British Football League

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A British Football League is a sometimes talked-about association football league in the United Kingdom that could incorporate clubs from across the Home Nations. Its creation could involve the merger of the Scottish, Welsh, and Northern Irish football league systems into the larger English football league system.

A supporter of the proposal was the former chief executive of the SPL between 1998 and 2002.[1]

FIFA President Sepp Blatter,[2] has also reacted positively to such an idea, but would prefer in conjunction with the amalgamation of the four British football associations.

It is considered a possibility distinct enough that police in Scotland continuously review their anti-hooliganism framework in preparation for its creation.[3]

Contents

[edit] Arguments for

  • Clubs in the smaller Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish league systems would be more financially successful if exposed to the larger market and audiences. The Premier League television rights deals are worth billions of pounds, while the other leagues receive only a fraction of this.
  • Some of the largest metropolitan areas in the UK, such as Belfast, are poorly served by local football, due to the divisionThe largest Welsh conurbations in the Cities of Cardiff, Swansea and Newport and the area around the town of Wrexham are served by the presence of their teams in the English leagues. A wider British league could spark an investment in football in areas such as Belfast to tap local support, which traditionally rests with the bigger Scottish and English clubs anyway.
  • The UK is the only country to have multiple top-tier leagues covering similar-sized areas (within the People's Republic of China, excluded from the mainland football pyramid, lie the Hong Kong and Macau leagues, but they cover rather small areas). Considering the size of the UK, arguments about travelling long distances to matches fall rather flat.
  • Six Welsh clubs (Cardiff City, Swansea City, Wrexham, Newport County, Merthyr Tydfil and Colwyn Bay) already play in the English leagues, whilst two England-based teams (Berwick Rangers and The New Saints) play in the Scottish Football League and Welsh Premier League respectively.
  • Moving from one Home Nations' league to another is not unprecedented, even recently. Gretna F.C. (which is based just inside Scotland) moved from the English to the Scottish league system in 2003.
  • Scottish football, whilst occasionally brilliant, is rather stagnant due to the utter domination of the Old Firm, Celtic and Rangers and thus represents something of a dead end to prospective star players from abroad. These clubs would likely benefit from consistent, high-level competition.
  • Even accepting the special nature of the Home Nations, several foreign countries have a joint league system, (examples: France and Monaco; Switzerland and Liechtenstein; the USA, Canada, Bermuda and Puerto Rico).
  • A large number of Welsh, Northern Irish, and increasingly Scottish internationals play in the English league, and a combined league would allow crowds in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland to see their own internationals on a more regular basis.

[edit] Arguments against

  • Each Home Nation has its own national side, and so should have its own league system (although prior to the formation of the then League of Wales in 1992, this wasn't the case).
  • Other countries may use such a merger to justify demands that the Home Nations' national teams merge as well: a move that would probably be unpopular amongst the majority of the fans of those teams.[citation needed]The separate leagues are ingrained in British football tradition and culture.[citation needed]
  • Altogether, the four separate leagues currently receive eight places (including those in qualifying) in the UEFA Champions League; currently, the maximum number of places for an individual league is four, so a merger would have to reduce the total number of European places. The Old Firm in particular would lose their existing stranglehold on European places. Both clubs currently qualify for the Champions League on a yearly basis.
  • Determining the places of the teams would be very difficult; either non-English teams would start at the bottom of an enlarged English structure, or there would be a more complicated system.[citation needed] There would undoubtedly be harsh resistance from some lower English clubs if they are forced to make way in the league for non-English sides and lose status.
  • With the exception of the Scottish Premier League, the quality of league football outside England is relatively low, and it is likely few Welsh or Northern Irish league clubs would be capable of playing in the English Football League (even at the lower levels). The Scottish league is also an average league, and the teams (including those in the SPL) would arguably struggle against the larger, better funded English sides.[citation needed]
  • If successful, some other countries may demand to merge their leagues with their neighbours. UEFA and FIFA are both concerned about changes to the existing situation, fearing the creation of vast super-leagues that benefit only the biggest clubs, and not the game as a whole.[citation needed] The proposed Atlantic League was strongly objected to for this reason. There is a long-term fear of a breakway European Superleague.

[edit] Alternative proposals

The formation of a British league is merely a single proposal, and several other suggestions have been made to reduce the divide between club football in the Home Nations.

