Football League share of cash - 92 clubs flooding the market?

[Bovril 215]

Interview on the BBC, most of the interview isn''t great but a very interesting point at the end.

He stated that in the modern era the association has too many clubs to support with the ideal number around 20, max 25. It would compare to the NFL in America.

One day, will we see the ''Premier league'' with the same teams each year, given the same amount of cash with players being drafted from the ''amateur'' leagues (championship, league one and two)?

Looking geographically at a map of this year''s premier-league teams is extremely interesting, it is dominated by London, Birmingham and Lancashire with the two North-east clubs...imagine a club from each county competing.

I''m not for one minute suggesting this should happen, but it''s an interesting concept.

[Sephiroth Owa 0]

Funnily enough, I was talking to my dad about this the other day.Seeing how most of the NFL franchises are on a fairly even keel (one or two who tend to be there or there abouts every year), it might not be a bad idea. However, the main problem you would have would be the way our leagues would then interact in continental competitions. It would seem very disjointed if someone like Exeter had a flukey season for some reason representing down that way (Geography isn''t my strong point) and ended up in the Champions league, only for them to get crushed by the giants of Europe and making England a laughing stock. (Nowt against Exeter here :) )The other problem, I guess, would be for the fans in places like London/Brum/Manchester who support one of the major sides only to find themselves booted out of the premier league as one of their rivals is picked in their place.However, as you said, it is an interesting idea.

[Yellow Rose of Texas 0]

Aggh! So as an example of a team that has in fact been promoted from League 1 and are challenging for a playoff spot in the Championship he uses: Leeds..

Well of course Professor Cashmore...

[Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man 3,776]

Here is the [url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/9439080.stm]link[/url]...This guy is a lecturer of mine at Uni. Personally, I find him very interesting to listen to, and he is clearly a very educated bloke, but some of the stuff he says can be a bit confusing/strange sometimes...I also wish I am as cool as he is when I''m in my 60s.

[milehighcanary 0]

Sorry, I can tell you right now that the EPL doesn''t really have anything in common with the NFL, accept that it''s a sport.First, the reason teams in the NFL seem to come from nowhere and make the playoffs, or win the Super Bowl within a few years of having an awful season is because of the ''draft system''. The draft system works in such a way that the team with the worst record the previous season, is allowed 1st pick from the incoming new players for the next season. Therefore, overtime, a bad team can bring in the best talent offered for a few years and next think you know, they''re able to compete. The draft has multiple rounds each year and each round the worst team gets to pick from the best of the rest.This is the simplest definition of the draft. Trust me, it can become complicated.Second, the NFL has salary caps which prevent any one team from gathering together all of the super-star players. Therefore the athletic talent is spread ''somewhat'' across all teams.Third, there is no such thing as ''relegation'' or ''promotion'' in the NFL, which allows a losing team to mail-it-in half way through a bad season and begin to play their rookies, or youngsters at no real loss to a budget based on television deals, determined by which league they play in. So overall most NFL fans feel a sense of ''hope'' that their team will come good every ten years or so. This is something that doesn''t really happen in the EPL.

[Bovril 215]

Mile-high....that''s what I was getting at with the drafting system.

In your opinion, what do you think works better? the NFL system (evens out competition, but if you win one year, you potentially get bad players the next) or the EPL (certain teams dominate but relegation provides extra excitement for the whole table)

[Syteanric 1]

[quote user="milehighcanary"]Sorry, I can tell you right now that the EPL doesn''t really have anything in common with the NFL, accept that it''s a sport.First, the reason teams in the NFL seem to come from nowhere and make the playoffs, or win the Super Bowl within a few years of having an awful season is because of the ''draft system''. The draft system works in such a way that the team with the worst record the previous season, is allowed 1st pick from the incoming new players for the next season. Therefore, overtime, a bad team can bring in the best talent offered for a few years and next think you know, they''re able to compete. The draft has multiple rounds each year and each round the worst team gets to pick from the best of the rest.This is the simplest definition of the draft. Trust me, it can become complicated.Second, the NFL has salary caps which prevent any one team from gathering together all of the super-star players. Therefore the athletic talent is spread ''somewhat'' across all teams.Third, there is no such thing as ''relegation'' or ''promotion'' in the NFL, which allows a losing team to mail-it-in half way through a bad season and begin to play their rookies, or youngsters at no real loss to a budget based on television deals, determined by which league they play in. So overall most NFL fans feel a sense of ''hope'' that their team will come good every ten years or so. This is something that doesn''t really happen in the EPL.

