10 Things That Could Change Football As We Know It

By: Daryl | March 19th, 2009

Man Utd top of the Prem, Barca top of La Liga, Inter top of Serie A. Four English teams in the Champions League quarter-finals. Ronaldo to Real Madrid. Not enough Englishmen in the Premier League. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

I love football -even in its current form – but sometimes feel like I’m watching repeats (or re-runs, for American readers).

So I’m ready for a change. For something to shake up the status quo and make everyone rethink things a bit.

Here are 10 Things That Could Change Football As We Know It. Not all of them are necessarily good ideas, but all of them have been suggested or discussed at some point, so none are beyond the realms of possibility:

1. The 6+5 rule
This is basically Sepp Blatter’s idea for reshaping football. Every team’s first XI must consist of at least six domestic players (eg English players in an English Premier League team) and no more than five non-domestic players. Arsene Wenger probably has nightmares about this.

Famously, it breaks about a thousand European Union labour laws, and the European Club Association isn’t keen either. So UEFA’s proposal for a minimum number of “homegrown players” (ie players from the clubs youth system) seems a lot more realistic.

2. No transfers for Under-18s
Michel Platini has proposed a plan to raise the minimum age at which a player can be transferred between European clubs from 16 to 18.

This would also mean European clubs couldn’t buy players from outside Europe who are under 18. Combine this with the above homegrown player rule and we’re looking at a massive shake up.

3. Video technology
The technology exists for instant video replays to help referees make decisions. There just isn’t the will to use it. Some say it would slow the game down, others say it could be done quickly and correctly. Personally, I think it’s weird that everyone watching a game on TV gets to see a replay and the ref doesn’t.

4. Premier League money meltdown
The Prem’s income is gargantuan. But then so is it’s bill. Clubs are falling over each other to outspend the opposition, which could end badly. The end of the Premier League as the global megabrand that its is would definitely shake up the status quo.

The Bundesliga business model (eg clubs instead of PLCs) seems a lot more sensible. As do the ticket prices. They are the tortoise to the Premier League/La Liga/Serie A hare. And with the Bundesliga revenues steadily rising, the league is in prime position to be the new hot ticket for big name players, should anything happen to the big three.

5. Co-ed football
It’s nearly happened a couple of times. Perugia tried to sign Swedish striker Hanna Ljungberg back in 2003, while Maribel Dominguez came close to signing for Mexican second-division side Celaya in late 2004. And then there was Marta nearly but not quite turning out for Oldham in a pre-season friendly recently.

FIFA aren’t keen, and have ruled that “There must be a clear separation between men’s and women’s football,” with “no exceptions.” (Maybe there’s not enough money in it?) But never say never.

6. European Super League
The rumours of Europe’s top clubs abandoning domestic leagues to form a breakaway league of superman and supermoney just will not die. If it ever happens, it will be a bizarre mixture of fascinating and disgusting to watch. And domestic football in the most popular leagues will be drastically reshaped. For example, imagine a Premier League where Aston Villa, Everton and co fight for the Premier League title while Man Utd, Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea are playing with their new friends.

7. Salary/Spending cap
As suggested by AC Milan chief exec Adriano Galliani today. He’s suggesting a US sports style hard salary cap, where all teams have the same predetermined limit on the amount that can be spent on wages.

The alternative plan is to limit club spending to a percentage of club income and prevent teams spending a sugar daddy’s money/spending themselves into oblivion.

8. A big money non-European league
Right now, all the football money and power is focused in Europe. But it doesn’t have to be that way forever. And I’d argue that – don’t laugh – the USA could one day become a destination. Not many Europeans have much respect for MLS right now, but for a 14 year old league they’re not doing too badly. There’s still a potentially massive market in North America just waiting to be cracked, and if that happens… we could finally see a footballing destination outside of Europe. Just don’t hold your breath…

9. The internet
It’s already happening, slowly but surely. Even if certain leagues [cough - Premier League - cough] are slow to embrace it. But imagine if one day you were able to watch any football match from anywhere in the world via the magic of computers, for either a modest monthly subscription or on an affordable (99c per game?) PPV basis. I can almost hear the TV revenues crashing now.

10. The end of international friendlies
The club vs country battle is almost over. And clubs have definitely won. Big players pull out of friendlies with imaginary thigh strains, and teams like Brazil rarely play a friendly in Brazil because there’s more money to be made elsewhere. If friendlies disappeared to be replaced by simple meetups and training sessions, that would be a loss for football fans. But if we could replace friendlies with some sort of world league or a series of regional leagues, then maybe we could re-introduce some competitiveness to international dates.

So what do you think?

Which of these would change football the most? Which would be the best thing to happen? Which would be the worst thing to happen? And which is most likely to happen?

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Category: World Football

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Finnegan

#3 and #9 would be the best changes if done right. people (the premier league) need to realize that this world is an information-technology world, where technology just makes information easier to share. it doesn't matter how many footballing clips you pull from the net, for each one a hundred more will pop up. I'm 95% sure that people who are going to chinese/filipino/taiwanese website to get a stream of football matches (obscure or not) would much rather pay a modest monthly subscription fee if the stream didn't lag or skip and had decent to good quality. I know I would.

