In the end a Premier League is a 'company' in itself. Yes, it's governed by the FA but there is nothing stopping them pulling the plug.
I really don't think it's far fetched at all - going by the rules that govern 'membership' of the Super League, the likes of Leicester, Leeds etc would still have a pop at getting in the league, most likely at the expense of your Wigans/Boltons of this world.
This will never happen for one simple reason, and that is that the premier league would get sued by the football league and a large number of clubs. It would get dragged out in the courts for years, possibly decades, to the point that if the premiership ever won the case outright, after all appeals, etc. then the football landscape would be significantly different, both here and abroad, and the plan would most likely be out of date and/or unworkable
Without relegation most of the games from January onwards would become untterly irrelevant. The middle/low ranking sides woudl see a big drop on crowds and in TV audiences.
This won't happen. There's no incentive for the big teams apart from anything else. Why should they (or even Everton or Villa) want teams like Wigan and Bolton locked in rather than West Ham or Leeds.
I can't see this happening but I can imagine a situation where in the near future we will only have 2 clubs relegated from the Prem and further than that potentially a league where there is only 1 club dropping out every season.
Club football is dead anyway, it's only people's blind faith to go to matches and contribute to Sky that is keeping it with it's head above water. The 92 clubs are £3bn in debt, consistently running at a loss and 'success' is measured by how much any individual club wants to piss up the wall to garner a trophy or promotion. The only hope top flight clubs have of attaining any sort of stability is to make it even more of a cartel - and that would mean curbing genuine compeition, the move towards a 'no relegation' league or reducing the number of clubs that could befall it is a natural step.
I can't see this happening but I can imagine a situation where in the near future we will only have 2 clubs relegated from the Prem and further than that potentially a league where there is only 1 club dropping out every season.
Club football is dead anyway, it's only people's blind faith to go to matches and contribute to Sky that is keeping it with it's head above water. The 92 clubs are £3bn in debt, consistently running at a loss and 'success' is measured by how much any individual club wants to piss up the wall to garner a trophy or promotion. The only hope top flight clubs have of attaining any sort of stability is to make it even more of a cartel - and that would mean curbing genuine compeition, the move towards a 'no relegation' league or reducing the number of clubs that could befall it is a natural step.
I can definitely see the first part of that happening within the next 5 years moving to a 1 club relegation shortly after. Let's face it the 'bigger', more established clubs in the Premier would love to shut up shop if they could or at the very least minimise their exposure to their chances of doing a Leeds/Man City/Birmingham/Forest et al.
Moving to a 1 or 2 club relegation at least gives the impression there's something to play for those at the bottom of the Prem' or top of the Championship but at the same time in all likelihood protects those clubs like Everton or Newcastle who would have to have a proper mare of a season to find themselves below all three promoted teams.
I can't see this happening but I can imagine a situation where in the near future we will only have 2 clubs relegated from the Prem and further than that potentially a league where there is only 1 club dropping out every season.
Club football is dead anyway, it's only people's blind faith to go to matches and contribute to Sky that is keeping it with it's head above water. The 92 clubs are £3bn in debt, consistently running at a loss and 'success' is measured by how much any individual club wants to piss up the wall to garner a trophy or promotion. The only hope top flight clubs have of attaining any sort of stability is to make it even more of a cartel - and that would mean curbing genuine compeition, the move towards a 'no relegation' league or reducing the number of clubs that could befall it is a natural step.
You could well be right there. I suspect that's what yesterday was all about, testing the water regarding three automatic relegation places.
I belive the PFA have an agreement with all of its members that if a breakaway league is proposed then it will be all out strike. This nearly happened in the late eighties / early nineties but never got any further than a discussion.
Apparently Dave Whelan has said that if that ever happened, he would pull Wigan out of it. So that's it then, just what the others wanted, a done deal!
Seriously though, he's gone up in my estimation. Perhaps it's a pity that a few more owners aren't ex-footballers.
Picture this: A league composed of 20 clubs that are made up of amalgamations of smaller clubs. There will be no relegation because there will only be 20 professional clubs. This league will be competitive because all the clubs will have a similar fanbase, attendances, TV money etc and the title will be won because of the skill of the manager, board and coaching staff. There will be initial reluctance from the fans of sides that previously hated each other as local rivals but they are won over by the benefits of being part of a bigger, richer, more competitive club.
