It was only in February this year that the proposed Russia-Ukraine joint league first reached the stage of formal meetings between clubs to discuss the viability but tonight a showcase tournament between top clubs from each country gets underway tonight. It is hoped the formal joint league will start this time next year when the top nine teams from each country will form the Unified First League.
Despite discouragement from Fifa, Uefa have insisted only that proper procedures are followed to give their ascent to the league. Gazprom, the Russian energy giant and Uefa Champions League sponsor, has underwritten the project with a commitment of 1 billion euros per annum.
As we know, in football, money talks, and the Russian and Ukrainian clubs, together with their national associations and Uefa, have been talked happy to make change possible.
In order to become competitive with their rivals in the west while meeting Uefa Financial Fair Play rules, Russian and Ukrainian clubs need to increase income, which the Unified First League would go a long way towards. Uefa president, Michel Platini, has long accepted that regionalisation was a viable way forward for domestic leagues, while former powers in smaller leagues have become disenfranchised from the game’s top table.
What does it mean for us?
Well, we don’t have a Gazprom, not yet, anyway, but once Gazprom’s financial and political muscle establishes the principle of regionalisation, that principle is available to all. Former Yugoslavia countries are already in talks, while Scandinavian countries have already had a few abortive attempts at (underfunded) regional cup competitions.
The British region.
Welsh football has managed to retain its national identity, provide an infrastructure for provincial and community clubs, while federating with the FA in England to allow their larger (sic) clubs to find their competitive level.
The model is already established for Scottish football, which has realised living with one (or two for that matter) massive club which completely invalidates their league competition as a ‘competition’ is no longer the best way to order their affairs.
Financial recklessness caused the collapse of one club a year ago while the recklessness of a Lithuanian bank has put another in jeopardy. A handful of other top-flight clubs now realise their financial commitments, not to mention sporting objectives, are no longer viable, with or without the crumbs from the table thrown in their direction when TV cameras and a few thousand fans arrive a few times per season.
Federate with England, just as the Welsh did. It will bring ‘competition’ back to our competitions, put thousands of everyone’s gates and provide access to viable commercial contracts.
Why are our leagues and Association not speaking to the English about this right now? The Football League in England is every bit as much a basket case as Scottish football right now, they also need to change the structural model and, unlike the equally lunatic (English) Premier League, appear to be self-aware in this respect.
Go talk to the Welsh FA, Cardiff City, Swansea, Wrexham or New Saints FC (!) and ask them what organising their game along the lines of the Scottish model would do to them.
Scottish football must federate or it will die. As such, if we stand on the precipice of crisis, let’s make it a good one. It’s the only thing which will get things moving.
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Hail Hail
Flay the flaug!
Am I the only one not working ?
Late again!
Crisis, whit Crisis?
Tims Ahoy..
Top 10
HH
Money talks in football, and the funnier the money the bigger the noise it makes.
Old school (sadistic) wish list;
Mint Cracknels.
(Nothing to beat a shard of mint glass wedged firmly in your upper palate)
+
the only other sweet that could run the mint cracknel close for leaving you with a red raw palate – The Pineapple chunk and his DNA brother – The cola cube.
Scottish football certainly doesn’t need Rangers, crisis maybe.
But what is the Celtic board doing about it?
Top 30?
starry plough Off topic do they speak english in Luxor etc mate.
KTF
HH
Old school wish list. Eat yer heart out Ron ( Jumpers for Goalposts ) Manager.
We gotta get out of this place
Monaghan1900 11:12 on 27 June, 2013
Henriks Sombrero 11:08 on
John DC Gow @JohnDCGow 24m Rangers’ new coach specially designed for the club. Registration plate ‘R1 WTP’.
——
I understand there was long debate on whether the reg should have a ‘W’ or an ‘F’.
—————————————————————————————————–
I thought R1P would have done……
What happened to The Unified First League money?
