nudge Posted January 24, 2020 Posted January 24, 2020 Quote The possible arrival of the BeNeLiga is another step closer. The major clubs in the Netherlands and Belgium came to an agreement in main points on Thursday at a meeting in Eindhoven. The six largest clubs from the Netherlands (Ajax, PSV, Feyenoord, AZ, Vitesse and FC Utrecht) and five from Belgium (Anderlecht, Club Brugge, Standard Luik, KAA Gent and KRC Genk) were present at the meeting. In a joint press release they report that there are similarities on the most important points. The BeNeLiga, which should consist of ten Dutch and eight Belgian clubs, can start in 2025 at the earliest. Until that summer, the FOX Sports contract with the Eredivisie runs. After extensive research, consultancy firm Deloitte issued a positive opinion on the merger of the Dutch and Belgian competitions. According to Deloitte, there are significantly greater financial and sporting opportunities, which also trickle down to the national divisions that have to continue without top clubs. The plans assume a competition with ten Dutch and eight Belgian clubs. A promotion / relegation scheme will be introduced to the domestic competitions. With the BeNeLiga, the clubs want to compete with the five top European competitions (England, Spain, Germany, Italy and France). The clubs will work out the plans together with the KNVB, KBVB and Eredivisie CV football associations. In addition, there will be a study among supporters to test Deloitte's findings. https://www.tellerreport.com/sports/2020-01-23---major-clubs-in-the-netherlands-and-belgium-broadly-agree-on-beneliga-.BJ7UYwtwb8.html Thoughts?
Administrator Stan Posted January 24, 2020 Administrator Posted January 24, 2020 Interesting concept. Might help with competitiveness with Club Brugge playing and competing with the likes of Ajax. Belgian League right now looks so disjointed. Not that I follow it too much but the difference in points in the table is massive across the board. Think it takes a long time to compete with the big five Leagues across Europe though. They'll continue to grow at an alarming rate but perhaps together they can be quicker in closing the gap.
nudge Posted January 24, 2020 Author Posted January 24, 2020 9 minutes ago, Stan said: Interesting concept. Might help with competitiveness with Club Brugge playing and competing with the likes of Ajax. Belgian League right now looks so disjointed. Not that I follow it too much but the difference in points in the table is massive across the board. Think it takes a long time to compete with the big five Leagues across Europe though. They'll continue to grow at an alarming rate but perhaps together they can be quicker in closing the gap. Not sure how it will affect the smaller clubs that will remain in their respective domestic leagues though. With most of the money and interest shifting to the new joint league, domestic leagues will become second tier championships and will probably struggle with generating revenue?
Mpache Posted January 24, 2020 Posted January 24, 2020 No to this. It would begin encouraging a "European Superleague" and I don't think anyone wants that.
Berserker Posted January 24, 2020 Posted January 24, 2020 Seems like a good idea for them, the big boys from there will be able to compete in the UCL and EL with less of a disadvantage compared to the top 4 leagues deriving from a stronger financial position.
Danny Posted January 24, 2020 Posted January 24, 2020 Not very traditional but you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do to survive in this day and age, adapt or die. If the league brings in higher revenue streams to the clubs in it then fair play, thinking outside of the box.
Administrator Stan Posted January 25, 2020 Administrator Posted January 25, 2020 10 hours ago, Vader said: No to this. It would begin encouraging a "European Superleague" and I don't think anyone wants that. How?
Azeem Posted January 25, 2020 Posted January 25, 2020 A joint Cup competition seems more interesting to me
Devil-Dick Willie Posted January 25, 2020 Posted January 25, 2020 Wellington phoenix being in the A-league has created an oceanic superleage. Next american samoa will be in on it!
Mpache Posted January 25, 2020 Posted January 25, 2020 10 hours ago, Stan said: How? As far as I know, we've never had a league merger like this before. I feel this could encourage others to do so. Sure there is the MLS and A-League but I see those more as invitees. Since those clubs in Canada and New Zealand were never a part of another league to begin with.
Administrator Stan Posted January 25, 2020 Administrator Posted January 25, 2020 25 minutes ago, Vader said: As far as I know, we've never had a league merger like this before. I feel this could encourage others to do so. Sure there is the MLS and A-League but I see those more as invitees. Since those clubs in Canada and New Zealand were never a part of another league to begin with. There'll be so much backing against a Super League in Europe that they may be encouraged to consider it but it will never happen. It can work with smaller league(s) close in proximity to each other...
Mpache Posted January 25, 2020 Posted January 25, 2020 2 hours ago, Stan said: There'll be so much backing against a Super League in Europe that they may be encouraged to consider it but it will never happen. It can work with smaller league(s) close in proximity to each other... Let's hope for our sake, you're right. I get that we are advancing in technology, but I think football really needs to keep it's tradition. No one is complaining or asking for a superleague, so why would they need to change it?
nudge Posted January 25, 2020 Author Posted January 25, 2020 2 minutes ago, Vader said: Let's hope for our sake, you're right. I get that we are advancing in technology, but I think football really needs to keep it's tradition. No one is complaining or asking for a superleague, so why would they need to change it?
