Viper Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 Breakaway teams and super-leagues apparently aren't just for US college football anymore. There is now growing support among some clubs in Barclays Premier League - particularly the foreign-owned ones - to abolish promotion and relegation, at least to/from the PL itself, in favor of an American-style franchise model - in effect, to break away from the English football pyramid.Needless to say, this idea has produced a media storm in the UK and beyond - including from at least one seemingly unlikely source - comparable to the backlash against college football realignment in America, and rightly so. Going closed-shop would turn the Premiership into basically MLS on steroids. In any case, on the face of it, such a move would appear highly unlikely; even if the PL ever reaches the 14-club (2/3 majority) threshold needed to approve it, the FA would have veto power and almost certainly use it. On the other hand, as the Michael Cox article points out, "But then, the more the Premier League's global appeal widens, the less influence the FA has. It had the chance to veto the idea of the Premier League back in 1992 and chose not to. It now has less influence upon decision-making within England's top flight than it ever expected, and ideas it rightly considers crazy are no longer completely unrealistic." In other words, if the PL ever does get serious about dumping the promotion/relegation model and is willing to go to the mat for it, the FA may simply not have the wherewithal to stand in their way for long. A scary thought indeed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeaTac Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 You do not want to piss off English football fans! Seriously! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seadragon76 Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 You know, if they do go with the American style system here, it would kill off a huge part of the enjoyment for many people, and that is the race to see who can avoid getting relegated to the next league down.The lower leagues suffer because their best teams cannot move up to the Premier League and get a piece of that massive monitary gravy train it has.To me, it would make the EPL boring... It's more fun when you know that new teams are in it every year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeaTac Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 These rich American or Non-English owners of EPL clubs are greedy little bastards aren't they. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viper Posted October 20, 2011 Author Share Posted October 20, 2011 You know, if they do go with the American style system here, it would kill off a huge part of the enjoyment for many people, and that is the race to see who can avoid getting relegated to the next league down.The lower leagues suffer because their best teams cannot move up to the Premier League and get a piece of that massive monitary gravy train it has.To me, it would make the EPL boring... It's more fun when you know that new teams are in it every year.Hence my "MLS on steroids" comment in the original post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gothamite Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 Obviously a terrible idea. Promotion and relegation make the end of the Premier League season about the most meaningful and exciting on the planet. The Green Bay Packers Uniform Database! Now in a handy blog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viper Posted October 20, 2011 Author Share Posted October 20, 2011 These rich American or Non-English owners EPL clubs are greedy little bastards aren't they.It's not just greed, but vanity. The American owners may be leading this charge, but I don't doubt that the likes of Abramovich and Sheikh Mansour wouldn't mind a closed shop either. After all, they didn't sink hundreds of millions of pounds into their respective PL clubs just to end up slumming it in one of the lower divisions. And yet, there are only seventeen "guaranteed" PL spots. Once the league gets its 18th ultra-wealthy owner (which is just a matter of time), even the sugar-daddies are no longer safe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crashcarson15 Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 Supposedly, American owner of Aston Villa Randy Lerner is not on board with this plan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NEW.ERA Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 This is a real piss off to fans of clubs who don't spend a lot or really can't. Wonder if clubs like Newcastle, Fulham, Everton, Sunderland, Bolton say screw you to the Big 5 and go back to the League and play the game how was meant to be, with promotion and relegation. JETS|PACK|JAYS|NUFC|BAMA|BOMBERS|RAPS|ORANJE| Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rvrdgsfn Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 This is a stupid idea that I would hope that would never come to happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dfwabel Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 These rich American or Non-English owners of EPL clubs are greedy little bastards aren't they.MOD EDIT: Let's limit discussion to the subject at hand and refrain from taking personal shots at one another. As for the EPL, half of the current club owners are not from the UK. But some clubs are not happy with native owners. QPR had Bernie Ecclestons as owner and he did not spend money. They want to end regulations since do not make as much $$ from going down. They get one to two years of EPL TV money in the NPower league. Sure, winning the FA Cup or still going into the Europa League is good, but the $$ in the EPL and Champions League dwarfs it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Admiral Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 As best I can tell, there are four or five teams in the Premiership that can realistically contend. Then there are about ten teams that play out their seasons in relative security. Then from there you have the whole underclass of teams that are perpetually moving up or down and are never real threats to contend. I don't get why so many people bust a nut over this system; it's even more inequitable than any of ours. ♫ oh yeah, board goes on, long after the thrill of postin' is gone ♫ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gothamite Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 Not when you consider all 90 English teams, it isn't. There's a real meritocracy at work - good teams get to earn their way up the ladder, while bad clubs sink to their level. The Green Bay Packers Uniform Database! Now in a handy blog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viper Posted October 20, 2011 Author Share Posted October 20, 2011 This is a real piss off to fans of clubs who don't spend a lot or really can't. Wonder if clubs like Newcastle, Fulham, Everton, Sunderland, Bolton say screw you to the Big 5 and go back to the League and play the game how was meant to be, with promotion and relegation.As mentioned in a couple of my links, Wigan Athletic has already threatened to do just that. Of course, there's a good chance Wigan will be leaving the PL the old-fashioned way before it ever goes closed-shop, so they may just be playing Hank Jr. to the Big 5's ESPN/MNF here (i.e. the old "you didn't drop us, we quit" game). