"Champions" league qualification

with the impending champions league showdown due this evening, i really got thinking about the term "Champions" league and is it really champions who qualify and win it.

now liverpool won the champions league in 2005, and there was a heated debate about how could liverpool be champions of europe when they cant even be champions of england?

a thought i had as to address this issue, was to shake up the way the premier (or even football) league teams qualify for this competition and have a legitimate claim to be champions while competing in the champions league.

so, a different and legitimate way to qualify for the champions league from an english football point of view would be observe the rules as follows:

1) one place in CL for champions of england
2) one place in CL for FA cup champions
3) one place in CL for Carling Cup champions
4) one place in CL for a playoff between teams placed 2nd - 5th
5) the teams that do not win play offs drop into Europa League (3 places)
6) extra place in EL for runners up in the FA cup if needed (not sure about this rule)

obviously there is going to be holes in the rules ive just came up with.
but it would add a new breath of fresh air to the league system, champions league could be accessible to teams it normally wouldnt, but with a legit claim for champions to compete.

one reasoning of logic that i can give towards this being a credible system is that a FA cup win would land a EL spot in the current system, but a 4th place finish would give a team entry to the Champions league. a higher reward for a team that essentially wins nothing that season. whereas a team that actually wins a trophy gets a lesser reward.

that begs the other question. is 4th place in the premier league worth more than a trophy in the cabinet?

your thoughts please guys!

 

That way teams would take the Carling Cup more seriously.

 

My only reservation with this is the idea that if a team like Portsmouth won the FA cup, like they did not long ago, then under this system they would get into the CL. For me, the reason I like the CL is because you get the best teams in Europe playing each other. And even though you if get teams that finish bottom of the group, they got there. Maybe if the winners of the FA and League cup got into the qualifying rounds first, then I could see that. It wuld sort thr whaet from the Chaff.

 

Interesting idea too, winners of the Champions League aren't always champions in their own domestic league.

 

which would be a good thing in my opinion, as i still think a trophy in the cabinet for the record books to highlight is worth more than a 4th place finish. thats just my opinion though

 

yeah the "lesser" ways of getting in would probs result in qualifying rounds

 

Champions League is a stupid competition imo. There are clubs in there that would barely survive in our league...

 

Literally the 4 Champions of the English league, so (assuming the tables stay as they are) the 2011/12 Champions League would be;

Man Utd, QPR, Brighton and Chesterfield.

The lower-league champions will enter the competition at an increasingly-early stage.

Winners of the FA Cup and League Cup get a Europa league spot, along with the two winning clubs of an EPL play-off (2nd-9th).

If a club 2nd-9th has won a cup, the playoff drops down the league (so down to 11th could qualify for the Europa in theory).

So as the season stands (let's say Man City win the FA Cup)...

Man City
Birmingham

The higher-placed teams get home advantage (as a reward).

Arsenal v Newcastle
Chelsea v West Brom
Winners play eachother

Tottenham v Bolton
Liverpool v Everton
Winners play eachother

Of the two winners, the higher-placed team enters the Europa proper, the lower-placed team at the qualifying stage. So finishing in the 'top 4 excluding champion' spot gives you a better chance of qualifying for Europe.


This would change the dynamic of the two competitions, assuming the 'true champions' of each country enter (must be from a pro-league or the country's topflight) you would have the best clubs in the world competing but have it seeded and ran as a full knockout cup. The top teams would be in but you'd have more 'giant killings' with a random draw being made. You could have Dunfermline v Lille but to get there Dunfermline will have had to have beaten a number of clubs closer to their level. Perhaps rename it to the Champions Cup.

This then would mean the Europa League would no longer be seen as 'Champions League Lite' as it'd be a totally different style of competition. Keeping the group stages, the competition would be much more even as all clubs competing would have finished in the higher-reaches of their league (or won a domestic cup). Winning it would mean much more than it does today and the interest would be increased.


The only problem with my mad rambling is that from a sponsorship point of view, it may mean finishing 2nd is actually better than finishing 1st. <erm>

 

I like the idea, put it to the FA!

 

I can't, they told me if I send them any more letters they'll phone the police.