I recently stumbled upon a news that Belgian and Dutch leagues will be merged by 2025. It reminded me of a thread I started few years back, in another forum.
What will happen if some of the smaller leagues merge!!!
Belgium and Dutch leagues
Czech and Slovak leagues
Switzerland and Austrian leagues
Former Yugoslav leagues
The Baltic Nations’ leagues
The Scandinavian leagues
I know there are lots of issues, ranging from logistics (longer travels) to ethnicity (Serbs vs. Croats), that will make the idea seem like a nightmare. But would it be worth trying!
Before the break-up Slovenia, Macedonia and Montenegro only had a handful of teams in the Yugoslav League. Now these nations have 16-team leagues with teams from lower division supplementing teams that have actually played in a top league. Even leagues in Serbia, Bosnia and Croatia had to ‘promote’ teams for a sizable league. The same can be said about former Czechoslovakia.
When you look at the earnings, some of the mid-table English clubs earn more than some of the leading clubs in German, Italian or Spanish leagues. So the earnings of the clubs from minor leagues are rather miniscule.
A league of Ajax, PSV, Anderlecht, Liege is certainly more interesting and competitive than just half of them! This can translate into greater TV, Sponsorship (league & teams) and even ticket revenue. This is something they badly need. It may also translate into better qualification process for CL & EL. But most importantly, teams will benefit from better competition.
the merging of leagues or the creation of a new league was been discussed as far back as 2000,
the plan was to call it the North Atlantic League, featuring teams Belgium, Netherlands, Scotland and Scandinavian.
nothing came of it though.
If the Dutch and the Belgium’s do merge leagues,
how long before Celtic and Rangers start making noises about joining another league,
as both teams are way too big for Scotland
I do find it odd with Rangers in the position they found themselves in didn’t just think let’s try and force ourselves in the English pyramid, would have taken another couple of years but surely one they had got to league 2 the attendances would have been better than most Scottish Championship clubs.
To me the only way they get in will be if a team drops out lower down, surprised one didn’t approach the EFL when Bury went. I bet both will be looking closely.
Is there any UFEA regulation that a club must play 38 games in their respective league? While clubs in the major leagues play each other just twice (home and away) clubs in smaller leagues play more than twice (in various formats).