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeaTac Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 These rich American or Non-English owners of EPL clubs are greedy little bastards aren't they.MOD EDIT: Let's limit discussion to the subject at hand and refrain from taking personal shots at one another. As for the EPL, half of the current club owners are not from the UK. But some clubs are not happy with native owners. QPR had Bernie Ecclestons as owner and he did not spend money. They want to end regulations since do not make as much $$ from going down. They get one to two years of EPL TV money in the NPower league. Sure, winning the FA Cup or still going into the Europa League is good, but the $$ in the EPL and Champions League dwarfs it. MOD EDIT: Once again... let's focus on the subject at hand, folks. There's no need to to attack one another.I apologize. I should have just blown it off and not let him get to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bosrs1 Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 Not when you consider all 90 English teams, it isn't. There's a real meritocracy at work - good teams get to earn their way up the ladder, while bad clubs sink to their level.I agree at every level below the Premiership. But once you get to the Premiership level it really is a system that has an elite class of 5 teams that are the only ones with any realistic shot at winning it. You have about ten teams or so that are near as makes no difference locks to just float around mid table with no real threat of dropping out and no real chance of winning it, they just kind of "exist" to lose to the top teams. And you have the 5 or so spots that are the scraps given to the few unfortunate teams that come up only to get knocked back down a season or two later. I mean it's only October and it's pretty much a foregone conclusion that the champion for the Premiership will be coming from Manchester... boring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saintsfan Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 This isn't going to happen. Ever. The culture of soccer in England won't allow it. First off clubs the size of Wigan, Bolton, Wolves will be playing to half empty stadia for half the season. Big clubs don't need the protection, small clubs need the competition of relegation. Secondly the way this came out was precisely so any idea of it could be shot down by fans, players, management, as has happened. It was a warning shot to any owners even thinking like this. 2011/12 WFL Champions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattwswfc Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 This concept would be outrageous. They are talking about keeping the teams they have in a the moment, and leaving out many teams that were original members.For me this is bad as I am a Sheffield Wednesday fan and they currently reside in the 3rd tier of English Football, they have fallen from grace (especially seeing as they were one of the 'Big Six' to come up with the breakaway Premiership).Like Sheffield Wednesday though their are Premier League calibre clubs outside the top division e.g. Southampton, Leeds United, Derby County, Sheffield United, Birmingham City, West Ham, and even 2 time European Cup winners Nottingham Forest.I am sorry but if this is going to happen I am sure that it wouldn't go down to well with the fans of the 'top flight' clubs that aren't in the Premier League. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wildwing64 Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 It's really a cultural thing at the end of the day. North American sports have developed around franchise-based systems in leagues while European football/soccer leagues have always used the promotion-relegation system. Fans - as well as owners - on both sides of the pond have grown up with their respective systems, and any change either way would be considered catastrophic. PotD: 24/08/2017 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bosrs1 Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 This isn't going to happen. Ever. The culture of soccer in England won't allow it. First off clubs the size of Wigan, Bolton, Wolves will be playing to half empty stadia for half the season. Big clubs don't need the protection, small clubs need the competition of relegation. Secondly the way this came out was precisely so any idea of it could be shot down by fans, players, management, as has happened. It was a warning shot to any owners even thinking like this.I agree that there would be a massive backlash. I mean just look at the rows that occurred when the Glazers bought Man U or even worse when Wimbledon FC tried to move 35 miles in a "franchise" like move. They were disowned by virtually every fan the team had, banished from all fan related groups (which are big over there), and forced to rename themselves and eventually to retroactively renounce all ties to their former history and give it back to the council in Wimbledon (an English twist on the Cleveland model). And that was over a move most in the US would consider relatively insignificant. They try to do this locked premiership and the only thing it will result in is the eventual death of the premiership as the fans and money would go right back to the FA. Some teams would break away and relegate themselves in protest to the Championship and the ones that didn't would quickly find their former fans forming FC United of Manchester and AFC Wimbledon type breakaway teams to take their place.That's the one thing I've always respected about their sports model, yes the leagues are far less stable which can be very bad for the individual fan and for the teams that get relegated. But at the same time it gives the fans a level of power if their teams start being run poorly or contrary to what they'd like that we just don't have over here (AFC Wimbledon being the best model I can think of off hand. I mean heck they're only one level below the remnants of their old team at this point). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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