The UEFA Europa Conference League (also known as the UEFA Conference League), is a new European competition. The competition will mainly be contested by teams from lower-ranked UEFA member associations. Teams finishing 7th in the Premier League (6th if a team out of the top 6 wins the FA cup) qualify for the competition. However, this is the worst thing that could have happened to English football. Here’s why.
The COVID pandemic has caused many top clubs to underperform and has created a much tighter league. Teams like Arsenal face an uphill battle for Europe while teams like Southampton, Aston Villa, West Ham, and Everton are currently in a fairytale battle to qualify for Europe. As of February 1st, there is a 10 point gap between 2nd and 10th. This is a 10 point gap that can be easily overturned with a run of good form or a car crash (yes I’m looking at you, Ole at the wheel). With the stakes higher than ever, including big clubs who can find themselves heading into a period of mid-table mediocrity, small clubs looking to cement their place at the top for the years to come, clubs looking to convince star players to stay, managers trying to prove haters wrong, teams looking to end title/trophy droughts, you name it and this season has got it!
So why, during this season of chaos and so much at stake, with teams fighting for many different causes are the spots of the Europa League being replaced with the Conference League? With 7 spots of Europe and big clubs with the potential not to get any, the Premier League is taking a turn for the more exciting. For seasons to come, we could see a top half or even full table where any team can finish as title winners, CL qualifiers, Europa League qualifiers, mid-table mediocrity, or even relegation battlers. No longer can clubs sit on their hands in the transfer windows or rest players against premier league teams for fear of a bad finish. With inflation and revenue allowing the big clubs to continue to get much better than the rest of the pack, this season is somewhat of a blessing, a chance for us to restart and try again before teams like City and Liverpool hit regulars of 110 points each season.
However, by replacing a Europa League spot with a Conference League spot, we deny the chance to create a more exciting league. Teams in the CL and Europa League spots will find themselves separated from the rest of the pack, reward, and finance wise. For example, the top 6 of City, United, Liverpool, Leicester, West Ham, Tottenham will suddenly be separated from the rest of the pack. With fewer spots and a less open league, bigger clubs like Everton, Chelsea and Arsenal will face mass exoduses and the League will move on, as if this season never happened, with the only difference being Leicester and West Ham replacing Chelsea and Arsenal. In a way, we would have 3 leagues. A league with City and Liverpool competing for the title, a league with United, Leicester, West Ham, and Spurs for CL football next season, and a league with the rest for Conference League football.
And this bad impact is mutual. With bigger clubs competing against teams from lower-ranked associations, the Conference League would become nothing more than a Carabao Cup with worse teams. Clubs would have to go all out in the Conference in an attempt to get Europa League football, crushing the dreams of small clubs with passionate and excited fans.
Now don’t get the wrong idea, I think the Conference League is a great idea. It’s a way to allow smaller clubs European football, passionate fans to dream, and for smaller leagues to get more recognition. However, by replacing Europa League spots with Conference League spots in the Prem, both the Premier League and the Conference League suffer.
A way to fix this is to deny clubs from top confederations to enter the Conference League. Instead, they should get Europa League spots with the Europa League containing 48 clubs instead of 32. This way, the Premier League does not get impacted by the change. The conference league should consist of more clubs from small confederations, fighting it out among teams at their level, with a better chance to win a European Trophy, bring respect and honour to their fans and league, and qualify to take on the big boys next season (Europa League).
In the end, the Conference League threatens to deny the possibility of a better Premier League. Including top clubs also ruins the Conference League itself. It’s up to Uefa to take this chance to save the Conference League, Premier League, and possibly club football as a whole.
I introduce you to the 3rd member of our team, Jacob King!
Well written Jacob, you’re a welcome member of our team!