By J Hutcherson - WASHINGTON, DC (Sep 28, 2011) US Soccer Players -- Any discussion of strictly defining domestic leagues starts with Wales. Though that country has it's own Premier League, it's own UEFA coefficient ranking, and qualify four clubs for European competition. What they don't have are the two best teams in the country, with Swansea City playing in England's Premier League and Cardiff City playing in England's Championship.
Part of that is historical precedent, but the Welsh Premier League has been around since 2002 giving that country plenty of time to repatriate its top clubs. Instead, Swansea, Cardiff and the Conference or non-league clubs Wrexam, Newport County, Colwyn Bay, and Merthyr Town play in England. For Cardiff and Swansea that's a clear choice even if it means missing out on what would be almost guaranteed participation in the preliminary rounds of European competition every season.
For those two clubs, the Welsh Premier League and the Welsh Cup aren't enough. They're not built to play in those competitions, instead spending to compete and accepting the expectations that go with playing in the significantly higher profile league next door. Out of the 53 UEFA domestic leagues, England's coefficient is 5. Wales comes in at 46.
Yet there's a real impact to two Welsh clubs playing in England, especially when one of them gets promoted to the Premier League. It's taking a place in another country's topflight that brings with it considerable revenue. There are leagues full of English clubs that would like that opportunity, begging the question why historical precedent still trumps the ability for countries to organize a functional domestic league.
In practical terms, it's a nonstarter for the clubs involved. Swansea and Cardiff are the only draws in Welsh club soccer. Bangor City might be the Welsh champions, but they also crashed out of the Champions League 13-0 against the Finnish champions and regularly draw less than a thousand fans in a stadium that only holds 1500. This isn't the reality for Swansea and Cardiff, and it would take more than Wales could possibly offer to make it worthwhile to join their own country's domestic league.
Relative to scale, there's no comparison with the Old Firm and the rest of the Scottish Premier League. Though Celtic and Rangers would like the public and UEFA to believe they have no choice but to play somewhere else, time has eroded the push for Old Firm accommodation. It's been too long, with Celtic and Rangers making the same arguments we've heard for over a decade.
Not that it's stopped Rangers chairman Craig Whyte from floating two of those old ideas. One is the Welsh example, the Old Firm switching from the Scottish Premier League to England's much more lucrative version. The other is an answer for big clubs in several second or third-tier domestic leagues. Join together in a multinational competition that's been pitched as the Atlantic League.
Whyte told The Telegraph's Paul Kelso: "(it's) is clearly something that we would like to see examined, it is something we are working on behind the scenes. But there are other potential ideas in terms of European leagues, joining some of the Nordic countries, the Netherlands to create a league.”
No surprise there, especially with Rangers facing yet another financial crisis as they attempt to fight off a $76 million dollar tax bill. Their rivals Celtic might not have that motivation to push up the timetable, but it's hardly something they'd say no to should the opportunity arise.
As always in these discussions, Whyte talked about keeping a version of the club in Scotland potentially still competing in that country's Premier League. There's a Welsh example here as well. With the two dominant Welsh clubs showing no interest in participating in a Welsh league, in 1996 the Welsh FA booted out any Welsh club playing in England from the Welsh Cup. There would be no easy access to Europe for Swansea or Cardiff.
The Welsh FA invited all of the clubs playing in England back this season, but Swansea and Cardiff passed on that opportunity. After all, both teams play in England's FA Cup and the League Cup. The South Wales duo are English in everything but geography, something that should cause other leagues pause.
So should what happened in North America when Major League Soccer decided to follow the old North American Soccer League model and expand into Canada. What MLS is demonstrating is that multiple Canadian cities are capable of supporting that league's model. A soccer-specific or at least soccer friendly venue and a fan base capable of putting the league median of around 15,000 in that stadium.
The question becomes why that had to be MLS. Where they really the only ones who could establish a viable professional circuit in Canada? If expansion ever brings in Edmonton and Calgary, all the league has really done is re-create the NASL model. Five teams covering all the major Canadian cities and shutting out any serious attempt at an actual Canadian first division.
In this scenario, MLS might want to argue that Canada benefits through development of potential National Team players. But on both sides of the border that's becoming an increasingly difficult selling point. With all due respect to MLS, there's at least the potential for a future for Canadian soccer that is hampered by not having a true domestic topflight.
For Scotland, it's the potential for an established, if troubled, domestic league seeing further erosion when the two marquee clubs opt for a better opportunity for themselves. Considering the state of the Scottish National Team program, this isn't a concern that can be easily dismissed.
Look, there's no question that Rangers and Celtic are better off from a financial and competition standpoint playing somewhere else. The Scottish setup has had ample opportunity to develop a league that could create real and meaningful competition. Instead, it's a significant drop off in gate receipts and record from the Old Firm to the likes of Hearts and Aberdeen. The Scottish Premier League can tinker with the format and talk about potential, but not enough has happened to keep the Old Firm in the relationship.
As it stands, what has held the Old Firm in check is UEFA and FIFA's unwillingness to seriously consider clubs switching domestic leagues. The Welsh examples have played in England for generations. The Canadian MLS examples are all expansion teams, even when they have a lineage that traces back to the original NASL era.
What Rangers management is currently describing is the same old problem. It's one of destabilization. The big clubs looking for an out can talk all they want about keeping some B team in their domestic league, but it creates a situation where they're doing that domestic league no favors. The ones left behind will have to figure out a way to right their finances when they no longer have games against the marquee version of the marquee clubs. They'll also have to find a way to absorb the hit when those clubs manage to draw away more fans now that they're playing in a bigger competition.
Changing the rules changes everything. It's that broader impact that becomes more important than what's good for a handful of elite clubs who have managed to outgrow their domestic leagues.
Comments, questions, solutions to problems that have yet to present themselves. Please, tell me all about it.
