Transnational European Leagues

Continuing from here, nations such as Scotland and Holland, being constrained by their size, end up with league formats that suffer from conceptual weaknesses.

Their size also constrains their top clubs from keeping up with the top clubs from England, Spain, Italy and France, despite past successes.

This appears to run counter to a basic principle that underlies many of the goals and structures of the European Union – achieving growth and progress for individuals and entities within Europe without the constraints and limitations of national boundaries.

Allowing the football pyramid in Europe to grow transnationally is the only viable solution.

Defining the region within which a league operates already exists in European football’s domestic pyramid structures, such as those in England and Germany.

The higher the tier, the larger the region covered – it makes sense.

There is no reason in principle why even higher tiers cannot operate transnationally.

It is not uncommon to have clubs playing in leagues outside of their own countries, as discussed here and here.

Transnational European leagues need not be limited to a Europe-wide league, as discussed here and here.

Other transnational leagues, such as a British Premier League or the once-suggested Atlantic League could provide additional levels in the pyramid.

However, such changes would require forward-thinking and progressive administrators, which World and European football currently lack. Instead, we have Sepp Blatter and FIFA going on about their “six-plus-five” principle, a reactionary and backward looking proposal, which runs foul of European Union principles.

Unfortunately, many top administrators, like many top politicians, are more interested in preserving the systems and structures that form their power-base, then in improving the systems and structures they administer.

Football suffers.

(Article first posted on Tony Kempster’s Non-League Forum)

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