Premier League team reduction

[DI36O]

I have now read the whole proposal, listened to Rick Parry and Oliver Dowdell and taken on board all its facets.
There is no doubt that this will benefit the lower league clubs and preserve their existence which I think is essential to so many people and communities.
There is also no doubt in my mind that the top clubs are taking the opportunity to look after their own interests.
There has to be a balance and with discussion and bargaining I hope there will be.
Protecting clubs like Southampton and WHU seems bizarre, but a one vote per club system seems also wrong. Why should the Blades have the same vote in their first year back as clubs who have created the wealth that is being shared. Like any good business it should be a meritocracy with voting following success.
I fully understand those on here who see it all mainly from our angle and object to it in principle, but the benefits to the rest of the game , to women’s football , to grass roots football, to stadia and to communities make it a set of proposals well worth pursuing, but with amendments.
It is unfortunate that it was leaked to the press rather than put forward with all the reasons, but we are we are where we are, so let’s embrace change for the benefit of most if not, sadly, all.

It won't protect Southampton or West Ham. Imagine a vote is proposed regarding a European Super League or selling individual TV rights - neither helpful to those two but the 6 money clubs are all going to vote the same way. It's the number 6 that matters not the 9.

 

[I should coco]

Newcastle and Villa have spent more time in the Premier League than Man City.

That's a rather inconvenient fact if maybe they aren't that keen on the idea.

But then again say somebody like Southampton and West Ham are. It beggars belief how they have 'chosen' the 9.

 

[Fulwood Blade]

If this goes through you know what's next no promotion or relegation to PL that would be wank for football.

It would be called a franchise - just like American Sport at the top level is run.

It would of course open up football for Chansiri (if he REALLY is that rich) to but the massive SWFC into the "UK Premier League franchise Inc."

UTB

 

[Rochdaleblade]

Unless I've missed something Rochdale, I know the money goes to charity and I wasn't saying get rid of it?

Not a dig at you. Was pointing out that man utd and Liverpool want to get rid of a charity fixture, presumably to be able to play a lucrative fixture abroad instead.
When you think that the whole plan is designed to get more money for the big 6 to waste on wages for the likes of Pogba, Ozil and Bale it becomes ludicrous.

 

[Muttley]

You can bet your life who the losers will be.........

 

[Fulwood Blade]

It beggars belief how they have 'chosen' the 9.

Who the EXTRAS are is totally irrelevant to the big 6 - they just need the extras initially to kick it all off in the first place.

Once the Big six have room to amend the core rules into a franchise, which of course they will always have that money for - the others (extras) who will eventually make up the 16 clubs, because 16 clubs will be the ultimate intension is when football really does become a closed shop based entirely on who has the most money.

Ferrari have an exception in F1 - this will not have been lost on the big six either for where the premier League will eventually end up.

UTB

 

[bypassblade]

It would be called a franchise - just like American Sport at the top level is run.

It would of course open up football for Chansiri (if he REALLY is that rich) to but the massive SWFC into the "UK Premier League franchise Inc."

UTB

I was gunna say that but can't spell franchise lol

 

[Blade56]

Getting rid of the Charity Shield is a farce also, its only ne game for crying out loud, and why not rle out teams going abroad and playing pre=season tournaments instead!? Again, that'll never happen.

I think you might need a new letter ‘o’ on yer keyboard B4

 

[JimW1889]

There'd be nothing stopping 'the big six' removing Southampton, West ham and Everton's voting rights the second these new rules started.

 

[Rochdaleblade]

Why can't man utd and Liverpool form their own league with the new York Yankees and the Dallas Cowboys. They could compete to sell the most tatty merchandise to gullible morons in the far east.

 

[mcbladeface]

An opinion from a Liverpool forum:

We weren't far off having the likes of Brighton, Watford and Norwich denying us a title last season, just because they were scared of getting relegated. We also weren't far off having Saudi owners force on the League via Newcastle. We've got Man City trying to cheat their way to every trophy going. Any change that gives us more power to deny shit like that should be supported by us, to my mind anyway.

It's basically us and United saying we accept you aren't going to give us a bigger distribution of money earnt by the League, but the League is only what it is because of us, so you have to give us something. The £250 million for the EFL wouldn't be there without us.

