19 Apr 2021 12:18:39
Ed
I've not looked into this as I didn't think it would happen but how serious an issue is this for football and our leagues in Britain and the European competitions?

This super league looks as if it's goi g ahead and mangers are saying there against it and could leave there posts over it
The likes of klopp and olly

Man Utd have stood down from the European club association
Sky reporting juventus ac Milan and inter have also stood down
Woodward stepped down from his uefa roles
Juventus chairman stood down from his roles etc

what is going on?

{Ed002's Note - They will all have stood down by the end of the day. There is no direct impact on Scotland but one longer term outcome could be good for clubs like Rangers. Football needs to decide what sort of restructuring is required. Putting aside any "breakaway" or counter proposal, my fears have always been the vast number of professional clubs there are in England well below the Premier League. I hold a reasonably strong view in terms of the need to restructure football in Europe in any case. Previously I have said that the eventual "breakaway pan-European league" would force the restructuring of many of the national leagues, possibly resulting in a British league with perhaps only a couple of professional tiers and then regionalised amateur leagues below that. Now we have a situation that will change the financial paradigm and may make clubs and authorities look at the situation with lower tier sides regardless.

Financially I do not see that so many professional sides can be sustained within the sport which, like it or not, will see more and more money going in to the highest levels of the game. Governments will ensure that grassroots sport get funding but everything in the middle (Southern, Northern, Conference, Division 2, Scottish Divisions 1-3, League of Wales will not get the funding needed to continue on any sort of professional basis. For me, clubs should already recognise this and put their efforts in to getting their finances in order to see if they can make it to a British professional league that will need to flourish without perhaps six sides that have eventually gone down the pan-European route - and have gone for good (it would be two or perhaps three initially) or even separation from the Premier League and Championship.

Clubs like Accrington Stanley will need to carry on as amateurs or face extinction (yet again) like Bury. Recently Hartlepool has been struggling - again it needs to adapt. The mighty Third Lanark have started their long journey back to the top - it can be done. These are all proud clubs with a history.

The game has changed significantly and will continue to do so whether the supporters of certain clubs like it or not. Football at the highest level is big business and attracts the sponsorship it does because the sponsors wish to tap in to the disposable income of the fans and ride the back of the advertising that flows naturally from the success some clubs achieve. Long gone are the days of the cloth-capped, hobnailed-booted, chimney sweep making his way, rattle in hand, to cheer on his team at Anfield on a Saturday afternoon. I have explained that there will be changes, probably within the next 8 to 10 years, which will force the restructuring of all of the leagues in Europe and likely do away with the likes of UEFA.

This will be a case of getting with the game. I will try to referred to this as the "Post Apocalyptic Zombie Scenario" from now on.}

1.) 19 Apr 2021
19 Apr 2021 13:27:10
Who we thinking the extra 3 clubs are? I thought Porto, plus perhaps Ajax and Dortmund but Porto and Dortmund have both come out and rejected it 🤔.

2.) 19 Apr 2021
19 Apr 2021 13:16:27
Ed002 - very informative.
What about player transfers etc. Will they just continue as normal between different set ups?
And what do you think would happen if a player put country before club and decided not to join the breakaway. Would his current club be able to hold onto his registration and stop him from playing?

{Ed002's Note - That level of detail has not been sorted out but clubs won't stop players leaving if they want to stay in the existing structure.}

3.) 19 Apr 2021
19 Apr 2021 13:29:43
Thanks for a great response Ed very much appreciated.

4.) 19 Apr 2021
19 Apr 2021 13:42:19
Bayern psg and Dortmund would have probably been the 3 snell but as you say they have rejected it and now so have Porto.

If it brings a British league then I am all for it sick fed up of playing team 3/ 4/ 5 times a season.


I have also never been a fan of uefa.

5.) 19 Apr 2021
19 Apr 2021 13:56:44
this is the clubs pushing uefa due to recent delays. get this done or we're out.

6.) 19 Apr 2021
19 Apr 2021 16:07:39
I firmly believe that this is another move from the big clubs to try to force UEFA into offering them a bigger slice of the cake and a guaranteed place in the Champions League! It goes against everything we all hold dear in the football world, e. g. qualifying for Europe on merit. It is Americanisation of sport and will spell the end of football as we know it. Talk Sport are asking an interesting question on Twitter, what would your England XI be if players from the breakwaway clubs were banned - Some very strong teams are being suggested.