#3 needs to be implemented on a challenge basis, where a manager or possibly even a captain is given a certain number of challenges per half, like in tennis. to be safe, I'd start off with one challenge. if your team gets scored on and you think that the player who scored was offside, you can challenge it. the main official radios the official up in the box, he runs the vid, tells the main official if the player was offside or not. if he was, goal disallowed and you retain your challenge. if he wasn't, goal stands and you lose your challenge. what's nice about this is you have to pick and choose your battles, since if you're wrong about the call, you won't have the chance to challenge another call later on. but if you're absolutely certain a player was offside, or there was a handball, or that a player dived, sure, a challenge should be in order.
Madridista

If there's a female player good enough to play in a pro men's team, why not?

Honestly, co-ed football at the highest level will come sooner or later ("later" could well be 100 years from now).
Mike

I'd like to see 3, 7, and 9

Super league is super stupid as is coed

#3 Add another ref. A video ref who could communicate with the head ref when an incident occurs.

#7 Spending is crazy. Enforce a salary cap instantly solves this issue.

#9 Most of us already use this. But the streams tend to suck and are not reliable. If there was a service where you could watch streamed games in a decent quality I'd sign up. $1 a game, $100 a year, or a package per team, per season. I constantly see 15,000 - 30,000 people connected to some streams. Advertise this, and add an on-demand service, and the money would pour in!
Wayne

Hearing about the dreaded ESL reminds me of FIFA 99 which had an option to play in said league.

My favourite of your suggestions is the possible regional comps. for international football. Friendlies have become so pointless. I wish we could get it to the stage of rugby tests, where even though little is on the line outside of comps. pride is what drives them on! If there were soccer test matches then it would be brilliant I think...
Shazback

8 : Wouldn't China have a better long-term chance of being that "big-money non-European league"? Not only is China going to be the economic superpower of tomorrow, but football is becoming more and more popular there, and it's already on par with gymnastics and table tennis, despite these two being long-term domestic favorites... Add to that the fact that South Korea and Japan also have decent leagues and a strong rivalry with China, and I think you can make a case for the Chinese league progressing very, very quickly. The only setback is that right now the chinese league is crap (much worse than the MLS). But in 5-10 years, as more and more kids that grew up liking football come into the picture, there's no reason why it won't grow quickly, especially without sports like US Football, Basketball, Hockey and Baseball also competing for the talent.

6 : Unfeasable. How would Chelsea, Man U, Inter or any major club keep their huge fanbase when they're nothing more than a mid-table team? Sure, it can be the best league ever, but lots of people follow those teams because they win games, end of story. All the clubs that are potential founders of this "super-league" know that they need to have a podium finish each season. Either in the league, or a cup, or the Champion's League. Finishing 16th in a super-league would be a disaster for them, no matter how "super" this league is.
diana

Daryl, I am always sensitive whenever I see the European Super League being mentioned. I just hope it does not even go through.

I am all for video technology. If it has worked in other sports like tennis, why not football, the most popular sport in the world as well?

Not sure if the 6+5 ruling will work (I know I had read before that the German FA is in support of it), but then maybe this will force the Premier League clubs to rework their academy system. As for no transfers for Under-18s, that is a good one for me.

Regarding salary caps, at least I know it is not just a German thing. At least what AC Milan chief exec Adriano Galliani said helped me to confirmed that. Having following the Bundesliga myself apart from the Premier League, there has been those in the German footballing community like Rudi Voeller, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge calling for one. You can imagine how the Premier League is going to react if there is going to be some sort of real development going on if the call for a salary cap especially in the wake of the current global financial situation grows louder.

The alternative plan you mentioned Daryl (of limiting club spending to a percentage of the club income), is good for me anyhow.
Christopher

Hard salary cap only works with "shared revenue." It works in US sports leagues because nobody "owns the league." Basically, for the EPL to implement shared revenue, Barclays would need to step aside, and have 100% of TV and marketing revenue funnelled into a pot which is split equally.

I would see a "luxary tax" working better, that is, set the bar for team max, and for every dollar you spend on annual salary above that, you put in that same amount to the pot. Then the "poorest" teams get to dip in that till.

I think we are still 20 years from "soccer" becoming big in N. America, too many other choices, and not enough home grown talent. Lets face it, most Americans scoff to consider a guy with the build of Landon (receeding hairline and all) a world class athlete. NBA was boutique until Magic and Larry, soccer will blow up when some real talent is home grown.
Jonny Mac

1) 6 + 5 Rule - Wouldnt be such a bad thing! This rule would encourage clubs to develop they're younger talent and should in turn raise the standard of the national teams through consistent coaching form a young age. The onus would then be placed on coaching staff throughout the country to develop better players.

6) European Super League- Not Unlikely to happen and would be disastrous for many legaues across Europe. However, if it was monitored correctly it cuold be beneficial for all clubs across the continent.
I know this is never gonna happen but if all of the leagues across Europe were given parachute payments as a result of the sponsorhsip etc form the super league the leagues could continue to develop.
The champions league as we know it would cease to exist and a new club competition could be created in the same format (although regionalised) giving the final four teams entry to the super league.
The key to success would be the integrity of the controlling association and the FOOTBALL ASSOCIATIONS across Europe not the sponsorship as many of the founders would have you believe.
Hawk

6+5 would destroy the premier league. There are teams with no sure-thing english starters. Still, I don't agree that they should implement the 6+5 rule, the transfer window provides enough changes for me.
Sam

I get an urge to kill someone whenever I read the words "European Super League".