There will still be amateur and possibly semi-pro leagues with the traditional promotion and relegation but they will never be able to reach the top flight unless a system of re-election for the bottom top flight club is introduced. There will be breaks for international matches and there will only be one cup competition.
How will we fit in? Well, we will be part of a new club playing at the Olympic stadium called "London Olympic" made up from West Ham, Charlton, Millwall, Crystal Palace, Leyton Orient and Dagenham & Redbridge playing in a nice neutral yellow kit!
It would never happen and i agree that the quicker they form a european super league and take the top 5 or 6 with them the better. If it did happen though, i think the rest of the 76 league clubs could benefit. The Championship would become the top league and we cut the 20 'scabs' off and they eventually stagnate. We sign a deal with a rival tv company and at first become a rival to the 'scab' premier league. 15 of the 20 clubs never stand a chance of winning the league and don't even have the excitement of avoiding relegation and the 3 leagues from Champ downwards get stronger and more well supported as a result. The Prem, sky and the diamond encrusted x box players all dissappear up their own back sides.
I honestly think the word "Never" is being banded about here a little too liberally. How many foreign owners are there in the EPL? How many more will there be in 10 years or maybe even just 5 years time?
I would not be surprised if it did happen, and the 39th game. Not right now but sometime in the future.
Remember what is taking place at Wembley this Sunday.....
What has foreign ownership got to do with anything? Grisdale the chairman of Bolton was the first idiot I heard suggest this and there's plenty of foreigner owners outside of the premiership.
As for going up in people's estimates, Ferguson said the TV money should remain as it is, being shared out equally. Whelan won't be the only one.
I'd say foreign ownership has a lot to do with it. Some foreign owners I'd suspect, with no historic connection to a club or to England, wouldn't care about the game in this country as a whole. Some will see only $$$$
Competition in sport is fundamental and a closed shop won't work - look how boring the league stages for the champions league have become - same teams playing each other all the time, only 5 or 6 can win the thing. Football is a business they keep saying and that is true to a certain extent but the more the super clubs keep stacking everything in their favour, the more they will actually be shooting themselves in the foot. Just like any powerful ruler - give the masses just enough to stop them revolting - create a closed premier league and the country's football fans will revolt and turn away and i reckon the majority of even the foreign owners will recognise that.
Serious suggestion: I would actually like a FIVE up FIVE down promotion/relegation. Think of the number of clubs that would get their 'season in the sun'?
Relegated clubs would also have a better chance of bouncing straight back up (and down again).
You're confusing 'fans' with 'supporters'. The owners (foreign or British) couldn't give a shit about 'supporters' it's 'fans' they care about - and the vast majority of them for the top clubs (Liverpool & ManYoo particularly) are based abroad - largely in the far east. They couldn't give a f*** if the country's supporters turn away in droves - provided the gravy train keeps going, the lunatics spending hundreds of pounds a season on merchandising and tv packages depsite living 8000 miles away will keep chucking their money in.
The argument about the champions' league group stages just proves my point. Everyone who watches it knows it's pointless, boring and deisnged to maximise TV and sponsorship revenue. That hasn't mattered one jot to UEFA. Why would anybody think it would matter to premiershit owners?
Fine - the tv audience can watch the premiership, those who go can switch to the championship etc. Sky will have to superimpose a crowd into the stadium and some noise.
Serious suggestion: I would actually like a FIVE up FIVE down promotion/relegation. Think of the number of clubs that would get their 'season in the sun'?
Relegated clubs would also have a better chance of bouncing straight back up (and down again).
Absolutely brilliant analysis of the situation in to day's Guardian by a non-sports writer, Jonathon Freedland. I defy even the most passionate anti -Guardianistas to fault the logic of what he is saying, beyond being a bit starry-eyed about how the American leagues work better
The America leagues allow franchises to move cities pretty easily and there is no relegation or promotion (or any league system at all as far as I know). They are also plagued with strikes.
I'd hate the American system. The only thing I'd import would be wage caps.
Good article but I think the chap fails to recognise that many of the 'paying customers' that bankroll our game are Sky Sports subscribers (and their global equilavent) and they all seem more than happy to watch the big boys put a handful of goals past the alsorans.
Sadly I'm not sure that a more competitive league is any more revenue generating than what we have now.
