The Football News Thread 2020/21

[Alan]

For now, I'm just grateful it isn't happening.

As for the clubs involved, I'm not sure what should happen to them. Anything serious is likely to seem draconian. Equally, I don't want it to just be a slap on the wrist.

 

[The Saturday Boy]

Let the six sort themselves out. They have burnt many bridges with the governing bodies, other clubs, their own supporters and supporters of other clubs. They have damaged themselves and probably reduced their power and influence in the game because they have learnt their power has limits.

 

[WolfmanOz]

Good article this:

We have won this battle; now use that anger to win wars

This is a call to arms. This is a once in a lifetime moment to reclaim football. We cannot afford to miss it.

www.football365.com

Somehow I can't see any sanctions/penalties issued by the powers that be, more's the pity. But something has to change to ensure this is never attempted again.

 

[Tredman]

Bunch of cowards don’t even have the bollocks to follow it through.

 

[James]

A bunch of cowards that are also scared a government review will finally stop them having total control of the clubs.

50+1 rule would be the best thing we could pass at this point to stop this cropping up again!

 

[Tredman]

I admire your optimism that the government review will ever be anything more than convenient PR move - our government are hardly likely to make a move against a bunch of rapacious capitalists; I mean who would pay for their new makeovers?

 

[SLB]

Imo this Superleague thing was just an act. So that the new Champions league doesnt get much attention. 24 teams from the big 5 (always wonder why France is called a big one when only once a French club was european champion), and 12 teams from the rest of europe. There is even a place for EPL (well we all know its for EPL) team that might have a bad season and not qualify.

 

[Tony Towner]

I also don't understand how you'd unpick it. Let's say Wolves is worth £300m and we have 50,000 who'd invest, that's 3k each to get to the 50%. Is that practical and what do you get for that other than a notion that you have a say in the running of the club - which you don't really? It also assumes that Fosun would be happy with that arrangement. When Pompey were fan owned it all went a bit Animal Farm (not that one)

 

[Tredman]

You could make it voting rights rather than ownership I suppose.

 

[Pompey Wolf]

I also don't understand how you'd unpick it. Let's say Wolves is worth £300m and we have 50,000 who'd invest, that's 3k each to get to the 50%. Is that practical and what do you get for that other than a notion that you have a say in the running of the club - which you don't really? It also assumes that Fosun would be happy with that arrangement. When Pompey were fan owned it all went a bit Animal Farm (not that one)

The only thing I ever remember them voting on was the vote to sell out again. Which worked out great.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Germany isn't the utopia it's painted as.

Let's face it, Leipzig are now odds on to make the Champions League every year and they're as apposite to the fundamentals of that system as you can get.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

Let’s not jump into a knee jerk idea about 50 plus 1.

a) it works in Germany because EVERY club has it. You only need one club to refuse and it falls on its arse.

b) Imagine you are a billionaire who wants a club. You aren’t pumping hundreds of millions in when you can’t make any decisions. It’s a disincentive to invest.

c) these clubs are often already 100% owned by the big cheese. In order to issue new shares to create a 50 plus 1, they have to first pass a shareholders resolution to relinquish their pre-emption rights to purchase the new shares to the same percentage of the company that they already own. IE all of them. This is to protect shareholders in companies from having their shareholding diluted by the issue of excessive new capital and has been enshrined in English company law since Jesus was in short trousers. There is absolutely no incentive for a 100% owner to do this.

 

[Tony Towner]

Perhaps it isn't this simple, but in my mind all that needs doing is that the PL writes a clause into it's membership that says what will happen to any team attempting to do this in the future - expulsion and a fine of £200m. The current ownership have been weakened to the degree that they'd have to sign it and you make it a condition which needs to be signed by any side seeking promotion and any new majority shareholder in the existing clubs

 

[AndyWolves]

Germany isn't the utopia it's painted as.

Let's face it, Leipzig are now odds on to make the Champions League every year and they're as apposite to the fundamentals of that system as you can get.

I think Leipzig exploited the "loophole" that clubs can refuse membership applications and only accept them from people they want. So, they only accepted applications from people who worked for Red Bull. Pure coincidence I'm sure!

 

[AndyWolves]

Perhaps it isn't this simple, but in my mind all that needs doing is that the PL writes a clause into it's membership that says what will happen to any team attempting to do this in the future - expulsion and a fine of £200m. The current ownership have been weakened to the degree that they'd have to sign it and you make it a condition which needs to be signed by any side seeking promotion and any new majority shareholder in the existing clubs

IIRC there are already clauses in which cover this, but I don't think the punishments are defined for this circumstance.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

I think Leipzig exploited the "loophole" that clubs can refuse membership applications and only accept them from people they want. So, they only accepted applications from people who worked for Red Bull. Pure coincidence I'm sure!

They're absolute shitheels.

Also Bayern trample any domestic competition and turfed 1860 out of the Allianz when it suited them.

Want to go and see St Pauli these days? €30+ for most tickets. Second tier football.

Köln appointed a new manager the other week, he used his first post-match interview to comment on how his team were well beaten because the opposition have black players and they're fast and all that.

Don't get me wrong, there are things we could learn from them but most of the assumptions about German football are either vastly outdated or overstated (or plain wrong).

 

[Banjo]

Given how much these clubs have overplayed their hands, there surely is no better time to clip their wings and take away some of their power.

I accept the argument that both UEFA and the PL need these clubs to sell their competitions, but some of these club 'brands' (e.g. Spurs) haven't exactly been tearing up trees on a global scale and could easily be replaced in the minds of global TV fans by e.g. Leicester, by allowing Leicester to compete at the highest level on merit.

 

[AndyWolves]

There isn't a magic bullet for this. This is what capitalism does, tries to find a way to extract as much money as easily as possible and damn the consequences.

If we're scared that the game will lose money or investment then we'll continue to have these kinds of things happen. The days of benevolent owners are diminishing.

 

[The Bear]

What a pathetically unapologetic statement from Man Utd:


"Manchester United will not be participating in the European Super League.

We have listened carefully to the reaction from our fans, the UK government and other key stakeholders.

We remain committed to working with others across the football community to come up with sustainable solutions to the long-term challenges facing the game."

 

[lemonjelly]

Quite noticeable that there is a significant lack of contrition or apology from the clubs involved.