Imagine Celtic coming over to play a league game in Ireland...no thanks.
https://kesslereffect.bandcamp.com/album/kepler - New music. It's not that bad.
If mergers were to become a thing, the most obvious and sensible thing would be for the Welsh and Scottish clubs to be amalgamated within the English pyramid. The 2 biggest club sin Scotland have wanted it for years ; doubtless a few others would be keen if the chance arose, and the 4/5 biggest/best supported clubs in Wales are already playing in England. So they are the mergers that would make most sense.Originally Posted by John83
Yeah, that makes sense, though the most recent change in that regard was Colwyn Bay leaving the English leagues to join the Welsh setup two years ago. Probably for the smaller Welsh teams, being in a national competition (with European spots) is better than being in the eighth tier in England. A merger would need to work out a way around that problem.
It'll probably come down to blazers. Will a merger create more blazers or less? More seats on UEFA/FIFA committees or less?
Closer to home we need lots of mergers! Junior, Intermediate and Senior should be merged. 37 league systems for a population of 4 million is bananas
If the Belgian and Dutch leagues merge and thus sets a precedent of clubs playing in other jurisdictions, then it doesn't necessarily pave the way for an All Ireland league.
It could pave the way for Celtic and Rangers joining the epl and leaving the spl high and dry. Would Linfield opt for an AI League or play in the mainland, and join the english football league? The Dublin Dons project could re emerge.
Think about it lads, this won't necessarily go the way you want it to go. Follow the money.
I doubt Rangers or Celtic would be asked to play in EPL giving their low ranking in Europe.
If the Dublin dons project reemerges(or anything connected to it),i'll give you €1000 and i'll drive to Cork to hand the €1000 cash to you in person.
Can't wait.
Or the "MAINLAND" if you wantUp to you?
It was a joke about Linfield and where their priorities would lie. Relax petal.Or the "MAINLAND" if you want
I never mentioned - but settle petal yourself.
AIL,imo,not dead in the water yet but getting close to it.First death roll.
A few posters have mentioned this before but have we not now reached the stage where we should be having the conversation almost in reverse? What happens domestic football post unification?
We talk about an AIL in terms of one league straddling two associations/areas when it looks more likely now that we could end up not too far down the line with two leagues and associations having to be worked into one state.
In fact it seems to be me to be rather more likely that we end up having to face that situation before we have an AIL.
Colwyn Bay was an anomaly though. The Welsh/Cymru Premier League has been around for almost 30years now. And whilst there were clubs who left the English pyramid to join it at the start (Bangor, Newton, Rhyl) and others who joined a bit later (Caernarfon), there have been almost no additions from the English system this century. Some of the 'exiled' clubs (e.g. Newport and Merthyr) have real enmity towards the FAW and the league, as when it was formed an attempt was made to force them into it.
The whole thing is daft really, as clubs like Newport are always going to be make-weights in England, whereas in Wales they would be regularly representing their country in Europe. But as we all know there are a lot of things in football that aren't about common sense. I'd personally love to see a Welsh League with Cardiff, Swansea, Wrexham, Bangor, Newport, Myrthyr, TNS, Aberystwyth etc in the top tier. It would potentially end up being a bit of a 2/3 horse race every year - but that's the reality in a lot of leagues these days (and for somewhere with just over 3 million people and only one decent-sized city, it shouldn't be a surprise). I can't fathom why Merthyr fans are happy in the 7th tier of English football where they have to play fixtures in places like Truro and London against glamour sides like the Metropolitan Police and Swindon Supermarine, when they could instead be playing in their own country, developing/renewing long-standing rivalries, helping Welsh football improve and getting into Europe on a semi-regular basis. It's all daft, but that's the sturbborness of football people for you.
Last edited by EatYerGreens; 27/03/2021 at 12:41 PM.
Linfield won't join the English structure. That's just silly. Why would they when they can easily win the league they're currently in every 2-3 years on average, whilst in England they'd have to start at level 12 or so, face huge travel costs, probably have to pay for other teams to travel to play them, and then struggle to rise all that far up the pyramid ? Crazy talk really.
And where is this "mainland" you speak of?
Last edited by EatYerGreens; 27/03/2021 at 12:50 PM.
The English Premier and its clubs cared about Ireland in the 1990s. That was obvious from friendly fixtures, tournaments, player recruitment etc at the time. Now they're more interested in Africa, Asia and the US.
There'd probably be more interest amongst the top clubs in England in having a club from New York in their league now than one from Dublin. We're just too damn small, and there's too much money in their own league now for them to care really.
Last edited by EatYerGreens; 27/03/2021 at 12:50 PM.
So did Colwyn Bay. Many fans threatened to boycott the club over the transfer. The vote for them to join Wales caused huge ructions internally. But the did it anyway, and it'll be interesting to see how they get on. As you say, they were nobodies in England, and a bit of European money if they got there would be a huge deal for them.
Crikey, read the thread. The "mainland" was a joke in reference to the fact that Linfield, being a unionist club, would possibly favour joining the english league before the league of Ireland.
And yes, they have a better chance of winning the Irish league and European football where they are, but if that was so attractive, why don't Cardiff and Swansea join the Welsh league, win it every year and get European football?
Even Newport? Newport had fabulous cup runs in recent years meeting Spurs, Leicester, Man City etc. Padraig Almond scoring for them, appearing on BBC etc.
Is all that more prestigious than winning your own National title plus European football? Many would argue, yes.
There should be just one European League, split into 53 regional divisions, with the top few in each division entering some sort of play-off system to determine an overall winner
Actually, yes. I'd have little problem with a European super-league if it had a promotion and relegation to a pyramid with regionalisation below a certain level. The danger is the big clubs pulling the ladder up behind them and telling UEFA to get stuffed.
By "split into 53 regional divisions", I was describing the current format which should, imo, be retained.
The "play-off system" bit mislead me a litte there. It's my preference too, but I fear the big clubs will keep pushing until they ruin it.
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