A PROPER EURO LEAGUE

Initial proposals for a European Super League have shocked the average football fan. Going against all core values of the beautiful game. Recent proposals of  A22 Sports (who work with the clubs proposing the European Super League) have been a bit softer, still the average supporter is sceptic. 

To break the impasse between top European clubs and ordinary football fans, I have built a model. The model suits the ordinary football fan in it's wishes, but also hits all A22 Sports principles. This is obviously me messing around, but we need to start somewhere, since otherwise we will loose the game to others. 

SIMULATION MODEL --> Can be viewed on tab 1

ALIGNMENT A22 --> Can be viewed on tab 2

TEAM TOTALS --> Can be viewed on tab 3

COEFFICIENTS / TEAM ALLOCATION --> Can be viewed on tab 4

Note 1: The clubs filled in the model are a representation of past 2 season, as well as random selected winners of matches based on worst case scenarios. 

Note 2: Whenever the model shows a number (like in D4 of tab 1) this reflects the average attendance of the club in their domestic league (83 means between 82,500 and 83,499 average attendance).

Note 3: Whenever two clubs play against each other, the team in pink went to the next round. 

THE MODEL

1. MEMBERS

Member Nations 

·  All UEFA nations 

·  Potential nations from other confederations (examples: USA, Canada, Qatar, Saudi Arabia) - if 80% of original members agree

·  Potential dependent (overseas) territories (examples: Jersey, Greenland, Bermuda, Martinique) - if 80% of original members agree

Member Clubs

·  Clubs need to be part of competitions in member nations

·  Clubs should have a Euro license (Minimum standards equal to UEFA Licenses)

2. EUROPEAN TOURNAMENTS

Euro Final - Single neutral venue match between the winner of the Euro League & the winner of the Euro Super Cup (the Super Bowl of football)

Euro League - European league pyramid of 4 levels based on promotion / relegation with 12 (22 matches home + away) teams p. division.  

Main Divisions Format:

·  Euro Premier - 1 division of 12 teams - 22 matches 

o Winner plays Euro Final

o 11-12 Relegation. 9-10 Potential relegation play-offs

·  Euro 1st Division - 2 parallel division (North / South) of 12 teams - 22 matches

o Winner promotes

o 2-4 Potential promotion play-offs 

o 11-12 Relegation. 9-10 Potential relegation play-offs

o Total 24 teams over all divisions

·  Euro 2nd Division - 4 parallel division (North West / North East / South West / South East) of 12 teams - 22 matches

o Winner promotes

o 2-4 Potential promotion play-offs 

o 11-12 Relegation. 9-10 Potential relegation play-offs

o Total 48 teams over all divisions

·  Euro 3rd Division - 8 parallel division (NWN / NWS / NEN / NES / SWN / SWS / SEN / SEW) of 12 teams - 22 matches

o Winner promotes

o 2-4 Potential promotion play-offs 

o 11-12 Relegation out of Euro leagues. 9-10 Potential relegation play-offs against Euro Promotion teams

o Total 96 teams over all divisions

Euro Promotion:

Qualified for the Euro Promotion are:

·  The best 1,2 or 3 teams in Member Nations domestic leagues (depending on Member Nations coefficients) that are not yet member of the Euro League. If teams are on equal positions in different division in the 1st or 2nd domestic divisions a play-off will be taking place. 

·  The winners of the Member Nations league cups

Format Euro Promotion:

·  Two qualifying rounds with the winner decided after home and away encounters. Participation to this round is based on Member Nations coefficients, those scoring high coefficients won't play in the Qualifying rounds. 

·  A main final phase called Euro Promotion - 8 parallel groups  (NWN / NWS / NEN / NES / SWN / SWS / SEN / SEW) of 8 teams - 14 matches

o Winner promotes to Euro 3rd Division

o Numbers 2 play a promotion play-off against the closest other group number 2. Winner promotes to Euro 3rd Division

o The losers of the play-offs above together with the number 3 of their respective groups and the numbers 3 and 4 of groups where the winners of the play-off above were in, will play play-offs against the number 9-10 of the Euro 3rd Division for a place in next years Euro 3rd Division. 

