This cuts through the ethos of sport and presents football as entertainment, supporters as customers and clubs as businesses. On that basis it is a legitimate model and puts the highest level of club football of par with WWE - revenue driven by TV money, advertising and corporate sponsorship. It is the obvious step to take if this is how you view football.
I am definitely in the opposing camp, a "legacy fan". The risk and rewards of an open competition are paramount. Wimbledon, Leicester City, Bradford, Barnsley, Bournemouth, Manchester City - all clubs that have risen from the lower leagues to compete at the pinnacle of domestic football. The Premier League is a qualified success, all of the so called big six have had to earn the right to play at a higher level of European competition and reaped the rewards, all have failed to do so at various time and have had to take the pain. As it should be.
The big six have now breached the rules of the Premier League and arguably it is a fundamental breach that goes to the very heart of the contract that exists between football clubs and the Premier League. They, not the Premier League, have breached that contract and they have done so during the season. They should be immediately expelled, their results for this season expunged and those left in European Competition should be expelled from those competitions too.
I do think there is some merit in the format though and if these clubs were to remove the requirement that they were in every season and accepted the need to qualify then there may be room for an agreement to be reached with the governing bodies.
