- British Football League
A British Football League is a proposed
association football league in theUnited Kingdom that would involve the merger of clubs from the present Scottish, Welsh, and Northern Irish football league systems into the largerEnglish football league system . It is considered a possibility distinct enough thatpolice inScotland have reviewed their anti-hooliganism framework in preparation for its creation. [cite web |url=http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/committees/justice1/papers-04/j1p04-01.pdf |title=Justice 1 Committee Agenda |accessdate=2007-02-18 |last= |first= |date=7 January 2004 |publisher=Scottish Parliament |format=PDF |pages=p.27 ]A supporter of the proposal was Roger Mitchell, the
chief executive of theScottish Premier League between 1998 and 2002. [cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/1385062.stm |title=Dons chief backs British Cup |accessdate=2007-02-16 |last= |first= |authorlink= |coauthors= |date=12 June 2001 |publisher=BBC News ]FIFA PresidentSepp Blatter reacted positively to such an idea, but said he would prefer this to be done in conjunction with the amalgamation of the four British football associations. [cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/celtic/3491692.stm |title=Blatter praises Celtic Park |accessdate=2007-02-16 |date=27 February 2004 |publisher=BBC News ]Alternative proposals
The formation of a British league is merely a single proposal, and several other suggestions have been made to reduce the divide between club football in the Home Nations.
British Cup
A 'British Cup', that is a domestic cup competition involving teams from all league systems, has been proposed. Originally, the
FA Cup included teams from across the United Kingdom, and this continued even after theScottish Cup was established; Queen's Park ofGlasgow reached the FA Cup final in 1884 and 1885. With questions being asked about the future of both the English League Cup and theScottish League Cup , it has been suggested that they be merged into a single competition. [cite web |url=http://www.squarefootball.net/article/article.asp?aid=2859 |title=League Cup: What’s the future of the competition? |accessdate=2007-02-18 |last=Illingworth |first=Colin |date=2 March 2006 |publisher=Square Football ] Other plans for the respective League Cups involve a merger between the later stages of the competitions, [cite web |url=http://www.soccernet.com/england/news/2002/0206/20020206supercup.html |title=English and Scots offered League Cup tonic |accessdate=2007-02-18 |first=Ian |last=Cole |coauthors=Johnson, Dale |date=6 February 2002 |publisher=ESPN Soccernet ] and an annual play-off between the two winning clubs. [cite web |url=http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/sport.cfm?id=1380832003 |title=Scottish clubs back plans for British Cup |accessdate=2007-02-18 |last=Halliday |first=Stephen |date=17 December 2003 |publisher=The Scotsman ] Cup competitions involving English and Scottish teams has been attempted before, in the form of theTexaco Cup and theAnglo-Scottish Cup , but these were not successful.Expansion of the English League
Supporters of the
Old Firm clubs, Celtic and Rangers, have frequently argued that they should be admitted into thePremier League , [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/celtic/1435355.stm Celtic set for English future] ,BBC Sport , 12 July 2001.] but the Premier League have consistently rejected this proposal. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/1707026.stm Premiership rejects Old Firm] ,BBC Sport , 13 December 2001.] With a direct path to the Premier League blocked, it was proposed that the Old Firm would join theFootball League instead. They would have then attempted to gain promotion to the Premier League in the same way as any other English club, but this proposal was also rejected. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/1683190.stm Breakaway league dismissed] ,BBC Sport , 29 November 2001.]At one point
Wimbledon F.C. hoped to relocate toDublin , which would have expanded the Premier League intoIreland . [ [http://archives.tcm.ie/irishexaminer/1998/02/07/phead.htm Soccer News, January 19, 1998 ] ]Atlantic League
Due to the possible paths to the English league system being blocked, the
Old Firm also considered joining an 'Atlantic League'. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/celtic/1468147.stm Atlantic League back on the agenda ] ] This would have incorporated the top teams fromScotland ,Portugal ,Netherlands andBelgium . The plan was to have this competition work alongside the existingUEFA competitions and their own domestic cup competitions. The idea was never supported by UEFA and enthusiasm seems to have faded for this proposal in recent years. [ [http://www.sportbusiness.com/news/141370/fifa-vp-warns-of-atlantic-league-plans Fifa Vp Warns Of Atlantic League Plans ] ]All-Ireland League
It is highy likely that in the near future the IFA and the FAI will organise an
all-Ireland league, combining the top clubs inNorthern Ireland and theRepublic of Ireland . [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/irish/7137981.stm BBC SPORT | Football | Irish | All-Ireland League plan reported ] ] The FAI Chief Executive John Delaney admitted that the new all-Ireland competition will probably happen, but not until the League of Ireland's existing television deal withSetanta expires in 2012. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/irish/7193678.stm BBC SPORT | Football | Irish | All-Ireland warning from Delaney ] ] The sports management company Platinum One proposed a league involving 12 teams: 8 from Ireland and 4 from Northern Ireland (including Derry City, currently playing in theFAI League of Ireland ). [cite web |url=http://www.allirelandpremierleague.com/news.html |title= All Ireland Premier League News |accessdate= 2008-04-07] It is not yet clear whether the league would be made up entirely of existing clubs, or whether a franchise system (such as that used by Rugby Union's Celtic League) will be used, tapping into all the major Irish population centres. However,John Delaney , chief executive of theFAI made it clear that theFAI League of Ireland was moving in the right direction already an that the idea was not valid. In September 2008, Fintan Drury said the idea had been abandoned as the company, Platinum One, and all Irish soccer clubs were assured that this idea was already being implemented in the current structure. This satisfied Fintan, and he withdrew the idea in the middle of the month.References
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