[edit] British Cup

A 'British Cup', that is a domestic cup competition involving teams from all league systems, has been proposed. Originally, the FA Cup included teams from across the United Kingdom, and this continued even after the Scottish Cup was established; Queen's Park of Glasgow reached the FA Cup final in 1884 and 1885. With questions being asked about the future of both the English League Cup and the Scottish League Cup, it has been suggested that they be merged into a single competition.[4] Other plans for the respective League Cups involve a merger between the later stages of the competitions,[5] and an annual play-off between the two winning clubs.[6] It is unlikely that any Welsh Premier League or Northern Irish side would compete in any of these configurations. A competition involving English and Scottish teams has been attempted before as the Anglo-Scottish Cup, but it was not a success.

[edit] Expansion of English Premier League

Since the weakness of the smaller non-English clubs and the need to establish the correct level at which each club should begin are cited as disadvantages of a British league, the directors of the larger Scottish clubs have mooted the separation of only their clubs, leaving the rest of the Scottish league system intact. Since the formation of the English Premiership, in 1992, the two Glasgow 'Old Firm' clubs, Celtic and Rangers, have sought, unsuccessfully, to negotiate their own entry into the break-away league. More recently, Hearts have established themselves as Scotland's third club and, under the ownership of the ambitious Vladimir Romanov, have been mooted as another club that may be strong enough to make the leap to the English top flight.[7] At one point Wimbledon F.C. were hoping to relocate to Dublin, expanding the Premiership into Ireland.[8]

Another possibility is to create a breakaway British Premier League, along the lines of the English Premiership several years ago, which would see the inclusion of top flight teams across the UK (primarily English and Scottish) on a voluntary basis. With the original separate leagues still intact it could then progress to the creation of a second tier of British football, etc. to create a smooth merger from the top down.

[edit] Atlantic League

Celtic and Rangers also considered joining an 'Atlantic League'.[9] This would have incorporated the top teams from Scotland, Portugal, Netherlands and Belgium. The plan was to have this competition work alongside the existing UEFA competitions. Clubs would also take part in their own domestic cup competitions, allowing them to maintain a link with their home associations. The idea was never supported by UEFA (who are against multi-national competitions outside of their own remit) and enthusiasm seems to have faded for this proposal in recent years.[10]

[edit] All-Ireland League

It is highy likely that in the near future the IFA and the FAI will organise an all-Ireland league, combining the top clubs in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.[11] The FAI Chief Executive John Delaney admitted that the new all-Ireland competition will probably happen, but not until the League of Ireland's existing television deal with Setanta expires in 2012.[12] The sports management company Platinum One proposed a league involving 12 teams: 8 from Ireland and 4 from Northern Ireland (including Derry City, currently playing in Ireland).[13] It is not yet clear whether the league would be made up entirely of existing clubs, or whether a franchise system (such as that used by Rugby Union's Celtic League) will be used, tapping into all the major Irish population centres. The proposals are still at a very early stage.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Dons chief backs British Cup. BBC News (12 June 2001). Retrieved on 2007-02-16.
  2. ^ Blatter praises Celtic Park. BBC News (27 February 2004). Retrieved on 2007-02-16.
  3. ^ Justice 1 Committee Agenda (PDF) p.27. Scottish Parliament (7 January 2004). Retrieved on 2007-02-18.
  4. ^ Illingworth, Colin (2 March 2006). League Cup: What’s the future of the competition?. Square Football. Retrieved on 2007-02-18.
  5. ^ Cole, Ian; Johnson, Dale (6 February 2002). English and Scots offered League Cup tonic. ESPN Soccernet. Retrieved on 2007-02-18.
  6. ^ Halliday, Stephen (17 December 2003). Scottish clubs back plans for British Cup. The Scotsman. Retrieved on 2007-02-18.
  7. ^ Graham, Sean (22 September 2005). Hearts: Will the bubble burst this weekend?. Square Football. Retrieved on 2007-02-18.
  8. ^ Soccer News, January 19, 1998
  9. ^ BBC SPORT | CELTIC | Atlantic League back on the agenda
  10. ^ Fifa Vp Warns Of Atlantic League Plans
  11. ^ BBC SPORT | Football | Irish | All-Ireland League plan reported
  12. ^ BBC SPORT | Football | Irish | All-Ireland warning from Delaney
  13. ^ All Ireland Premier League News. Retrieved on 2008-04-07.
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