originally Posted by gufc2000
I could see this starting as a cup competition first though, if it happens at all. People will want a testing ground. Hopefully it will work out better than the underhyped, underwhelming Setanta Cup did.
Pretty lazy comparison to Rugby. Fans might be running clubs, but the song remains the same.
Setanta Cup really shows that an All Ireland league is even less likely to be the solution than an internal restructuring. I do think it's the way forward, but watch the clubs that argue against a bigger or single division LoI, queue up for an All Ireland league with games against household names such as Ballinamallard United and/or resist a smaller "superleague" type entity.
I can't see what the attraction of such a league would be to, for example, SPL clubs. Say what you like about Scottish football (and I'm not a fan myself), but they have a fully functioning, internally coherent football culture. They might like the idea of an away cup trip to Ireland, but that'd be about it.
Iinteresting to see the Shamrock Rovers's Chairman making an essentially similar argument for a cross-national league as our own FD clubs are currently making for a single division.
I suppose the context for SPL clubs would be that such a move from UEFA would open the way for Celtic and Rangers to join the English league system. Actually, it could open up a huge can of worms - why would only smaller leagues take advantage of it?Quote:
Originally Posted by gormacha
There is no possibility a Celtic "league" could happen without an intermediate cup competition. I think the Setanta Cup was, in part, a testing ground for the possibility of a cross-border league that has failed.
Scottish clubs would never get on board with a Celtic league unless Rangers and Celtic were involved, but even so they would take a lot of convincing. With Rangers in the fourth tier though, now is probably the time to push for an experiment.
I think the only attraction for the Scottish clubs would be the potential for a greater market, and more money further down the line. Short term, over the first decade or two, it wouldn't be to their advantage. Over a longer timescale, strength in numbers and all that.Quote:
Originally Posted by gormacha
An all-Ireland league would probably boost attendances a little bit, to be fair, how much less attractive a fixture than SD Galway are Ballinamallard? You could hardly get a lower attendance, but big games such as those involving Linfield would probably attract decent crowds.
If it ever goes ahead, the big advantage won't be something inherent about an all-Ireland league, it will be the chance to launch it as a completely new competition to the Irish public, separate from the LOI and IL they have already dismissed beyond recovery.
I actually agree with the idea of a celtic league and believe now may well be a good time to look at doing something. fresh chance to promote "new" shiny entity. increased level of interest with new clubs etc. timing may also be good as SPL teams come to terms with the (financial) loss of Rangers and the two horse race becoming a one horse race. They may well be prepared to look at a radical change rather than maintain the Status Quo while they still have a fanbase.Quote:
Originally Posted by peadar1987
Would have to be a ten team division(s) for me, to keep down travel costs and to make it manageable in the early years, Who would get the golden tickets will be great fun :o so perhaps a cup competition for one season would not be a bad idea.
Scottish clubs won't touch a Celtic League with a ten-foot bargepole. Anyone who reckons otherwise is deluding themselves. Rangers will be back in the SPL in three years' time. In the meantime, there's effectively an extra European spot going. Scotland - like England - values tradition way too much to think a Celtic League is a panacea.
So if we're going to join up with Wales and the North, it'll add nothing to what we have now.
From what I understand a Celtic league would not affect the number of places being allocated to each country in UEFA competitions.
Weird. How would that work - top Irish side gets the Champions' League spot? Last Irish side in the Cup gets a UEFA Cup spot?
My point though was that Rangers being gone from the SPL is offset to an extent by an effective extra place for the smaller clubs to compete for - Motherwell in this year's Champions' League, for example. So Rangers' demotion isn't a complete disaster for the SPL.
Granted, their coefficient may well fall far enough that they lose that place anyway.
IS 'what you understand' based on a couple of speculative articles recently? not like there's been anything seriusly discussedQuote:
Originally Posted by Charlie Darwin
I'd imagine so. I think Scottish clubs would prefer to have the biannual fixture at home to Rangers than the remote possibility of European football. One side might benefit but the other 5 or so lose an important source of revenue.Quote:
Originally Posted by pineapple stu
Based on the fact that UEFA have no reason to reduce the number of clubs in European competition and the fact that Liechtenstein's highest ranked team is accommodated in the Europa League.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dodge
Liechtenstein's team qualified via the Cup. They have their own Cup competition. Vaduz tend to win the Cup every year and are also about four divisions higher than any other Liechtenstein team. Vadus weren't in Europe this year cos they lost the Cup last year (first time since 97)
You seem to be certain of that. They're not even winning the fourth tier atm.Quote:
Originally Posted by pineapple stu
They should easily come up. Their latest signing scored twice on his debut, two days after scoring for Hearts in Anfield in the UEFA Cup. With the likes of Kevin Kyle, Neil Alexander, Lee McCullough and Andrew Little, they'll be grand. It's every opponent's biggest game ever, so naturally their opponents will be really up for it. But through in all the Cups, including a double against First Division Falkirk, and 17 goals in four home games says they'll be up. Once they get used to playing in pokey little grounds, they'll start walking the leagues.