Bold plan for Europe
When FC Porto, led by José Mourinho, won the Champions League three years ago, it was an aberration on a scale we may not fully appreciate for some time. In the past 15 years, only two clubs from outside Europe’s five biggest leagues have reached the final, Porto and Ajax.
If anything, the gap has grown this year. Europe’s “Big Five” — Germany, France, England, Italy and Spain — are likely to supply 13 of the 16 clubs who will qualify from the Champions League group stage. And the figure might have been higher if group F had featured more than one “Big Five” club, Manchester United.
Uefa’s brief is to safeguard and promote the sport within Europe. Yet its premier competition has effectively become a closed shop, limited to clubs from five nations and the 300 million or so people who live there.
There are two main reasons why this is not good for the game. The first is that some of Europe’s great historic clubs, many of them European Cup winners, such as Ajax and Benfica, are drifting towards obscurity. The fact that teams such as AS Roma, Valencia or Arsenal — with no European Cups between them — are considered bigger and more attractive than past ten years, only four of the 40 semi-finalists have been such outsiders. And in the past five seasons only one of them has reached the quarter-finals. every team outside the Big Five should make us wonder whether the European game is not losing part of its heritage.
The second reason is the kind that Uefa and the clubs are most sensitive to: it is financial. Uefa goes to each country and sells the competition’s rights to that nation’s television companies. Broadcasters care primarily about ratings, so they want to see as many clubs from their own nation advance as far as possible.
If you are a broadcaster from outside the Big Five, you will have realised that the chances of a team from your nation making it far in the competition are slim, so next time Uefa tries to sell its Champions League rights, you may as well bid less than before.
So how can the situation change? The clubs outside the Big Five need to improve to make the Champions League experience less of a foregone conclusion. That means improving the standard of competition they face, while helping them to generate more revenue. That is where regional leagues come in.
In 2001, Harry van Raaij, the former chairman of PSV Eindhoven, launched his proposal for an Atlantic League, which would include the best clubs in the Netherlands, Belgium, Scotland and Portugal. These clubs would break away from their domestic leagues and play each other instead (domestic cup competitions would continue as normal).
Van Raaij’s argument was compelling. First, the standard of competition for clubs within the Atlantic League would rise, making the teams better and helping them to attract better players, leading to a virtuous cycle that would further improve the quality of the league.
The Atlantic League would then be able to secure a comparable television contract to those enjoyed by the Big Five. From an advertisers’ perspective, it would represent a television market of more than 40 million, with an aggregate national GDP of £672.9 billion. The average attendance of a 16-club Atlantic League would be in excess of 30,000 per game — more than La Liga, Serie A and Ligue 1. Suddenly, the Big Five would become six.
Why stop there? Scandinavian nations are experimenting with the Royal League, which kicked off last week, with clubs from Norway, Sweden and Denmark. Throw in Finland and there would be a Scandinavian League.
While you are at it, introduce the regional leagues across Europe. How about a Balkan League, with Greece, Turkey, Croatia and Serbia? A tough sell politically, but what better way than sport to begin to heal old wounds? An Alps/Danube League could include Switzerland, Austria, Hungary and the Czech Republic. And an Oriental League would be made up of Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria and Poland.
Champions League places would have to be reassessed, but Uefa wants none of it. The governing body stresses the importance of domestic leagues and fears that regional leagues could foreshadow the feared independent breakaway European Superleague. But, in fact, it would act as a deterrent. Making clubs outside the Big Five stronger would help to diffuse power throughout Europe, making it more difficult for the big boys in England, Spain and Italy to lord it. It makes financial sense for everyone, too.
The good thing is that Uefa elections are around the corner. At least one candidate promises new ideas. This would be one of them. Michel Platini, are you listening? This could be your legacy to the game.
LEAGUE OF NATIONS PROPOSED NEW LEAGUES
League Population, GDP, Ave attendance
Oriental 114.8m, £610bn, 8,941
Alps and Danube 35.8m, £448bn, 8,283
Balkan 98.6m, £517bn, 14,402
Atlantic 42.3m, £672.9bn, 30,469
Scandinavian 24.4m, £429.8bn, 12,111
BIGGEST EXISTING LEAGUES IN EUROPE
League Population GDP Ave attendance
Spain 44.4m, £543bn, 29,205
England 50.4m, £950bn, 34,274
Italy 58.7m, £880bn, 19,405
Germany 82.4m, £1,331bn, 38,994
France 63.5m, £966bn, 21,832
Scandinavian League
United Tampere (Finland) HJK Helsinki (Finland) Haka Valkeakoski (Finland) TPS Turku (Finland) FC Copenhagen (Denmark) FC Midtjylland (Denmark) Brondby (Denmark) Aalborg (Denmark) Elfsborg (Sweden) AIK (Sweden) Malmö (Sweden) Djurgardens (Sweden) Rosenborg (Norway) Brann (Norway) Valerenga (Norway) Viking Stavanger (Norway)
Atlantic League
Celtic (Scotland) Rangers (Scotland) Hearts (Scotland) Aberdeen (Scotland) FC Porto (Portugal) Sporting Lisbon (Portugal) Benfica (Portugal) Braga (Portugal) Anderlecht (Belgium) Genk (Belgium) FC Bruges (Belgium) Standard Liège (Belgium) Ajax (Netherlands) PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands) Feyenoord (Netherlands) Heerenveen (Netherlands)
Balkan League
Panathinaikos (Greece) AEK Athens (Greece) Olympiacos (Greece) Aris Salonika (Greece) Fenerbahçe (Turkey) Galatasaray (Turkey) Besiktas (Turkey) Trabzonspor (Turkey) Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia) Hajduk Split (Croatia) NK Zagreb (Croatia) NK Osijek (Croatia) Partizan Beograd (Serbia) Vojvodia (Serbia) Crvena Zvedza (Serbia) FC Smederevo (Serbia)
Oriental League
Dynamo Kiev (Ukraine) Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine) Dnipro (Ukraine) Karpaty Lvov (Ukraine) Belchatow (Poland) Wisla Krakow (Poland) Legia Warsaw (Poland) Lech Poznan (Poland) Dinamo Bucharest (Romania) Steaua Bucharest (Romania) Universitatea Craiova (Romania) Timisoara (Romania) Levski Sofia (Bulgaria) CSKA Sofia (Bulgaria) Liteks Lovech (Bulgaria) Botev Plovdiv (Bulgaria)
Alps/Danube League
Rapid Vienna (Austria) Red Bull Salzburg (Austria) Austria Vienna (Austria) Sturm Graz (Austria) Young Boys Berne (Switzerland) FC Basle (Switzerland) FC Zurich (Switzerland) Grasshoppers (Switzerland) Sparta Prague (Czech Rep) Slovan Liberec (Czech Rep) Slavia Prague (Czech Rep) Banik Ostrava (Czech Rep) Debrecené (Hungary) MTK Budapest (Hungary) Zalaegerszeg (Hungary) Ujpest (Hungary)
