We Are The Reds

Get the garlic and the wooden stakes.

Charlie Stillitano discussed league restructuring with five English clubs
• ‘What would Manchester United argue: did we create soccer or did Leicester?’

http://www.theguardian.com/football/201 ... stillitano

Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri has said the mooted European Super League would be against the spirit of sport and represent a case of big-name clubs punishing smaller ones for their own failings.

http://www.theguardian.com/football/201 ... per-league

In case you missed it, Stillitano held talks with representatives from Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and the two Manchester clubs this week in regards to the International Champions Cup, an annual summer tournament organised by Relevent Sports which is held across the US, Australia and China and in which they have all participated at one time or another. Stillitano is Relevent’s chairman and while in the company of Ivan Gazidis, Bruce Buck, Ian Ayre, Ed Woodward and Ferran Soriano, the New Jersey native confirmed that they also discussed “restructuring the Champions League”. And by restructuring, he means bolting the doors shut to anyone outside the elite.

http://www.theguardian.com/football/201 ... -leicester

Once again this is raised. It is a mad idea as it effectively reduces the interest of the Champion's League to the fans of those respective clubs.

It is primarily a business plan built around raising the value of clubs and their income streams; a plan in which the good of football plays no part.

If those clubs left for a European Super League would they be allowed to continue in their domestic competitions? Probably not.

Sums it all up very nicely IMO.

Haha well summed up, it's really a stupid idea and is rightly being shot down by all and sundry.

I'm actually against the idea on balance but I'm going to play devil's advocate.

A European super league, if done properly, could actually be good for a lot of european federations.

Here's the model (note take no offence to team names and cities, they're just examples):
1. Take the biggest clubs in Europe (in terms of supporters) and hand them licences:
Barcelona
Real Madrid
Manchester United
Arsenal
Chelsea
Liverpool
Man City maybe
Bayern Munich
Borussia Dortmund
Juventus
AC Milan
etc
These provide an already massive demand for sponsorship, TV rights
2. Create licences for large population centres that haven't been covered by the big clubs you've handed licences to and allow very rich people to bid for them:
Paris
Vienna
Stockholm
Glasgow
Copenhagen
Warsaw
etc
I probably missed some huge ones (and some you may say have big enough clubs already).

Depending on how many clubs you have, you may run this as a traditional league or something like the american conference system with playoffs that many of their pro sports run.

The viewership and therefore sponsorship and broadcasting money would blow anything currently in place completely out of the water (including the NFL super bowl). Having big teams in cities that currently have relatively poor local support due to the easily accessible "bigger leagues" in Europe will be eliminated, bringing additional funds and development to the local game.

Like I said, on the balance of things I think the current system is better but it doesn't necessarily have to be just a matter of the rich clubs getting richer.

No offense mcjules but no, no, no.


http://www.theguardian.com/football/pic ... nted-elite