The Premier League / European Superleague / Footballing Pyramid

[CoolClaret]

Given the news re: the FA Cup today, along with the game increasingly being catered to non-legacy fans & corporate offerings...

If the decision was down to you, would you have the 'top six' / 'big six' (whatever that means) leave to form the 'European Superleague' and to let the rest get on with a proper sporting pyramid, with a genuine chance of varying teams winning the trophy OR to keep the status quo as is?

For me it's a resounding yes - I would love for the the 'big six' to please take off and form a 'Super League' as I'm growing increasingly tired with the modern game; other than Burnley games & the latter stages of the Champions League I now watch zero other football offerings.

How about you, Clarets?

[Sausage]

I'd get rid of the Big Six in a heartbeat. And I'd throw Everton in too as a leaving gift.

I'd also support a boycott of next season's FA Cup.

[morninbob]

Who gets to decide who the big 6 are, what about villa/Newcastle??

[bobinho]

Yep, get shut of ‘em. Purely on the understanding that they ain’t coming back when the Arabs get bored and find something else to play with.

Everyone left then makes a “proper” domestic pyramid and a champions league. One generated by a clubs desire to be the best, not driven by greed like the current one is. Only one team from each country competes - the champions. It’s a league format with each team facing each other home and away. 3 for a win, 1 for a draw, nowt for a loss. Top of the league = best team in Europe and PROPER European champions. No play offs, no “plate” competition. Liverpool and manure and Real Madrid et al can be Arabian champions.

[CoolClaret]

Thanks for responding and not ensuring my thread had a metaphorical tumbleweed rolling through it!

How does it feel now to you as a Burnley fan now that our club is also complicit in the FA Cup ruling as one of the 'consulted' clubs and going forward are likely to be a club (until further notice at least) that sits on these sorts of sides of decisions in English Football that benefit just a small amount of clubs?

I find it quite hard to take, if honest.

[Rileybobs]

What about fans of the top six clubs though? Do they deserve for their club to be taken out of the domestic pyramid and into a European super league?

[Spijed]

And approval could soon be given for the 39th game to be played overseas (USA) as well.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2024/ ... ed-america

[SonofPog]

Firstly, lets talk about the new European Comp format. Its coming next year and I actually kinda like it. Yes the massive league is weird to look at at first. But with so many teams going into the playoff, it keeps almost everyone having a chance until the last game. There's also no "dropping down" for CL, to EL, ECL etc. The pot system keeps a nice balance between Giant games and smaller vs larger and Smaller vs Smaller games. No 6 defeats for the worst team in the group. With these changes, I'm not keen on forming a "super-league" any time soon


My quick fire fixes:

Reduce the PL (And indeed all leagues numbers, At lease in the PL and Championship)
Final Domestic game of the season is the FA Cup - Winner qualifies for the UCL
Any team in Europe doesn't play in the League cup. League Cup Winner qualifies for the ECL
Align the relegation from L2 as per all other leagues.

Massive increase in the payments from the PL into the FL. Hopefully this appeases the loss of FA Cup reply's, its kinda sad that the FL Clubs hang on to try to win the lottery ticket of an FA Cup run. Better to have a more leveled payment system imo.

PSR Rules that are sorted before the season starts and only takes into account 1 year - No double punishment (Like in Everton's case, they broke the rules they should be punished as per those rules, but doesn't make the rules good)
Allow owners to pump money into clubs - as long as it is not in the form of debt. No point turning off the taps now. Let the Saudi Oil money flow.

Anyway, my 2p

[Claretmisterg]

What about fans of the top six clubs though? Do they deserve for their club to be taken out of the domestic pyramid and into a European super league?

They’ll still have home games to attend, if they can afford the tickets. I’ve got a few mates who are big Man U fans since childhood because of Charlton, Best etc. But none of them have attended live games regularly since the 90s.

[Pickles]

If and when the top six (whoever they are?!) leave the Premier League then does it dilute the Premier League? Any winner of it could have an asterisk against their name, as they won it without the best teams in England competing. It could be "Best of the Rest" rather than Champions of England.

That being said, we do need to do something to protect the pyramid and I'm uneasy about Guardiola, Klopp, Arteta and the bigwigs at those clubs having such a loud voice and seemingly holding all the cards.

Worth remembering that the Super League wasn't a replacement for the Premier League and teams would play in both. But Super League matches would/could take place on a Saturday, I think. So it feels inevitable that clubs would quite quickly begin to prioritise the Super League over the Premier League.

[iwhi]

I'd get rid of the Big Six in a heartbeat. And I'd throw Everton in too as a leaving gift.

I'd also support a boycott of next season's FA Cup.

Hi, this is very out of the blue. But saw you mentioned a post about Graham White (Colne Chairman) and you weren't sure what happened along with multiple people. The story about him moving to Northern Ireland is not true haha, I don't think he's ever been to Northern Ireland for that matter. If you are still interest, (6 years since the post) would be more than happy to let you know.