Last night Manchester City became the ninth UK club to reach the European Cup/Champions League final, where they will face either Real Madrid or Chelsea. Of those who have reached this stage before them, only Leeds United and Arsenal are without a win in the tournament.
European football was more interesting in the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s. Each of those decades saw four (90s), five (60s, 70s) or six (80s) clubs win their very their first European Cup. That trend of variety has stopped. Since Paul Lambert lifted the trophy with Borussia Dortmund in 1997 only Chelsea’s name has been added to the new winners’ list. The football peak seems to have effectively closed to new entrants.
City and last night’s losers, Paris Saint-Germain are the obvious omissions from the list. The petrodollars pouring into both of them, as well as Chelsea, makes their ascent to the top only a matter of time. If City do not win this season, they will continue to spend until they do. The same goes for PSG, both will win this decade.
Then, unless Uefa or the European Club Association can find some mettle, the door will finally close on new entrants. The European Super League may have died but its ghost will live on to haunt aspiring European clubs.
Can you name all 9 European clubs?
A note on the comments’ section. CQN is not the best place for anyone to demonstrate their inability to be respectful to others. I have a ton of email (yet to respond, sorry) on this subject, if you cannot leave off the personal abuse, your account will be pulled.
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First?!
First
Well said in last paragraph Paul.
I read the article and worked out the teams before posting. 😂
I hope that James Forrest’s account gets pulled first. Monotonous and boring constant attacks on P67 means I now scroll-on-by.
The ‘elite’ clubs are going to destroy football with their greed.
The footballing landscape could look quite different for the next generation
HAMILTONTIM on 5TH MAY 2021 6:21 AM
On this date, May 5th 1981, 40 years ago at 1:17am Bobby Sands died after 66 days on hunger strike in his efforts to be recognised as a political prisoner.
‘Our revenge will be the laughter of our children’
………………………
Bobby Sands RIP. A very brave man.
I have yet to see James Forrest direct personal abuse at anyone on this site though he certainly receives a lot in response to his opinions on Celtic which imo are in keeping with how the majority of fans now feel.
The Champion’s League has been a closed shop for ages now – we know we won’t win it but the aim ought to be to qualify more often than we have, gather in the cash, and give a good account of ourselves which helps attract and move on playing talent.
Over the past 20 years or so, we’ve only qualified for it 10 times, and only 4 in the last 10 years. We should have done better – Cluj, Ferencvaros, AEK, Maribor, Malmö, etc were all more than beatable.
Our planning has largely been terrible though – every summer we end up with a patched up rag bag of a team, with new signings not fit enough to play and the likes of Bitton, Moyoluko, the young Irish lad, etc being thrown in at the deep end. Every year we hear the “we need to plan for next summer now” followed by “January is a difficult market” – we should have been buying a year in advance – Player A has a year to settle in, we’ll sell player B, and this will be our team for next season unless we get a knockout offer for someone”. It’s utterly depressing that we missed that opportunity and will now be scrabbling around to build a team.
GREENPINATA on 5TH MAY 2021 11:02 AM
Jamesgang,
Very true, however we were invincibles domestically at the time and all in the garden seemed rosy.
Did we overplay a player and not give him time to fully recover ? But that’s a debate for another day.
I’m in the camp of meting out our own justice. ” Do onto others as they do unto you” However do it harder, quicker and faster.
We need players with this combative and winning mentality.
HH to you.
——-
When it comes to sport, I fully subscribe to your gospel!
Perhaps it’s the old rugby player in me….(so old that sharing a punch during the match was almost as obligatory as sharing a pint!)
Couldn’t agree more about the over-use of KT, even while his body was still growing and sometimes not fully fit. Negligent when he could have been ‘spelled’ by Izzy and introduced more gradually.
That apart, whether on the pitch for 9 minutes or 90, he still faced challenges seemed clearly intended to injure.
HH jg
Are they not the 10th UK club?
1. Celtic
2. Man utd
3. Man City
4. Aston Villa
5. Nottingham Forrest
6. Arsenal
7. Chelsea
8. Liverpool
9. Leeds
10. Spurs
Our CL success rate has suffered greatly by a strategy that has seen us focus more on player transfer success ahead of European prize money.
Truth Beauty And Freedom @ 1209
Fully Endorse your comment.
He may call it a window for freedom of speech. I call it , for him , a window to be vitriolic to anyone who does not support his argument.
Hail Hail
Stay Safe
Perlonkid
you’re right, Spurs were in the final 2 years ago
i forgot about them when i was totting up my list
Like you say, elite level European football has been a closed shop for 20 years, probably since that great Hector Cupertino Valencia team we famously beat on pens.
