Super league in 2012??

[stefan9]

Anybody else heard about this?? Apparently France Football is planning a super league of only the big clubs starting 2012. They are talking of 4 italian teams,barca,real,man utd,lyon and porto. Probably the other 3 english clubs as well.

I was suspecting their would be talks like this especially with fifa having found a loophole for the 6+5 rule. The big clubs won't be taking that lying down.

Here's the article its in Italian.

http://www.tuttomercatoweb.com/inter/?action=read&idnotizia=2927

[Fern9do]

In theory it sounds interesting but not very practical. Haven't read the article though, will do that once I get home, then I'll comment further. Whats your thoughts on this stefan?

[smokey]

The big clubs (Gx (x = number of clubs at present, as it's always changing)) can put enourmous pressure on Fifa - because they are frankly the money spinners in football. It was the pressure of the big clubs a couple of years back that lead to the transformation of the Champions League. Who remembers the good old 2 per country rule? Or even the one per country, real champions league rules? Fact is, if they piss off the big clubs, the Super League could be a real possibility.

I actually kinda agree with it in a way... The big teams that have grown slack in introducing youngsters, will now have no choice because you can only have so many superstars and with a dual league system, the squads will need to get much much larger thus paving the way for creative managers (like Fergie) to make their youth systems even more potent.

Yeah, I knjow that a lot of purists will decry it and proclaim the end of traidiotnal footy, but lets be honest - those bloody Luddites have been around since the first footballer was being paid back in the late 1800's. Chelsea missed out on the opportunity to play in the first ever Champions League seaon which was started back in the 50's. In hindsight, it would be foolish for any team not to join should the idea take on a life of it's own!

[poolmania]

Won't happen as long as all the other competitions remain. They play enough games as it is.

[smokey]

Won't happen as long as all the other competitions remain. They play enough games as it is.

More money, more players - no problem. Also, they would use youth more and more. try to look at the problem holistically...

[poolmania]

More money, more players - no problem. Also, they would use youth more and more. try to look at the problem holistically...

Won't happen.

[poolmania]

More money, more players - no problem. Also, they would use youth more and more. try to look at the problem holistically...

Good post by the way.

[smokey]

Won't happen.

Listen mate, I never said it would happen. I said it was possible, and that I would not be against it personally, in fact it could IMHO spur a great revival of English talent.

Having said that, the reasons you give are the exact same reasons the FA gave Chelsea for not competing. Too many games. The people don't want it... It took a few visionaries (chief among them Santiago Bernabeu (I think) of Real Madrid)) for the Champs League to be in the position it is today.

[smokey]

OK - apparentl according to what Goal.com says - the big clubs are pushing for this and it is confirmed by Platini. How true this is will be seen in a few days when it gets picked up by the European media and he (Platini) either denies or confirms his stance. Interesting times.

See Supa, I'm not always capped :p

Edit:Link
(http://goal.com/en-us/news/174/uefa-champions-league/2009/03/17/1160341/platini-ready-to-consider-european-super-championship-plans)

[hj2k_x]

European soccer's governing body UEFA and the continent's top clubs have no plans to create a "Super League" to replace the Champions League and UEFA Cup, officials said on Tuesday.
Click here

UEFA officials insisted that a European Super League is a "non-starter" for their president Michel Platini, playing down media reports it was mulling plans for such a competition.

Platini was quoted by France Football as saying UEFA was prepared to discuss plans from European teams to create a continental league to replace the Champions League and UEFA Cup. Italy's Gazzetta dello Sport said the project also had some backing from within UEFA.

"People should not mix-up the philosophy and reality. As far as the president (Platini) is concerned such a proposal (super league) is a non-starter," a senior official close to Platini told Reuters.

"He (Platini) is always open to dialogue and to look at ways of adapting and improving UEFA competitions in line with the times. But he has his own philosophy and beliefs about the game and one such belief is that he is dead set against a super league."

France Football quoted Platini as saying: "Everybody knows my philosophy about European competitions... but the world is changing and we must be careful about that.

"If it was up to me, I would revert to European Cups as they were at the beginning, with just knockout rounds. But we must listen carefully to any suggestion. If (clubs) come and talk to us, we would listen to them and then decide."

The French publication also said the ECA talked about a "Super League" during a meeting last week in Nyon, Switzerland.

But a spokesman for the European Club Association said the organisation - representing 137 clubs such as Manchester United, Real Madrid and AC Milan - "is very happy with the existing European competitions".

"ECA regrets these unfounded rumours which can only damage the harmony in the European football family," he said after the ECA executive discussed media the reports at a meeting in Amsterdam on Tuesday.