BT If it’s the last thing we ever do
yesteryears cfc
KTF
HH
Well, we don’t have a Gazprom
——————————————————————————-
Maybe Scotland’s largest supplier of natural gas could come to our rescue. Over to you Ally……
mighty tim
In the hotels Mate yes they do, we had a tour guide who did but his driver didn’t, on the markets and stuff the boys tend to speak every language under the sun, I did all my deals in English!!
Art of War
:) it might be Stranorlar I am heading to, 93 year old da now in St Josephs? so wil check out the cafe and the petrol station
HH
BBhoy
BT and Mighty Tim. I thought we didn’t care what The Animals say.
The SFA are too busy looking after The new club in Govan to see the bigger picture
Imagine their distress if they were to recognise that Celtic had out grown the Scottish game
Crisis? What Crisis?
An SFA board member losing a button off his blazer would be a crisis.
As for everthing else…
starry plough
Cheers mate, thought that would be the case. Save the wife trying to get me to pick up some Egyptian. Woman is mad, I told her school finished yesterday but she was tring to educate me this morning.
KTF
HH
“Crisis what crisis?..we dont need no stinkin crisis”
say Sandy and Campbell.
Hh
Sorry Paul67 but this is pie in the sky.
The difference with Russia/Ukriane, BeneLux, Scandinavia, and our situation with the EPL is that the EPL don’t want us.
SPL clubs, surely, see keeping Celtic (and the TV, sponsorship and gate money) but cutting their cloth to suit is better than having dramatically reduced revenues and going part time if Celtic disappear.
Also, it benefits the English FA in what way to federalise with the SFA?
For all the problems the EPL has, revenue generation certainly isn’t among them. Ditto the Championship. I don’t either of them see our potential (definite) enhancement of their competition as worth rocking the boat.
Also, regional competitions wouldn’t appeal to me unless they involved Man Utd, Liverpool, Arsenal and not just Birmingham, Wolves, etc etc. Think there’s any chance that regionalisation is top of Man Utd’s list of priorities, with their turnover and profits? If it is, it’s not the regionalisation you’ve outlined. I’d wager they’d be far happier playing AC Milan, Munich and Real Madrid every other week than Celtic.
Holland, Belgium, Scandinavia, Portugal. We would be better off hitching our wagon to that star in my opinion.
On the assumption that Celtic, Oldco and Sevco have reached out to the English many times to ask for this to happen – why revisit it now? We have been told often enough that we are not wanted down there, alone or as part of a double act, so if that is the only drum we have to bang then forget it. The SFA will NEVER support us leaving as it would mean the end of full-time professional football in Scotland.
Bhoys URGENT REQUEST…….. Does anyone know a bookie taking bets on the next Queen of the South manager?? HH
mighty tim
I travelled with a group of 12 Swiss women and the guys in the hotel were looking at us every day, on the last day we were togged up for a do at the Karnak temple and one of them asked me ” Effendi with so many wives I have to ask you what do you do? ” I said to him ” I’m the King of Switzerland!! He started pashing himself!! me wi’ ma long hair and flip flops!!
Starry
You have long hair???
I thought that wiz a disguise :-))
Is the reg no. for sevco coach for real ?
Extremely depressing if it is.
Please God we never play them again
Reading the FTTT questioning of Minty Murray makes him appear a chancer and spiv. This was no surprize.
He does love the sound of his own voice, and bums himself right at every opportunity.
Paul67
Would a future stumbling block be that no league would entertain us unless we brough Deceased FC with us?
Has anyone checked out attendances in Wales: http://espnfc.com/stats/attendance/_/league/wal.1/welsh-premier-league?cc=5739#
That’s what federating with England would do to Scottish attendances.
Hamiltontim
I’m always in disguise in Hamilton, I’m scared tae bump intae Kev Jungle and his wee dug!
Penny Just dropped what WTP stands for…I’m getting old…:)
They are sad lot, how original…not.
Keep the Faith!
Hail Hail!
Starry Plough 09.40
Michael Nicholson was appointed as Company Secretary from harper McLeod.
http://www.celticfc.net/corporate_boardofdirectors