Eco Posted February 21, 2020 Posted February 21, 2020 I am just catching up on this. Very interesting idea, and I'd be all for it. These two are probably my favorite European countries to visit (along with Denmark), and Brugge was one of those cities I always thought I could live in. Would love for them to get more backing and be able to play the big teams from Netherlands AND get an additional revenue stream.
Devil-Dick Willie Posted March 17, 2021 Posted March 17, 2021 Of course the Belgians want it. I imagine Ajax, PSV, Twente and the like want it, but the smaller dutch clubs are riding a cash cow they'll not want to let go of.
Subscriber Coma+ Posted March 17, 2021 Subscriber Posted March 17, 2021 I'm curious how clubs like Cardiff and Swansea ended up in the English leagues? There might be one or two others further down that I can't think of off the top of my head. I guess there is some sort of precedent. Same in MLS with Canadian/US clubs.
ROBBIEFC Posted March 17, 2021 Posted March 17, 2021 I think this is a great idea. I follow the Belgian Pro League, and there's quite a big gulf between their 'elite teams' with established supremacy, i.e. the Club Bruges and Anderlecht type, and the newer competitors. It comes down more so to a gulf in squad depth. Royal Excel Mouscron spring to mind immediately: half of their players are on loan from Lille, and they've been in free fall for it. Yet, the league only has one certain relegation place and one reserved for a play-off. It's not sustainable. Teams who haven't posed a threat to the traditional big guns can afford to linger and scrape through, but if you look at the league directly below, the clubs can often struggle, especially in Belgium. I'm not too sure with the Dutch on those terms, but it'd be interesting to see what happens to clubs like Vitesse. Having said that, I could see the same thing happening. We'd have the same problem with teams lingering near the bottom of the league. It could work.
Subscriber Pyfish+ Posted March 17, 2021 Subscriber Posted March 17, 2021 42 minutes ago, Coma said: I'm curious how clubs like Cardiff and Swansea ended up in the English leagues? There might be one or two others further down that I can't think of off the top of my head. I guess there is some sort of precedent. Same in MLS with Canadian/US clubs. Yeah we have Newport in League Two and Wrexham in the National League as well. Definitely an interesting move for both nations. I'm interested to see how it all pans out. It could be a really entertaining watch.
Subscriber Dan+ Posted March 17, 2021 Subscriber Posted March 17, 2021 In isolation I do see the appeal of this, but I did agree with Brian that it could be the precedent for worse.
nudge Posted March 17, 2021 Author Posted March 17, 2021 It is going to be a disaster for smaller clubs, might just as well disband and start anew playing in amateur divisions. Personally, I don't see how they are going to survive that financially.
ScoRoss Posted March 17, 2021 Posted March 17, 2021 55 minutes ago, Coma said: I'm curious how clubs like Cardiff and Swansea ended up in the English leagues? There might be one or two others further down that I can't think of off the top of my head. I guess there is some sort of precedent. Same in MLS with Canadian/US clubs. Welsh teams have always played in England. I think, and correct me if I'm wrong, but the Welsh league is only a 'modern' league starting in 1991 after FIFA wanted the Welsh FA (and the UK nations) off of the IFAB for setting the rules of the sport.
Smiley Culture Posted March 17, 2021 Posted March 17, 2021 Surprised that it’s been voted in, but I’m intrigued to see how it works. I would have thought it wouldn’t have garnered that much support because it’s surely going to pull European Football from some clubs and skew the co-efficient.
ScoRoss Posted March 17, 2021 Posted March 17, 2021 50 minutes ago, Smiley Culture said: Surprised that it’s been voted in, but I’m intrigued to see how it works. I would have thought it wouldn’t have garnered that much support because it’s surely going to pull European Football from some clubs and skew the co-efficient. When they had a joint league in the Women's Champions League, they had both the highest ranking Dutch and highest ranking Belgian team enter the competition. Obviously, a bit different and a lot less European spots up for grabs. But seems they just combined their European spots. They also had separate coefficients, so the number of teams qualifying could differ between the nation's.
ScoRoss Posted March 19, 2021 Posted March 19, 2021 On David Ornstein's podcast it's been clarified, by an owner of a current lower league Belgian team, that the vote wasn't for the acceptance of a joint league but rather approving the continuation of feasibility studies towards a BeNeLiga. So perhaps a few journalists jumping the gun about voting for the league itself. The owner himself seemed fairly positive about such a league, and not just for the bigger clubs, but enabling perhaps more for the smaller and lower league teams.
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