Plus it's just a starting point.

 

[Sharrow Snuff Mill]

Yanks go home !

 

[Gimli]

An opinion from a Liverpool forum:

I’d be interested to see what other fans think about this. A Roy’s view from all 92 clubs is essential...

 

[Farnboroughblade]

Wouldn't it be great if the tables could be turned and the EPL voted to kick out Liverpool and Man U to allow them to pursue other opportunities to play wherever abroad and earn money. They certainly wouldn't be missed here. Although TV revenue income would suffer, but what the he'll if we got our game back to what it used to be before the Premier was formed.

 

[Danetheblade]

Would be the final nail in the coffin for football for me if this was to be passed.

 

[DI36O]

Wouldn't it be great if the tables could be turned and the EPL voted to kick out Liverpool and Man U to allow them to pursue other opportunities to play wherever abroad and earn money. They certainly wouldn't be missed here. Although TV revenue income would suffer, but what the he'll if we got our game back to what it used to be before the Premier was formed.

Would be happy with that. The only reason anyone needs more and more income is to try and keep up with the money clubs anyway so better to get rid of the problem in my view.

 

[Tony Currie]

Absolutely scandalous that an American - Joel Glazer is driving this.

1. Interesting that as the owner of Tampa Bay NFL he didn't propose anything like the NFL Draft which levels the playing field for clubs!
2. Which other league in the world has immunity from relegation? (hardly sporting). What's wrong with Manchester United going down?
3. I'm all for helping lower leagues (especially in the current climate) but the proposed £250 million is one big bribe to get Rick Parry on side). I bet he had previous input to this plan.
4. Where are supporters considered in any of this.
5. The proposal doesn't take account of the History of football, Americans have no idea grrr. Most teams go through good and bad periods some great examples are Leicester, Leeds, Forrest and Derby. That's the joy of football anything can happen, no additional benefits for certain clubs should be allowed.


Glad to see the premier league have come out firmly against this.

 

[Blade56]

Oliver Dowden says if Liverpool and Nanure press ahead the Gov will block the move and instigate a fan based review. This is the guy we need to get onside for the proposed PPV.

 

[guancheblade]

West Ham flirt with relegation most seasons. What's their reason for voting for it?

Less home match revenue. Less TV revenue. More chance of dropping out .................. perhaps? (depends on how many teams would be relegated)

Cos they will be able to vote for a new rule which prevents them ever being relegated no matter how shite they are on the pitch

 

[Varkanoid]

It wont happen its basically the Americans dictating how the PL shall be run and the PL themselves will never allow it. Its quite cheeky of them using the EFL clubs in trouble as a bargaining chip to show yes we will get you out of trouble and provide you with stability whilst underhandly they move to take further control of the EPL.

You never see anyone politically trying to do that in the US. Oh wait......

 

[mcbladeface]

Cos they will be able to vote for a new rule which prevents them ever being relegated no matter how shite they are on the pitch

To give them their dues, it looks like west ham have come out against it which is more than I expected from Karen Brady and those weird owners.

Premier League: West Ham are against radical Big Picture plans

 

[metalblade]

The thing that staggers me is the top six want to be able to veto takeovers of the rest of the teams in the Premier League. Talk about pulling the ladder up after you have reached the top. So if a billionaire decided to buy little old Sheffield United they could block the takeover as we might just break into their little clique.

 

[bypassblade]

In my time of watching football 55 years the only teams you could vaguely class as "big" were Man Utd, Liverpool & Arsenal, if being rich makes you big that's what allows City, Chelsea & Spurs into the clique.

City & Chelsea were perennial yoyo teams and Spurs not won league since 61, without their money Chelsea & City would not get above midway as they'd have no clout to buy the players they have.

Chelsea currently have 875 players out on loan and Abramovich is benter than a boomerang, ATM the PL are decrying this you watch they'll soon bend to Man Utd & Liverpool's tunes as they are shit scared of them. The next stage would be setting up their own streaming service and freezing Sky, BT and Amazon out that way all games would become PPV.

You could see lot's of teams fold or possibly merging "Joe Soap" does get no consideration in this and idea like this will just be the death knell of football, they are trying to "bribe" the EFL with 250m sweetener to put all the power in the hands of 6 clubs disaster time beckons.