Note: As stated before the clubs filled in the model are a representation of past 2 season. The amount of teams selected for the Euro League p. country depends on the % amount of European clubs with average attendances higher than 9,500 a country is scored for. Which teams are filled depends for Euro Premier and Euro 1st Division on the position in the UEFA Club Ranking. For the 2nd and 3rd Division it is ordered to the ranking of the 2021/2022. 

Euro Champions Cup

Format - All champions of member nations - 7 knock-out rounds with home and away matches after a free draw. 1 Final on neutral ground.

Winner qualifies for the final match of the Euro Super Cup at home

Euro Cup Winners Cup 

Format - All cup winners of member nations - 5 knock-out rounds with home and away matches after a free draw. 1 Final on neutral ground.

Winner qualifies for the semi-final match of the Euro Super Cup at home 

Euro Conference Cup 

Format - All between 2 and 6 (depending on country coefficients) next in-line teams behind the champions of member nations -  7 knock-our rounds of 1 match after a free but regionalized draw – 1 Final on neutral ground.

Winner qualifies for the semi-final match of the Euro Super Cup away from home

Quick Lane Promotion:

The 4 best performing teams in Euro Champions Cup, Cup Winners Cup or Conference Cup that are not yet represented in Euro League will automatically be placed in the Euro 3rd Division. Teams will go in this order:

·  Furthest Round

·  If more teams from the same round, those that played Euro Champions Cup have preference above Euro Cup Winners Cup and Euro Conference Cup. 

·  If more teams from the same round and the same Cup (for instance Euro Champions Cup) are first in-line, than one or more play-offs will be played home and away based on a free draw. 

Euro Super Cup

The winner of the Euro Super Cup qualifies for the Euro Final. The Euro Super Cup exist of two matches, one semi-final and one final.

Match 1: Semi-Final – Winner Euro Cup Winners Cup (home) vs Winner Euro Conference Cup (away)

Match 2: Final – Winner Euro Champions Cup (home) vs Winner Match 1 (away)

3. DOMESTIC TOURNAMENTS

Domestic League

·  Open to Euro Licensed teams 

·  Domestic league pyramid of minimum 1 level to maximum 4 levels based on promotion / relegation with the following amount of teams options:

o 12 teams p. division - 22 matches p. team (home + away)

o 8 teams p. division - 14 matches p. team (home + away)

o 4 teams p. division - 6 matches p. team (home + away) - This option would be interesting for the USA. Due to travel US teams participating in the Euro League would not have lots of time / money for a big domestic league. 

·  When a member nation registers a domestic league it should at least have the double amount of Euro licensed teams than the amount of teams playing. 

·  Countries are only allowed to a 2nd, 3rd or 4th level if those divisions are the same amount of teams as the top division and the double amount of Euro licensed teams are registered. 

·  2nd, 3rd or 4th levels are allowed to be regionalized. Every division can have either 1 or 2 divisions below. 

·  Every parallel division should:

o Have 2 relegated teams

o 1 promoted team (except on top level)

o local member nations can decide if further promotion or relegation spots are allocated direct or via play-offs. 

·  The winner of the top Domestic League qualifies for the Euro Champions League

·  Depending on coefficients between No. 2 and No. 6 will qualify for Euro Conference Cup. 

·  The best 1,2 or 3 teams in the rankings (depending on Member Nations coefficients) that are not yet member of the Euro League will go to the qualifying or main phase of the Euro Promotion. 

Domestic Cup

·  Open to Domestic licensed teams and all Euro Licensed teams

·  Classic knock-out cup tournament with completely free draw. Clubs operating in Euro league will never play more than 6 rounds. 

·  Winner qualifies for the Euro Cup Winners Cup

Domestic League Cup

·  Open to all domestic teams that are not playing in either Euro League or Euro Promotion final phase. They all should have a Euro license.  

·  Format decided by local member nations (as long as there is a final winner). Stages in league, group and cup format are allowed. 

·  Should guarantee a basic amount of match next to the domestic leagues (with a maximum of 22 games p. team)

·  Winner qualifies for the Qualifying rounds for the Euro Promotion