The European Leagues & Competitions Thread V2

[Blues Forever 1,232]

 

[DDA 9,570]

9 minutes ago, Blues Forever said:

 

Stripped of their badges of honour! 😂 Holy shit.. what is going on. Is this really happening???

[Blues Forever 1,232]

 

[Blues Forever 1,232]

Last night, when 12 big clubs of the Superleague announced resignations from ECA (association of European clubs). They also resigned from all UEFA committees and panels with Agnelli leaving the ECA management, Nasser Al-Khelaifi becomes it’s executive boss.

[Magic Lamps 11,471]

watching this like

long given up about feeling anything about the business side in football, fatalistic amusement is all that is left

[Blues Forever 1,232]

 

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Hello 🙂

Came back to read what everyone was thinking about this and thought I'd throw in my two cents.

I think as several here already said that the initial negative backlash is to be expected and most likely already calculated by the 12 clubs. I also think that UEFA have a lot less power in this than they think and that their initial response basically showed all their cards to everyone. I genuinely think that this will go through and the 12 or 15 will get what they want.

Side note: The hypocrisy of the Premiere League condemning a bunch of big clubs creating a break-away league is quite hilarious 😅

My issue with the opposition to this league is that it all seems as fake shock and outrage that this will make football all about money and not fans as if this hasn't already been the case for decades; as if football hasn't already been destroyed by advertisements and brands when players are making millions and clubs are run like companies. (Cue Garry Neville talking about money alienating real working class football fans on sky-bloody-sports of all places 😂 ) It's all disingenuous because skyports are really (or at least partially) against this because it cuts into their profits, and same goes for UEFA, the PL and even the clubs not included in the league. We all know none of them actually care about the fans, the working class roots of football, or the 'real supporters in this country' whatever the hell that means.

The bottom line is that football including all current top leagues and every single club in them are there to maximize profit and the 12 clubs here are doing just that.

 

But the thing about this proposed league that I find genuinely threatening to world football is not how much money oriented it is (which to be clear I despise but am resigned to accept as the driving force of football today), it's the attempt at monopolization by the 'founding 15'. The fact that the way the league is built does not allow any of the 15 to ever be relegated is where they probably put their greed over all other interests in my opinion. Because not only would that decrease the motivation and quality in the league over time, I think it would greatly increase animosity towards it. Because one of the very basic and most appealing aspects of competitive sports is that those competing are provided equal chances on a level playing field. Say Leicester and Seville or whoever finish above Arsenal and Tottenham as they likely would in a season like this but they get 'relegated' while the other two stay because they are from the 'founders'. That would have lots of fans losing interest in the league and would increase hate for the clubs that can't get relegated. Take that away level playing field in a sport and you're destroying the fascination in it, imo.

 

I think overall we're still early days and we're going to hear and learn a lot more about this. Personally, I'm still on the fence about it, but hence why I'm back here! 

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Oh and one more side point: it's quite depressing reading about UEFA threatening to relegate teams and ban players when their money is at stake whereas we've been hearing for years that the height of their powers is a few thousands pounds fines when dealing with racism in the game... 

[!Hazard! 3,394]

Thanks for ruining football. I couldn't care less about the rest of our games this season anymore

[Blues Forever 1,232]

 

[Blues Forever 1,232]

 

[Fulham Broadway 16,437]

Greed, pure and simple. A few billionaires want to get richer and used the cover of the pandemic to plan getting more money. They forget where their money originally comes from when they buy a cash cow club. I hope some players grow a pair and get together to say fuck this we're not doing it. I hope FIFA UEFA and all football authorities say they will not let the players that partake in this circus restrict their participation in their tournaments. T*ttenham Arsenal the elites ? yeah right. 

[Superblue 6,333]

36 minutes ago, CHOULO19 said:

But the thing about this proposed league that I find genuinely threatening to world football is not how much money oriented it is (which to be clear I despise but am resigned to accept as the driving force of football today), it's the attempt at monopolization by the 'founding 15'. The fact that the way the league is built does not allow any of the 15 to ever be relegated is where they probably put their greed over all other interests in my opinion. Because not only would that decrease the motivation and quality in the league over time, I think it would greatly increase animosity towards it. Because one of the very basic and most appealing aspects of competitive sports is that those competing are provided equal chances on a level playing field. Say Leicester and Seville or whoever finish above Arsenal and Tottenham as they likely would in a season like this but they get 'relegated' while the other two stay because they are from the 'founders'. That would have lots of fans losing interest in the league and would increase hate for the clubs that can't get relegated. Take that away level playing field in a sport and you're destroying the fascination in it, imo.

I still think this is merely a powerplay at present to strong arm UEFA to pander to these clubs more. It's of no coincidence this has been leaked the day before an apparent reform of the Champions League model was being announced by UEFA.

However if this does force through a complete breakaway then I only see two options ending up happening. These clubs pull other clubs in with them to form their own domestic leagues to compete in alongside this, or they completely close shop and set up a model like the NFL where they end up eventually expanding to 24, 32 teams, whatever and sets up accordingly.

If option 1 happens (very possible as the Premier League has already proven to be a successful brand, and the potential would be there to take things further and bring Rangers and Celtic into the mix), then you're right with the founders being guaranteed entry. I think having that in place for the first 3 years say isn't so much of a problem because they'll want to establish the competition but thereafter there would need to be greater merit placed on achievement. I'm sure there would be a pot of money to be allocated and shared between founding clubs anyway, even if some fall out of participation.

If it went down option 2, then I personally think an NFL style model is better then two big leagues, because you end up with a clear rivalry created amongst your own division but your schedule factors in playing different teams each season to keep it fresh. 

As I said last night, I'm sitting on the fence for now with this to see how things develop. However, regardless of what happens and whether I'm for or against, the simple answer is it won't stop me supporting Chelsea. And for all the people that complain about it, the vast vast majority will continue to support their club if they joined this competition. It's foolish to think that these clubs won't make this work. The model won't be liked by most of Europe because they're not used to it but people in the end will accept it if their club is playing in it and it'll be branded to draw huge followings across key markets like America and Asia. 

[ZAPHOD2319 3,929]

How will this effect our current CL run?

[Randomshit 10]

Any still willing to "support" this joke of a sell out club, needs to get a reality check.

 

And yeah I would rather twenty years of watching a fan owned Chelsea in the lower leagues than watch the club be entered into the Jp Morgan wankingcircle. though you carry on justifying this insanity with your whataboutism. 

[Randomshit 10]

2 minutes ago, ZAPHOD2319 said:

How will this effect our current CL run?

Should be banned. No other way of things happening.

[Superblue 6,333]

35 minutes ago, Randomshit said:

Any still willing to "support" this joke of a sell out club, needs to get a reality check.

 

And yeah I would rather twenty years of watching a fan owned Chelsea in the lower leagues than watch the club be entered into the Jp Morgan wankingcircle. though you carry on justifying this insanity with your whataboutism. 

The reality is that people will still support Chelsea whether they're playing in the European Super League or the Conference.

How many clubs stage protests against owners, managers staying or being sacked, players being sold, etc yet when it comes down to things they are still cheering the team on every week whether it's in the stadium or on TV. 

The reality check, rightly or wrongly and however poisonous it may sound, is for the small percentage of fans who do make a stand and turn their back on the club, these clubs will develop a brand that will over time give them a fan base that replaces those fans ten fold.

[Blues Forever 1,232]