Nowadays we can barely compete with relative minnows.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E0i2E_6X0AcQ3UG?format=jpg&name=medium
smiley smiley smiley thing
Connaire …give it a try !
Braw
jamesgang/Greenpinata
On Tierney and fouls on him. I always had a feeling he delayed slightly when looking to pass up the wing and forwards saw a chance to tackle (badly, i agree).
I’ve seen him get done this way for Arsenal recently too. may not all be malicious.
Just a thought.
Never happens for Scotland as international football never seems as fast or committed. I always wondered why that was ; less weak links due to all good players OR lack of time together to take risks on what your team mate will do OR boring set up due to lack of coaching time. Sorry, off at a tangent
Come on, Paul.
How did you forget Spurs?
“if you cannot leave off the personal abuse, your account will be pulled”.
Ooooooft a few on thin ice me thinks.
D :)
Coneybhoy
That might explain some challenges.
I also players whose intent seemed to be to ‘do him’ – once right in front of me at CP. Think it was a nameless Motherwell player. Thought it was going to be a John Kennedy scenario.
Yellow card only….
HH jg
David66
Last night the mod deleted several posts from amongst others SS and Onil – at the time no post seemed abusive however I felt at the time the mod was trying to keep a lid on the exchange.
Paul 67,
Given the correct circumstances in one off games we can compete with the money bag teams.
The 3-3 game at Parkhead against Man City was one of the best and most enjoyable games I have ever attended. The return game was equally enjoyable to watch.
Our results were so impressive as Man City had not dropped a point all season. We showed the way.
( The only downside was that Moussa was so good I knew we would lose him )
Jamesgang earlier: I thought Motherwell were the worst culprits assaulting KT.
HH to all.
Gene – Most posters are respectful but it must be hard to police a blog.
D :)
AN DÚN on 5TH MAY 2021 12:22 PM
Our CL success rate has suffered greatly by a strategy that has seen us focus more on player transfer success ahead of European prize money.
———
It has suffered badly because we focused too much on a club called Rangers. As long as we stayed in front of them the support turned a blind eye to systemic failure by the time it came to had out the silverware. Gerrard has shown European success is possible and he started with next to nothing, not from a position of strength like us. In 2012 the governance of the game needed restructuring and we did nothing. We also needed a new business plan but instead we opted to batten down the hatches until Newco arrived in the top division. The support lapped it up and lorded it over them as we failed time and time again in Europe. It was always going to end this way. The in-house media team say we are not ‘half of anything’ but the facts are that actions taken by the club say differently. A modern progressive club cannot be one that is mired in the cesspit that is this bent wee bigoted country but says and does nothing. Ultimately the board of directors are not fit for purpose.
David66
Just as well I’m not the mod 😉
A note on the comments’ section. CQN is not the best place for anyone to demonstrate their inability to be respectful to others. I have a ton of email (yet to respond, sorry) on this subject, if you cannot leave off the personal abuse, your account will be pulled.
——————
As the object of abusive comments and name-calling, I welcome this statement of intent by Paul.
I don’t expect everyone to agree with all I post, and I welcome those who take issue and offer a different point of view. However there is a bunch who feel that no one is entitled to a different football and/or political opinion that differs from them – I neither read, nor, reply.
Celtic are a club open to all – so too should this important site.
I don’t want to see anyone’s “account pulled”. Surely as Celtic supporters we can afford respect to one another – there are many people ‘out there’ who don’t and won’t.
The elite nature of the EUFA Champions League, will, in my opinion, continue to tighten – former winners like Celtic, Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest and finalist Leeds, have no chance to be in the latter rounds anymore..
Our own aim must be to get to the group stages as often as possible and make our mark in the Europa League.
SPIDEY101 on 5TH MAY 2021 12:18 PM
You make a number of valid points and I agree with all of them. Can I just add that the ‘pool’ in which we ‘fish’ for players is becoming more and more competitive and Scotland is becoming a less attractive football destination.
There may have been a block put on the proposed formal declaration of a European Super League – however money and the market will ensure that the Champions League will continue to be a de-facto ESL.