"We have never had any intention of implementing such a competition. We have never discussed it and it has never been on our agenda."

The Super League would be made up of three divisions with 20 to 22 clubs in each tier, the two newspapers said. Promotion and relegation would occur between the divisions each season.

European domestic leagues would remain if a Super League ever got the go-ahead, Gazzetta said, but the number of matches in individual championships would have to be reduced so that top clubs could play in both competitions.

Gazzetta said the global economic crisis had prompted the often-mooted Super League idea to resurface but gave no indication over when advocates wanted the tournament to start.

"Nobody in UEFA is working on a super league. It simply has not been brought up as a matter," another UEFA official said.

The official, with knowledge of a recent meeting of UEFA's strategy committee - comprising of representatives of the ECA, leagues, players and UEFA - also confirmed that the issue of a super league was not raised by the clubs at the meeting.

The UEFA Cup is being rebranded as the Europa League next season. Platini voted against the name change, but backed the expansion of UEFA's second-tier competition whose image has suffered since the rise of the more lucrative Champions League.
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=628914&sec=europe&cc=3888

Does not look that likely, then.

Why on earth are they renaming the UEFA cup, the Europa League? :sick:

[Fern9do]

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=628914&sec=europe&cc=3888

Does not look that likely, then.

Why on earth are they renaming the UEFA cup, the Europa League? :sick:

That happened a while back. They are changing the whole format of the competition. Guess thats why

[stefan9]

This will happen some in the future not soon though imho. Eventually the big clubs will pull out of their local leagues and create their own league. The financial rewards for such a league are just too good to ignore forever.

[poolmania]

This will happen some in the future not soon though imho. Eventually the big clubs will pull out of their local leagues and create their own league. The financial rewards for such a league are just too good to ignore forever.

I don't get how the financial rewards would differ from the present time. The amount of games that exist in the Champions League format added to the Local League which is just as wealthy, especially the top leagues, is already at Maximum.

I seriously don't see the benefit for the top clubs forming their own league.

What about the smaller clubs (outside the top 4 of each league), what incentive financially would they have then?

For many years they talked about integrating Celtic and Rangers into the English Premiership. Simply a much easier task to do compared to a whole European League, but to this day it's not been done and will never be done.

Each country's local football league is vital to the tradition and economy of that country. I don't see them wanting to break that up just so the specific clubs can benefit.

[stefan9]

I don't get how the financial rewards would differ from the present time. The amount of games that exist in the Champions League format added to the Local League which is just as wealthy, especially the top leagues, is already at Maximum.

I seriously don't see the benefit for the top clubs forming their own league.

What about the smaller clubs (outside the top 4 of each league), what incentive financially would they have then?

For many years they talked about integrating Celtic and Rangers into the English Premiership. Simply a much easier task to do compared to a whole European League, but to this day it's not been done and will never be done.

Each country's local football league is vital to the tradition and economy of that country. I don't see them wanting to break that up just so the specific clubs can benefit.

How do you think the pay tv channels will pay more for a league that has games like inter vs barca,juve vs man utd,ect each week or man utd vs burnley or inter vs lecce??

Tradition is one thing but with the current financial crisis I doubt many of the big clubs will really care.

Obviously I wasn't referring to the smaller. If this happens it will hurt them a lot unless they are big enough to be included in this 3 tier league.

[guru_pitka]

How do you think the pay tv channels will pay more for a league that has games like inter vs barca,juve vs man utd,ect each week or man utd vs burnley or inter vs lecce??

Tradition is one thing but with the current financial crisis I doubt many of the big clubs will really care.

Obviously I wasn't referring to the smaller. If this happens it will hurt them a lot unless they are big enough to be included in this 3 tier league.

as mouthwatering as a european league sounds ,I very much doubt it will happen and have to agree with Poolmania theres just to much history in each country's league

[smokey]

I reckon the second and third tier is rubbish news. I mean seriously - who will watch it? It will become like a Euro-styled Coca Cola Championship. Also, the example with Celtic/Rangers is a moot point because its Scotland vs. England and no way would that happen, no matter how much the clubs themselves would love it.

The European Super Dooper League (if we could call it that) is much easier - because the teams know what they are getting and they are already playing in a Euro League. However... wouldn't it be brilliant if they could do it every two years? It would give the top teams about a year to prepare their squads for it and bring in youngsters during the off periods, so that the youth could carry the domestic championships? Imagine Arsenal, only with a squad consisting of 8 world class players on top of what they have now and some of the youngsters who arent getting game time, well... getting it.

hmmm... one can dream....