If there was a new league were would it fall on the UEFA coefficient table? Would it take the place of the LOI or the IL or would it be considered a totally new league and start in 55th place meaning having to go through the prelim CL and EL rounds?
Here on a technicality.
I don't think UEFA will have any issue with the two leagues combined having the same amount of spots for Europe as before they joined up.
There is a precedent there (thanks Stu) and look at Brexit the EU are effectively holding up the whole brexit fiasco because of the Irish border, the peace process card and all that ,
I think they would. You'd be talking about Ireland having more European qualifiers than Italy, Spain or England. And if you did you'd potentially have (something like) the 5th best team in the 32nd best league in Europe league qualifying for the Champions League, and a relegated team qualifying for the Europa League. Bear in mind that the proposal suggests only 5-6 Irish League teams in the new league, so you're looking at possibly 80% of IL top flight teams qualifying for Europe (if they can get their coefficient back above Faroes/Gib)! Perhaps at a stretch, due to the extraordinary situation, we'd get away with it for a couple of seasons but after that surely not.
Last edited by seand; 27/06/2019 at 8:03 AM.
That's a decent prediction in fairness.
The Premier would have a nice balance of North and South but the CH is basically Harps joining the Nordie league and Warrenpoint joining the LOI.
Its hard to keep everybody happy in all this ... ... what if a few teams vote against it, are they just left behind. Lots to agree so I thinks its a bit pie in the sky tbh, especially with the timeline they are talking about!
Last edited by redobit; 27/06/2019 at 8:42 AM.
Manager: Fergal, have you your boots with ya?
Fergal: Ya, I have them here.
Manager: Ah good stuff, well give them to this man so, he forgot his!
Where would this AIL leave the new LOI underage structures. This pyramid has been a positive move by the FAI imo but there is no mention of it in the new AIL plan that I know of. I would like to think the clubs would be fighting to keep the boys u13 to u19 teams and the womens league.
Manager: Fergal, have you your boots with ya?
Fergal: Ya, I have them here.
Manager: Ah good stuff, well give them to this man so, he forgot his!
Is there any evidence that IL teams have any interest in this? Linfield, for example, have always been the biggest fish in a tiny pond. What does it do for them?
Nothing I have read on this has been particularly convincing.
Was speaking to a Harps director today who said they have not been in touch with FHFC. But hey, why would you reach out to a club that you are in all likelihood effectively moving to the Irish League?
And why the rush for a decision? With Brexit surely this is the last time to be rushing into things. Would it not be better to get it right than rush into it.. it feels a bit too much of a salesman trick of waving a figure around and then pressuring for the quick signature.
#NeverStopNotGivingUp
Don't know if anyone has read anything about the IFA redoing their intermediate setup. Depending how you look at it it could be seen as them preparing for a joint league or could be then getting their house in order to try avoid it because the requirements look really professional and put ours to shame, do we even have any requirements? The FAI really could do with taking a look at the IFAs league set-up.
But perhaps you could seperate out the Champions League places in much the saw way other leagues split their league in the closing few weeks and have playoffs for the different places to keep things interesting and competitive. Only in this case we wouldnt "divide" the league into top and bottom half but into a championship round thing here we have a semi final/final situation for the top 6 Irish clubs and the top 6 N Ireland clubs... with byes for the higher ranked teams?
using the above projection and assigning
Dundalk (1st), Shamrock Rovers (2nd), Bohs (3rd), Derry (4th), St Pats (5th), Sligo (6th), Cork, Waterford, Linfield, Ballymena, Glenavon, Crusaders, Cliftonville, Coleraine
CL place goes to winner of Dundalk v Rovers
2 EL places:
Bohs v Sligo
Derry v Pats
plus FAI Cup
Similarly
CL place: Linfield v Ballymena
EL place: Glenavon v Crusaders
preserving a semblance of separation for the CL/EL places like theres a seperate league going on within a larger league...
I mean UEFA does make allowances now and again and could be convinced that in order to increase the quality and competitiveness on the island as well as peace/reconciliation the NIR clubs need to be attracted and losing places in the CL/EL ie money will make it tricky.
You're really falling between two stools there (and yep, I mean stools in both senses of the word)
Here's a dynamic, exciting, cross-community initiative.... the climax of which is the separation of the two parts in Paddy and Prod. And as a bonus we're going to give one of our two (TWO!) Champions League spots to the 9th of 10th best teams in the league. And as a super bonus we're going to give the second best team in the league a 50-50 chance of stealing the CL place from the champions. ;-)
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