[/quote]great post!the salary cap in the NFL also doesn''t stop players earning what they want. They can have as much money as the like as long as it doesn''t take a team over its cap.the penalties are not a slapped wrist. a big fine and a trade ban for a season plus a reduced salary cap mean teams take things seriously.The talent pool is spread across all teams. Imagine Fernando Torres playing for Blackpool, Rooney playing for WBA or Wilshere at Wolves... all very possible.a Salary cap which was enforced and adhered too so the big 3 didnt weed their way out of it would sort football out and in 5-10 years we would have a premiership where ANYONE could win it. getting promoted now would be massive.you cold spread this across all 4 divisions too. the NFL also has a shared revenue system where the team who finishes bottom (32nd) wins more money than the team who wins the superbowl. Cock-eyed? not so. The team who wins the superbowl gets Sponsorship money, prize money, TV money from a world wide audience over the course of the following season.... they will make more money over time than the team who finished bottom who get a massive lump sum.Best example - Arizona Cardinals 2008-2009, from whipping boys to superbowl in 1 season.i have been saying how the NFL model could save football... The premierleague wont want their image dented though. And imagine the hoo har if Sunderland won the title. a shame it wont ever be introduced.

[Old Shuck 183]

The leading Prem clubs are never going to look for, else push for change unless it is for their advantage. So nothing much will happen here in even the long term future which might lead to a more even distribution of money and the related more level playing field you would hope it created.

The likes of Man Utd et al pretty much run English football anyway. Its not so much the tail wagging the dog as the very tip of the tail wagging the rest of the dog, and, critically, the person holding the lead and who should, theoretically, be in control!

Whenever change of even minor seismic proportions is suggested, the big four/five etc all retreat behind the barricades and start threatening to quit the game in this country and join the much vaunted European Super League, negotiating their own in-house TV deals with it.

Quite why the rest of football panics when they moot this, I have no idea!

It would be the best thing that could possibly happen to English football. Do they really think interest in our national game would collapse with their withdrawl? No. Infact, it would be increased and enhanced. Do they think their fans would prefer a Euro Super League to playing in their own domestic league and cup competions? No. Would TV lose interest in the national game? No. Yes, of course-you''d get Sky signing up to show, "live and exclusive" the Pepsi Sony Euro Super Premier-Liga", but the BBC/ITV/ESPN etc would fight over the domestic game, and yes, the TV deal might not be so massive, but it would be workable and lead to this level playing field (that phrase again) that we all hope to get.

Let it happen, let their be a split. Let Man Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool et al play Borussia Dortmund and Roma every week, reform the Premier League into two divisions of 18 clubs and go from there...

Is it Gartside at Bolton who has suggested no relegation/promotion from the/to the Premiership? That''ll happen eventually. The "rest" of football should act now, before it does. In anycase, Gartside and Bolton might actually have a chance of winning a reformed Premier League. How sad is it now that at least 16 clubs hopes and ambitions rest on just staying in the league, by whatever means, for the sake of income and financial suistainability, rather than the chance of sporting success?

[milehighcanary 0]

[quote user="Bovril"]Mile-high....that''s what I was getting at with the drafting system.

In your opinion, what do you think works better? the NFL system (evens out competition, but if you win one year, you potentially get bad players the next) or the EPL (certain teams dominate but relegation provides extra excitement for the whole table)[/quote]Good question, Bovril.For me the NFL draft system operates for the benefit of the sport and the fans, while the EPL system operates for the benefit of the owners. I can not pick one over the other, since both have positives and negatives. IF I had to pick one system over the other, I would pick the NFL system. But then I''d like to see relegation/promotion fights in the NFL.The only change I would like to see introduced into the EPL is a salary cap. This change will prevent the few clubs collecting all the talent. And as rightly mentioned by Jas, a team could still pay a Tevez or Rooney an exorbitant amount of money, but it would then have to be compensated elsewhere in the club. Regarding promotion/relegation, I can''t see why the system would want to be changed, accept by those who fear dropping out of the EPL and losing the financial benefits and thus, their poor business models and practices being exposed, and the club falling into administration.The other change I would like to see enforced is that ALL teams playing league football must do so within sound financial guidelines and practices. It truly burns me that clubs such as Manchester United are able to operate under such huge debt loads and clubs like Portsmouth are not shut down for good. What kind of message does this send to those clubs who are operating within fiscally sound methods? It is truly beyond my understanding how such unsound behavior is not vehemently crushed and the clear message sent to all, since such behavior truly threatens the very foundation of English football.

[Nuff Said 5,081]

Old Shuck, that is absolutely spot on! Good riddance to the "big" four (or five or six) I say. Let them take their glory hunting fans to Europe and leave proper football to the rest of us.