[hibeejim21]

Who defines "Big 6?"
Can somebody quantify, please? Is it temporarily somebody's perception at Sky, say? Lineker? Johnson? Prince Charles?
Man City were never "Big 6" until the Sheikh Takeover in 2008. Nor do Chelsea or Spurs qualify, for that matter. If The Sheikh had bought Bournemouth a couple of years ago, and they won everything, would they qualify?

What about Everton or Villa or Newcastle? These are "bigger" Clubs.

It's a joke mate.

It's about who has the largest fanbases in the emerging markets. This isn't a negotiating tactic to force concessions from UEFA either, its gone way too far for that now and governments are now wading in.

It can GTF as far as I'm concerned, I'd rather watch hibs play on a cold, wet night at Dingwall than this corrupt shit.

[theo_luddite]

It's telling that of the 3 clubs that will make up the other 3, PSG and Bayern Munich are distancing themselves and nobody is saying who the third club will be but my guess that we get 6 clubs because we can "negotiate better terms with the TV guys" is sticking in some clubs throats when throughout the Prima Donna League years we've rarely won either of the European competitions.

So, since football was invented in 1992

Champions League (or whatever name you care to use)
1990's - 1 Man U
2000's - 2 Man U & Liverpool
2010's - 2 Chelski & Liverpool
2020's - not so much as a semi-finalist last season, we've got 2 this season.

UEFA Cup/Europa League and it's variants
1990's - nobody
2000's - 1 Liverpool
2010's - 3 Chelski (2) and Man U, the 2nd Chelski win was v Arsenal
2020's - we've got 2 semi finalists this season too

Hardly stellar is it?

I may have stumbled across why Spurs apparently qualify for this without winning anything of note since Danny Blanchflower retired.

They are third in this list

[hibeejim21]

To be fair though UEFA cant really complain too much, they have laid the path for this destination for many years now.

[St Charles Owl]

To be fair though UEFA cant really complain too much, they have laid the path for this destination for many years now.

I agree, the changes to the European Cup over the years has slowly but surely created this so called Top 6 and given them the advantages they needed to be able to make this final move.

Jim, do you think Celtic and Rangers would have any interest in this?

[theo_luddite]

Well, when clubs see/hear how awash with cash UEFA and FIFA are (or were) and how they, er, distribute the funds it's no surprise that someone is going to come up with a different way of distributing those funds under the guise of a different competition is it?

When I look at Town accounts from the promotion season to the first season in The Prima Donna League,,
We went from
Turnover - £15.8m to £125.2m and a big chunk of that £15.8m was player bonuses for getting an unexpected promotion, it was about a third to half of that the season before.
Wages - £21.7m to £62.6m - see above ref bonuses, not hard to see why we made a loss to go up, plus we spent the thick end of £50m on transfers and some folk ask where did the money go?
Directors remuneration - £290K to £660K (because they were working 2-3x as hard to keep us up in the Prima Donna League, obviously).

Now, we have as much chance of Champions League /UEFA whatever competition that will become as you but when a Liverpool (for example) can't afford a player a Man Ure wants when they are in the same competitions, but there's a few hundred billion and more washing around in the coffers of UEFA that they can't explain away properly (or perhaps, how they give it away properly), is it any wonder they want to get their hands on it?

The good I can see from this is that if, and it's a big if, they aren't allowed to play in the Prima Donna League etc, then you don't get agents comparing their lesser offerings at the West Brom, the Towns (if we ever return) or the Newcastle's to their offerings at the big 6 and saying - they are in the same league, they deserve the same pay (or similar). Common sense won't totally return but if the biggest payers are Everton or West Ham then West Brom and the rest won't have to pony up as much as if the big payers are Liverpool, Man Ure and the like.

Apparently big clubs are now resigning from positions in UEFA too.

[Devongone]

To play football in this country a club has to be registered with the FA. Competitions also have to be recognised by a valid FA. If a club sets up a competition recognised as valid nowhere in the world, or involves itself in such a competition I would imagine that is one of the few offences big enough for FA registration to be taken away. The big six will become the equivalent of "flapper tracks" in greyhound and horse racing.

Once a club is not recognised by the FA surely all its players become free agents? They do not need to be banned. An unattached player could be selected for an international side, but I imagine most would maintain solidarity by not-selecting them. Equally such players could sign a second contract with another club of their choice, because their first contract would be deemed null and void because that first contract was with a non-existent club? Rashford could play wednesdays for Utd and at the weekend for Villa or PSG.

Equally it is a great opportunity for many clubs. Six teams exit the Premier League, six have to be promoted from the Championship and relegation will be cancelled in 2021. And that will operate down the tiers, so my club, Chesterfield just have to become one of the best six Non-League teams to return to the EFL to fill the spaces. So I reckon 36 clubs at least will be natural fans of the proposal. But sadly the proposal itself doesn't seem to have included German, French, Portuguese or Dutch clubs and big names like Celtic and Rangers are so far off the radar they aren't even registering a bleep in the cold wastes of the North Sea ..... so you can bet that will go down like a cup of cold sick.

It's a brilliant concept. If European football's rulers oppose it they could for instance effectively block these clubs recruiting young players who will not want to develop into a first teamer, or worse a failed first-teamer, banned in every other competition. The clubs would effectively gelded. with player-bases getting older and less able and attractive with every new season. Past it Arse versus Ancient Juve?

Do it, show us all how little our support matters. Do it, keep WBA up, promote Reading and Brentford and get Chesterfield back into the EFL. Twelve geese a-laying, but will the eggs be golden or addled?

Of course European competitions need reforming, so does our lovely EFL, but these clubs think they are looking at a handful of sweets, but they may well be suicide pills. They'll have asked the question, what is a football club and discovered there are huge elements rich men can't buy.

[hibeejim21]

To be fair though UEFA cant really complain too much, they have laid the path for this destination for many years now.

I agree, the changes to the European Cup over the years has slowly but surely created this so called Top 6 and given them the advantages they needed to be able to make this final move.

Jim, do you think Celtic and Rangers would have any interest in this?

They would have more interest in joining a UK based league I think SCO.

If it goes ahead it benefits them more to stay put, but only if UEFA and the leagues show their teeth.

[theo_luddite]

Once a club is not recognised by the FA surely all its players become free agents? They do not need to be banned.

Effectively they are banned. It's like a club not fulfilling it's fixtures which will surely happen if they don't withdraw from National Leagues before fixtures are published before next season and the club doesn't fulfil them. The players (as well as the clubs) are then fined by the local (probably county) FA or at the relevant level (which transfers to National and International FA's) and can't register or play again until the fine is paid. (Sunday League experience but it still applies wherever you are in the pyramid). For top players they probably spend more in an afternoon getting another tattoo on their forearm.

The club not wanting to compete in a league competition isn't much different from a club going bust and not being able to compete. However a club wanting to compete in a sanctioned league and an unsanctioned league is a different matter. The FA is within it's rights to ban them from the sanctioned league no matter what law suits the clubs want throw at them. Whether it makes financial sense for the FA to do it is another matter. Where the money flows is what will decide it all.

[Blue Baggie]

Ban Sky money entirely and return football to where it came from.

[drewks]

Actually, I don't care.
Good riddance to these clubs who have no interest whatsoever in their supporters - go and play in your stupid "super league".
When the dust settles our leagues will be better off without them and their once-supporters will have hopefully started following a different club, one that cares about history, allegiancies and their supporters