Those running the EPL don't care about heritage or the teams below them and, frankly, I don't think the global TV audiences care either.
The Blackburn owners and Villa owner have rubbished the idea. As for the article, I don't see where it mentions ending relegation as the answer, and so what if a team keeps winning things, that's sport! A wage cap could be good.
Comments
I really don't think it's far fetched at all - going by the rules that govern 'membership' of the Super League, the likes of Leicester, Leeds etc would still have a pop at getting in the league, most likely at the expense of your Wigans/Boltons of this world.
Without relegation most of the games from January onwards would become untterly irrelevant. The middle/low ranking sides woudl see a big drop on crowds and in TV audiences.
This won't happen. There's no incentive for the big teams apart from anything else. Why should they (or even Everton or Villa) want teams like Wigan and Bolton locked in rather than West Ham or Leeds.
Club football is dead anyway, it's only people's blind faith to go to matches and contribute to Sky that is keeping it with it's head above water. The 92 clubs are £3bn in debt, consistently running at a loss and 'success' is measured by how much any individual club wants to piss up the wall to garner a trophy or promotion. The only hope top flight clubs have of attaining any sort of stability is to make it even more of a cartel - and that would mean curbing genuine compeition, the move towards a 'no relegation' league or reducing the number of clubs that could befall it is a natural step.
A bloke at LMA is quoted making a massive sweeping statement about foreign owners.
Isn't this just another non-story generated by the UK media to attempt to create a shitstorm out of nothing??
I can definitely see the first part of that happening within the next 5 years moving to a 1 club relegation shortly after. Let's face it the 'bigger', more established clubs in the Premier would love to shut up shop if they could or at the very least minimise their exposure to their chances of doing a Leeds/Man City/Birmingham/Forest et al.
Moving to a 1 or 2 club relegation at least gives the impression there's something to play for those at the bottom of the Prem' or top of the Championship but at the same time in all likelihood protects those clubs like Everton or Newcastle who would have to have a proper mare of a season to find themselves below all three promoted teams.
Picture this: A league composed of 20 clubs that are made up of amalgamations of smaller clubs. There will be no relegation because there will only be 20 professional clubs. This league will be competitive because all the clubs will have a similar fanbase, attendances, TV money etc and the title will be won because of the skill of the manager, board and coaching staff. There will be initial reluctance from the fans of sides that previously hated each other as local rivals but they are won over by the benefits of being part of a bigger, richer, more competitive club.
There will still be amateur and possibly semi-pro leagues with the traditional promotion and relegation but they will never be able to reach the top flight unless a system of re-election for the bottom top flight club is introduced. There will be breaks for international matches and there will only be one cup competition.
How will we fit in? Well, we will be part of a new club playing at the Olympic stadium called "London Olympic" made up from West Ham, Charlton, Millwall, Crystal Palace, Leyton Orient and Dagenham & Redbridge playing in a nice neutral yellow kit!
I honestly think the word "Never" is being banded about here a little too liberally. How many foreign owners are there in the EPL? How many more will there be in 10 years or maybe even just 5 years time?
I would not be surprised if it did happen, and the 39th game. Not right now but sometime in the future.
Remember what is taking place at Wembley this Sunday.....
These owners want a return for their investment and collectively they have a lot of power.
Don't dismiss what I said slightly tongue in cheek becoming a reality or at least aspects of it.
As for going up in people's estimates, Ferguson said the TV money should remain as it is, being shared out equally. Whelan won't be the only one.
Serious suggestion: I would actually like a FIVE up FIVE down promotion/relegation. Think of the number of clubs that would get their 'season in the sun'?
Relegated clubs would also have a better chance of bouncing straight back up (and down again).
The argument about the champions' league group stages just proves my point. Everyone who watches it knows it's pointless, boring and deisnged to maximise TV and sponsorship revenue. That hasn't mattered one jot to UEFA. Why would anybody think it would matter to premiershit owners?
The America leagues allow franchises to move cities pretty easily and there is no relegation or promotion (or any league system at all as far as I know). They are also plagued with strikes.
I'd hate the American system. The only thing I'd import would be wage caps.
Sadly I'm not sure that a more competitive league is any more revenue generating than what we have now.
Those running the EPL don't care about heritage or the teams below them and, frankly, I don't think the global TV audiences care either.