3:58pm Friday 19th February 2010
The Premier League’s first money-spinning idea was the proposal of a 39th game in far-flung Asia. That was widely ridiculed and given short shrift by fans and managers alike. But, undeterred, English football’s top league body has concocted another masterplan. This time a lucrative Champions League play-off has been wheeled out in an attempt to entice those teams on the fringes of the European places.
This is the idea: the teams finishing fourth to seventh will contest a Football League-style knockout play-off at the end of the regular season. The victor will win the coveted fourth Champions League place.
The concept is clear. Other than presenting a golden opportunity for added revenue, the goal is to provide more competition to the ‘Big Four’ of Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool, who have occupied the Champions League qualifying places in five of the last six seasons.
While the real motives of the move are questionable, the Premier League recognise that there is a gulf that – until this season – has developed between the top four and the rest of the division. Champions League qualification opens the door to millions in added revenue which, in turn, provides extra funds in the transfer market and enables those clubs to attract the best players at top prices and offer them the biggest wages.
And so the cycle begins: big money equals big players equals Champions League football.
So, to counter this elitism, a proposal for a play-off has been made. Before this season I might have agreed that something needed to be done to spice up the world’s finest league. But the teams of the Premier League seem to have done it all on their own. Granted, the gap has been bridged by the riches of Manchester City. But there are other teams, like Aston Villa and Tottenham, who have made the step up in class to ensure that the chasm that once existed is now no more than a schism.
Although the battle for the title has taken its usual two-horse course, following Arsenal’s recent blip, the quest for fourth place is being gamely contested by four evenly-matched sides.
There is no need for such a controversial extension of the season. However, my real issue with the play-off idea is that it would devalue the competitions. A team finishing fourth (let’s call them Team A) could quite conceivably end up ten points above the side in seventh place (Team B). To put that in perspective, that’s three wins and a draw better off. Team B then catches Team A on an off day in the play-offs and knocks them out, going on to claim that prestigious Champions League place. Where is the sense in that? Team A have proven themselves throughout the course of the season to be superior to Team B, yet it is the latter that walk into a world of riches. Not that they would ever see much of it, as they would, in all likelihood, struggle to get past the qualifying stages. The Champions League then suffers as a result, as the competition is deprived of one of its premier sides, given that English teams have performed better than any other in the tournament in recent seasons – at least one representative from these shores has adorned the final in each of the last five years.
Nevertheless, it looks increasingly likely that this idea will be put to the polls. In order to be introduced, 14 of the 20 Premier League bosses would have to agree to the proposal. In any case, changes will not be made for another three years, as there are television contracts to be honoured.
Unsurprisingly, the concept has been condemned by the Big Four. Arsene Wenger, whose Arsenal team have established themselves inside the top four, said: “After 38 games, you must consider the table is the table.” Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez went a step further, his response to the idea dripping in sarcasm: “We are playing too much now. If we now play the play-offs we'll be playing until the end of the century.
"Maybe we can do the same with the teams at the bottom of the table. If you finish fourth maybe you could play with the team who finished third from the bottom.
"Then during the whole season we can play 50 games and we don't have to rest so that will be fantastic."
There are no prizes on offer for guessing what some of the fringe sides thought of it all. Martin O’Neill, Aston Villa manager, called the idea ‘interesting’, while Everton’s David Moyes said it ‘was something worth looking at’.
Surely though, if the idea is ratified and introduced, it would merely spark a furore among the division’s smaller teams. If you’re going to have such a system for Champions League qualification, why not do something similar for relegation? Why not have end-of-season play-offs for teams in 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th to determine who takes the final spot?
The play-off system has been widely accepted in the lower leagues and it provides plenty of excitement for fans after a long season. That is surely a consideration that has been taken into account by the Premier League: the fans will lap it up. Do you want more football? That’s like asking a footballer if he fancies another ten grand on his wage packet.
The debate will rage until the votes have been cast and the result is in. But, having already been treated to a hearty buffet of football this season, this is one fan that won’t be going up for seconds.
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