If this comes off then footy is dead Man Utd & Liverpool should be expelled and not allowed back in, the starting point to this power game was when Man Utd were allowed to opt out of FA Cup but straight back in season after.

 

[mcbladeface]

EFL clubs are chomping at the bit to accept the offer and it's understandable why. £250 million bail out in the short term and then the offer of a tempting 25% revenue being shared among all of them along with the scrapping of parachute payments. The idea of the Prem being effectively closed off to them isn't a high price to pay if the majority were not realistically ever going to get there anyway. The prospect of parachute payments going and a bigger percentage shared would make the idea of just treading water in the EFL more economically viable.

Problem is that it just paves for the way for the likes of the big six to start pursuing more lucrative competitions outside of the premier league, if they think there's more money to be made as there almost certainly is. I highly doubt the top six would be prepared to start sharing 25% of the revenue they would make from exhibition PPV matches, champions league, Euro Super League etc etc and the more of these there are, the more the Prem money gets diluted. The EFL ends up getting 25% shared revenue of not very much.

 

[GVBlade]

Liver Birds and Newton Heath should piss off to a European League, and not be allowed back into the Prem.

 

[nopigfansintown]

This is a naked power grab. Dangle the carrot of a £250 million "moral" intervention and henceforth control the English game for eternity. This could be given purely based on future top flight revenues, over the length of the current TV deals; over an indeterminant period of time, hardly making a ripple to the current teams or this or next year's payout. It is not a great benevolent act, or huge short term sacrifice on behalf of the current clubs in the the Premier League. If enacted changes will all be in favour of the nine teams with special privileges - even more so in favour of the big six. Changes on top of the original plan will probably be done piecemeal in order to quieten down dissenters, but, in the end, we'll be left with a Spanish style game in which the big six become like the Real Madrid and Barcelona of English football. The TV deals will be divided largely between the big six, who will completely dominate the English football pyramid in a way that makes the status quo look like egalitarianism. Anybody outside of the top six will struggle to sustain themselves, and many clubs will go bust post Covid - the landscape of English football will have irrevocably changed. I'm loathe to bring politics into a football discussion, but if you look at the way the UN works, the Americans veto has meant they have effectively run the system even in votes in which they are massively outnumbered. This is no different. It's a battle for the soul of English football, and it's viability in the structure that it has existed in almost since its inception.The structure let's not forget that allowed this incredible wealth to be generated. They want the whole pie, not just most of it anymore...
By the way: If the logic they've extended for Everton, West Ham United and Southampton was extended to the 18 most consistent Premier League teams, United and Wednesday would be part of the elite junta. Funny that, eh? If this comes to pass, that's me done with football after 22 years as a season ticket holder.

Teams with the most top flight seasons: https://www.myfootballfacts.com/england_footy/football-league/seasons-in-top-flight/

 

[blade too long]

The only bit I agree with is scrapping the League Cup and the trophy

Complete waste of space

 

[metalblade]

Let the top 6 or even top 9 have their own mini league where they play each other 4x a season much like the Scottish Premiership I wonder how long the global interest in that would last, not long me thinks. When you have won the league 51 times like Celtic have it all becomes a bit meaningless and that is with a team that can't compete in Europe and would really struggle in the EPL. Top end Championship is about their level.
The format of the English game is the envy of the world even the Championship attracts more interest than the top leagues in all but a few European countries. If it is not broke don't fix it, that is not to say a few minor tweaks would not be welcome. A fairer share out of TV money for all four divisions is needed but those six richest clubs will do everything they can to make sure it doesn't cost them anything.

 

[SuperSonicBlade89]

I can see this "Super league" becoming like the old school WWF and WCW . Or maybe like what rugby league is to rugby union... completely separate.

Maybe Man U and Liverpool should bugger off and become the football equivalent of the Harlem Globetrotters. Nomads.

Some ideas I think are good... scrapping the league cup for one. No one really cares about it (unless you are in the final). The cup doesn't make sense anyway as it's a cup organised by the EFL... Yet PL teams play and dominate it. Maybe have it as a true EFL cup for EFL members only? That frees space for the precious big 6 at least

 

[benn5712]

Rename it the Harlem Globetrotter EPL. May become just that.
Could what's left of the 92 get back to footy as we know it?