Can anyone who knows these things enlighten what’s happened here:
ISSUE OF EQUITY
Wed 05 May 2021 11:00
RNS Number : 6317X
Celtic PLC
05 May 2021
CELTIC PLC
Issued share capital
As a result of the conversion of 11,429 Convertible Preferred Ordinary Shares of 100p each, Celtic PLC’s issued share capital as at 04 May 2021 was as follows:
94,407,321
Ordinary Shares of 1p each (“Ordinary Shares”)
12,740,832
Convertible Preferred Ordinary Shares of 100p each (“CPO Shares”)
15,797,924
Convertible Cumulative Preference Shares of 60p each (“CCP Shares”)
675,619,135
Deferred Shares of 1p each (“Deferred Shares”)
CCP Shares do not carry voting rights. Deferred Shares are not listed, are not transferable and carry no voting rights or substantive economic rights.
The above figures for Ordinary Shares and CPO Shares may be used by shareholders as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change in their interest in voting rights under the FCA’s Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules.
Application has been made for the admission of 23,772 new Ordinary Shares of 1p each arising from these conversions (“New Ordinary Shares”) to trading on AIM. It is expected that dealings in these New Ordinary Shares, which will rank pari passu in all respects with the existing Ordinary Shares of the Company, will commence on 11 May 2021.
Enquiries:
Company
Michael Nicholson, Company Secretary 0141 551 4298
Canaccord Genuity Limited
Simon Bridges, Nominated Adviser 020 7523 8350
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact rns@lseg.com or visit http://www.rns.com.
RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our Privacy Policy.
END
IOEKELBBFELZBBQ
por cierto
Not sure I’d completely agree with that. The debt levels at some of the biggest clubs are scary and will have to be managed. That was the whole point of the super league. Also, more and more spending gets to a point of diminishing returns. If Man City give Kevin de Bruyne 350k a week instead of 250k does it make him a better player?
Agree that the 70s/80s won’t be repeated, but there is still a place for ambitious, well-coached clubs with a clear strategy. Look at the likes of Monaco, Ajax, Leipzig and Atalanta in recent seasons.
DAVID17 on 5TH MAY 2021 1:10 PM
It is impossible to disagree with what you have posted – can I just comment on your first sentence “It has suffered badly because we focused too much on a club called Rangers”
The sad thing is that if we don’t focus on beating the Ibrox team then we will jeopardise our chances of competing in the riches of the CL groups. there is a paradox however – if both clubs are doing well in Europe, our chances of automatic qualification increases, as it will do in 22/23.
We certainly didn’t focus this season on the pitch. At the start of the season with a winning squad intact and £20m given to the manager to strengthen, most would have said we were a ‘shoo in’.
Greenpinata at 1.05pm, that 3-3 vs Man City was some night right enough. Shivers me timbers to think about it!
JHB on 5th May 2021 1:20 pm
Your lack of self awareness knows no bounds.
This Fan Engagement Index rates all English clubs for Dialogue with fans, Governance and Transparency. We would rate very poorly on this Index, with the possible qualifier that we would be highly rated for Transparency. By that I mean that we are transparently poorly governed, and transparently have almost zero dialogue with fans, unless of course we are lying to them about never seeing secret 5 way agreements!
https://fanengagement.net/fan-engagement-index/
POR CIERTO on 5TH MAY 2021 1:24 PM
Someone has taken up the option of converting some Convertible Preferred Ordinary Shares into ordinary shares. I think :)
CPOS’s are more of an investment with a guaranteed annual return but cant be traded on the market and don’t carry voting rights, but they can be converted into ordinary shares that can and do.
So the ordinary shares issued are just the CPO shares being converted. No extra money for the club.
Is my understanding :)
aw diddums.
heartbroken so ah um.
must be terrible all these typists with thimbles
‘Ross resigned from Notts County after making racist remark’
http://www.skysports.com/share/12297468
JHB
You’re right we do find it harder to attract talent – Scottish football and the money on offer on comparison to English Championship clubs means we’re up against it.
BUT we’ve done ourselves no favours in losing the carrot that is the Champions League – we ought to be able to say “come to us for a few years, play Champions League, get noticed by the big boys down south” – when you qualify less than once every two years that’s a harder sell. With the advantage we had, and the new CL format offering 10 games a season (one of which is bound to be a glamour tie) we should have been one of the go-to clubs for younger players – our failures over 10-20 years mean clubs like Salzburg, Slavia Prague, Brugge, Gene have taken on that role!
A note on the comments’ section. CQN is not the best place for anyone to demonstrate their inability to be respectful to others. I have a ton of email (yet to respond, sorry) on this subject, if you cannot leave off the personal abuse, your account will be pulled.
This is well overdue PAUL .
TONY PULIS
Saying liam shaws chances of game time at CELTIC will be scarce with a new boss coming in , he (PULIS) obviously doesn’t realise this will be the best chance ever to stake a place in the team with so many moving on for one reason or another.
Hopefully our young players grasp their chance with hands .