They have cup completions with third and fourth level sides in them along with academy sides from selected top flight clubs and a second division side because they get big crowds? Where is that then?
Because until fairly recently (2008-09) Bundesliga and La Liga sides entered reserve teams into their cup competitions and both nations are known for having their reserve teams in the third tiers of their respective league (with Spain allowing them up to the second tier). I've been on this site for quite some time, if you can't tell the difference between when I'm being serious and when I'm joking well then, that's hilarious and something worth remembering.
So,the Bundesliga no longer do it in cups and Germany and Spain allow reserve sides in their lower leagues. Not exactly the same as having a cup competition for teams in lower leagues and allowing in selected academy sides. Spain doesn't have enough professional clubs to run 4 divisions like we do. Any others, or does the continent where this happens consist of just Spain? If they had got away with this, which thankfully, going by the opposition to it they won't, the next step would have been entering the reserve sides of the big clubs into the FA Cup,and then an extended 5 division leagues set up with, as justificstion, ludicrous claims that it will help the England side.
Well the problems are the same really, aren't they? As for other countries, Portugal, France and Norway also have reserve teams in their league systems and the League of Ireland trialled it a few years back (although their league system only constitutes two divisions). You'd have to ask our resident Portuguese expert as to how the likes of Porto, Benfica and Guimares B get on/how well received they are.
I'm with you on this one CC - it really is the thin end of the wedge, we allow the biggest clubs to enter a second team into a minor cup competition it would only be a matter of time before the big clubs wangled a 2nd, 3rd or even 4th team into the lower leagues - this at the expense of long established lower league stalwarts. Still, as you say, it'll be sure to benefit the England team, as has every other half-baked initiative of ther last 20 years .... NOT!
All the leagues you mention don't have 4 professional leagues like we do. They bow to pressure from big clubs. Here it is the opposite, it is an idea floated by the league with one eye on TV but here it is the big clubs who are against it. Do you know anyone who would support a B team or be interested in watching the B team of other clubs in a league game?
The difference seems to be that the lower leagues aren't taken as seriously as they are over here. Remember Proschwitz was ace in the second division in Germany. The thing is, if the big clubs don't want this, who the hell does? And how has it got this far before those behind it realised? I wouldn't be in favour of it anyway, but surely the argument is that it'll give top academy players more experience at a competitive standard bla bla bla. Yet the clubs who'd benefit from that appear to disagree, which surely destroys any possible argument in favour of it.
This is going well, half the Premier League academies have declined the offer to take part, the fans of many of the lower league clubs are arranging boycotts and now they announce it's going to be called... The Checkatrade Trophy
What a waste of spit and sweat this is. The paint pot trophy has now been reduced to nothing other than a Wonga grabbing exercise.
Someone just tweeted Stoke's ticket office and asked how many tickets they'd sold for tonights EFL Trophy game... SCFC Ticket Office @stokecity_to @jayhscfc Hi Jay. We have sold 86 tickets for tonight's EFL Trophy Fixture.
If the competition isn't broken, leave it alone. Lower league sides need these sort of competitions to generate "some" revenue at least.