Footie Canada Blog

Bolton chairman Phil Gartside proposed a two tier Premier League with 40 teams including the Old Firm. Why? Money, of course. I have neither the details of how precisely this would work nor the rationale as to how exactly it will improve the game but I am happy to learn that it has been rejected. Now it may be revisited once again, just as it was set aside earlier this year, so I’m pretty sure this isn’t the last we’ve heard of this idea or some variation of it.

The proposal, as it was leaked, potentially makes the drop out of the Premier League less financially devastating and therefore perhaps avoiding the massive financing crisis set to paralyze clubs like Hull. While relegation/promotion between the two tiers of the new Premier League was understood to continue as is, just how a club rises from the Football League into the expanded Premier League is less certain but it will most likely require minimum standards of finances and infrastructure, i.e. it will be harder to be promoted and not necessarily based on sporting achievement. As for the Old Firm, well both Rangers and Celtic believe they need to be in a bigger pond if they have any hope of retaining the lofty achievements for clubs of their pedigree and of course from the Premier League’s perspective, they must somehow see greater revenue.

I am not thrilled with this proposal because I find one of the most entertaining aspects in English football, and soccer worldwide generally speaking, is the common threat/reward of relegation/promotion. Take that away and the game loses much of what drives the season and therefore individual games at both ends of the table and throughout each nation’s pyramid. With this proposal I fear lower league clubs will truly become farm teams and barring a Saudi prince or Russian oligarch, promotion for small clubs will be even less likely than today while potentially driving imprudent financing farther down the pyramid. As for the Old Firm aspect, I do not see any significant increase in EPL revenues by reason of their admission because people all over the world are already watching the EPL, unless of course there is some sort of admission/expansion fee, but the precedent could devastate smaller leagues around Europe (e.g. Should Porto & Benfica joining La Liga? Or Ajax & PSV going to the Bundesliga?), Welsh pro clubs in English football notwithstanding.

In my opinion, or maybe this is just wishful thinking, this proposal didn’t have much chance as it was structured (hopefully for more than just the Old Firm aspect which the EPL seemed to find problematic) and I’m sure there are a number of technical reasons why this won’t work and wasn’t adopted. Although I wonder how many EPL decision makers and club chairs (and which ones at that) were tempted or at least encouraged restructuring the proposal. Afterall the proposal wasn’t trashed, it was set aside for future consideration (perhaps when the current TV deal expires). So while this fundamental shift wasn’t adopted, I worry about what sort of fund raising / parity inducing scheme is next. A draft? An annual all-star game? Salary caps? Three point range goals? Sadly, what I seem to be dreading, whether such a proposal is accepted or not, is if the EPL is learning a little too much from North American sports. Although my advice to the EPL is to preserve the integrity of your game, I wonder who the EPL decision makers in fact are, how they are changing, and whether they share the fans’ priorities.