h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

"if you play in the English League then you should be able to represtent England in Europe."

If you play in the English league, you shouldn't be signed up to the Welsh FA. They (and Swansea) should be made to choose between the English FA and the League of Wales, or thrown out of the English League and English Cup competitions.

They can't have it both ways when it suits them and then complain because it doesn't.

How does it work for Berwick?

I'm pretty sure that Monaco are just treated as a French club full stop.

sprout

If Swansea and Cardiff were treated as English clubs, signed up to the English FA and were Welsh in geography only, I don't see that there'd be a problem.

It does all seem rather bizarre.

And since it's all down to money, I'll say I don't care and leave it at that!

It seemed to me that the author was rather clutching at straws to find ways in which the welsh clubs try to be English there. None of those things struck me as unusual. Surely all clubs try and bend the rules to sign players, there are plenty of examples of dodgy dealings throughout the English clubs.
And as to jinogistic singing - puhlease - noo surrrrender...

Why would the FA fine have been worse than the FAW one? It doesn't seem obvious to me. The FA seem regularly in the business of fining clubs like Manchester Utd paltry sums.


This sentence struck me:
"It used to be that Cardiff could enter Europe through the Welsh Cup anyway, but Uefa stopped that because it would not allow Cardiff to be registered in Wales while competing in England. Their most recent European campaign was in 1993-94"

So it's essentially impossible for Cardiff, Swansea and Wrexham to enter European competition then. Presumably if they won the Premiership they still wouldn't qualify for the same reasons as the FA cup. But they're prevented from qualifying via the Welsh cup too. Hardly seems fair to me. I don't know why they don't break away from the Welsh FA.

Just scanned this before I post it and reaslised its a bit of a rambling but Ive typed it now so your having it, but be warned.



All this is starting to put me in mind of 'Merican sports leagues or atleast the top layer of them.

Wage caps in this country wont work and/or quotas or anyother system if yet heard proposed wont work on the premier league unless they are imposed Europe and quite possibly world wide.

I know its pie in the sky but while its unfair to tie down players who have limited career window I think the only other way to stabilise football right now is to force clubs into longer contracts with their managers.

Fergie is the biggest reason why Man Utd are where they are, it all flows from him and the board who had faith in him.

Now if Boards were forced to limit themselve to signing one mangaer with a minimum contract of lets say four years and unable to sign a new coach or manager (barring death or compassionate leave) for the period of that contract they'd be forced to promote senior players if they shoved a manager aside.

This would encourage boards and allow managers to build for the furture.

Obviously not every team could or can be where Man Utd are but given time teams would slowly catch up and things could be competitive again as managers learn how to operate in the premier league or launch successful short term raids throught the revolving door of relegation/promotion.

The shortermism of the likes of New Castle has served to undermine their ambitious dreams more than riding things out through relegatin might have. Sam Allardyce is a damn good manager and I think he'd have brought them straight back up but I honestly cant see Keegan doing great things next season.

I went off watching The Albion simply because the board seem too keen to cash in on players who were doing well and too jittery about managers when results were going badly.


Well what's so bad about becoming more like the US sports structure? Well the top layer isnt a sports structure and teams or franchises are traded like companies and if one board or owner cant get a profit out of them another moves in chages things wholesale and sometimes even moves the team.

This thread has already mentioned the dreaded words fan-base we have Cardiff exploiting their fan-base or as they are known by boards of football clubs and the owners of sky "loyal suckers", whilst they operate where hey can get the best profile and revenue they place themselves physically where they can maximize profit and revenue.

I cant envisage Celtic or Rangers giving up virtually guaranteed top two status to fight it out with the big four int eh Premier league unless the revenue fromt he the EPL way outweighed what they can get from being in the Champions league but its not an impossibility by a long chalk.

It wuold have been unthinkable 20 or 30 years ago but TV has made it possible (and Im not blaming TV soley or possibly at all) for a cultural change. Everyweek people can salivate over perfomances like we used to see from Thierry Henri or like we seen now from Christiano Ronaldo. IN years gone by you'd go and see a few minutes of Dixie Dean at the cinema or yo'r fix would be watching some other team play your home team and the if you could you'd go and see another team somewhere else and then back to watching whoever was scheduled to play your team again. And that's all clubs had to build on.

Now that Man Utd have manufactured a head start and a few other teams have found fairy god mothers they can generate mre funds frmo their profile while other teams look on enviously and keep shooting themselves in the foot with short termism.

The answer for teams like Birmingham is obviuos get away from the crowded environment of ALbion, Villa and Wolves and Move to one of the rarely even quatre filled grounds in Nottingham and build a new fan-base in a new city.


I dont think that peoples passion for what goes on on the grass has changed much but the business and the manufactured euphoria over fleeting and ephemeral sucess that has been created and comodified by Sky and the press in this country has lead to kids who I know who dont watch football games. They watch clips of players doing step overs and scoring 30 yard screamers and support teams who do well and playin nice shirts. They dont support teams they support brands.

If you like football then the EPL is less and less of an attraction.

I never thought I'd read a football fan proposing franchise football.

i just got one thing to say about that.



MK Dons.

Phew, I'm glad that Liverpool or Chelsea will be in the CL Final - you see, this letter I read this morning clarified it for me:

None of the big four getting to the Semis "devalued" the FA Cup, thus making it a League Cup style "waste of time*", therefore to "revalue" the "EPL Brand" an "EPL Continental Success" is required.

I hate people. I really, really do.





*I know, try telling that to Spurs.

Im not proposing it!

Im saying that's where I think things are going.

I wonder if you said to whowever wrote the letter that none of those four getting to the final of the FA Cup devalued those clubs, as it has obviously enhanced Cardiff and Portsmout, if they'd give a printable answer?

Definitely going over to Rugby. If I can find a team in Sheffield with a nice emblem to go with my Owl tattoo.