Bill 13,717 Posted November 17, 2020 Share Posted November 17, 2020 1 hour ago, JohnMc said: It has the potential to be a stronger league than the SPFL financially and certainly it would be more competitive, but it'll still be miles behind the big 3 or 4 in Europe. It's not an easy sell. But since we have no access to those big leagues surely the difference is academic. What's unclear to me is whether any new multi-nation league would only have one membership of UEFA and therefore far fewer club entries to CL & EL than those countries have as separate members. For clubs like Rangers this would be a huge stumbling block - unless the new league offers far greater earnings than the SPFL, the loss of Euro income could be catastrophic. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RANGERRAB 3,677 Posted November 17, 2020 Share Posted November 17, 2020 Without the Dutch & Belgian clubs this league is a non-starter 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
compo 7,049 Posted November 18, 2020 Share Posted November 18, 2020 9 hours ago, RANGERRAB said: Without the Dutch & Belgian clubs this league is a non-starter I don't think its ever been a starter 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
der Berliner 3,747 Posted November 18, 2020 Share Posted November 18, 2020 IMHO, it was some sort of rebellious move by those left behind by UEFA and their "Champions" League cash grabbing exercises back in the day. Nowadays, its more like discontent murmurs ... and with Covid-19 around, as they said, nothing that will be pursued anytime soon. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnMc 2,754 Posted November 18, 2020 Share Posted November 18, 2020 Peter Lawwell is on the European Club Association board, as such you'd expect he has some insights into what is planned regarding European competition, so Celtic pulling out of this is probably quite telling. There were talks at quite an advanced stage between the Belgians and Dutch to create a unified 'super-league' with clubs from both nations competing. I suspect Covid has interfered with its plans but it was being reported that UEFA were open to it. The Dutch and Belgians are neighbours so the extra travel isn't a big issue, 60% of Belgium speak Dutch and they use the same currency so commercially, culturally and logistically it makes sense. For me it makes sense for the Danes, Swedes and Norwegians to get together for similar reasons. But we're being shoe-horned in as no one else wants us. If the the direction of travel in UEFA is amalgamating domestic leagues then clearly a 'British Isles' league is the obvious one for us to join, but I can only see that happening if the big 6 or so English sides leave and join some NFL style closed league with selected German, Italian and Spanish clubs. We might then be attractive to sponsors and broadcasters playing in a league with sides like Aston Villa, Wolves, Leicester and West Ham. UEFA and the big club sides are involved in an on-going power struggle. UEFA want to keep smaller football associations, like Scotland, onside as smaller FAs help keep the big ones in line on important votes. Even the biggest clubs are very nervous of unilaterally leaving UEFA and going it alone, so it's likely to come down to how much UEFA are willing to give up and what compromises the bigger clubs are willing to accept. It's important, I think, that three of the big 6 English sides, and a number of Italian sides have American ownership or substantial influence now. I suspect they'll be pushing very hard for a closed league structure with guaranteed clubs and no relegation, as works in American professional sport. I also fear it's a matter of when, not if, this happens. I can't see any scenario where we're part of that. 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stewarty 2,027 Posted November 18, 2020 Share Posted November 18, 2020 In addition, the pace of change other than at the top level, is glacially slow. The old "joining the EPL" story gets re-hashed a few times a year when its a slow news day, but the reality is that nothing has really changed on that front for decades rather than years. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranger_syntax 4,329 Posted November 18, 2020 Share Posted November 18, 2020 The stupidest iteration of this stinking turd yet. No reason why it shouldn't generate pages, and pages, of discussion. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gonzo79 15,294 Posted November 18, 2020 Share Posted November 18, 2020 6 minutes ago, ranger_syntax said: No reason why it shouldn't generate pages, and pages, of discussion. Annual trips to Amsterdam would be quite appealing. But so would banishing Separate Entity FC from these shores. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soulsonic5791 408 Posted November 22, 2020 Share Posted November 22, 2020 Just checked in after a few weeks hiatus, so apologies in advance for the randomness of the post. At risk of a rap on the virtual knuckles by Frankie, surely the thread title should possibly read “Atlantic League torpaedoed”? 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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