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Time for a British League


teamof1958

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So, we?ve just lost our manager (coach?) to a team in the lower echelons of the third tier of English football. It?s been said in threads on here before that the pros and cons of the two clubs is not a team v team affair, it?s a league v league comparison. This is correct.

 

Scottish club football has been dire for a good number of years now and there are no signs that it is getting any better. The game globally has by-passed Scotland and there is not enough money or interest as things stand for there to be any realistic or sustainable opportunity for change.

 

I have long argued that by far the best way ahead from here would be for the two top leagues in Scotland to join a British league. While the ugly sisters in Glasgow would have their own agenda over this, the one club in Scotland however who would benefit the most from this has to be Hearts.    

 

In terms of the size of our support, the population and prestige of the city of Edinburgh, we would make at least a very competitive Championship side, perhaps even the Premier league itself. Look at Leicester City, nothing is impossible.  

 

Now I know a lot of people will disagree with this, and are quite happy to see us play Kilmarnock, Ross County, Partick Thistle, Motherwell etc. four times a season, but imagine Newcastle, Aston Villa, Leeds Utd. Derby County etc. all coming to Tynecastle.

 

It?s well known that there is tremendous potential at Hearts, but it?s never really been unlocked apart from a brief spell in the late fifties. A British league would benefit us perhaps more than any other club in Scotland.

 

I know it ain?t going to happen.

 

In the meantime, our manager has gone to MK Dons.

 

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loveofthegame

I agree almost entirely, but it ain't going to happen...

 

Embarrassing that a club like MK Dons can take away our manager and that League One in England is seen by players as a better standard with a more lucrative contract.

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Scottish football is dire because of self inflicted wounds (Old Firm protected dominance/TV setup/all seater requirement at a time when funds were drying up for some clubs meaning some crappy grounds).

 

Having a British league would only cause more problems because the financial gap is massive.

 

Don't forget, the financial difference between Leicester and Chelsea was significantly smaller than that of Hearts and Celtic.

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August Landmesser

Our Manager Head Coach has gone to MK Dons, but it looks very much like we're getting our new Head Coach from Newcastle United...

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Bring Back Paulo Sergio

Our Manager Head Coach has gone to MK Dons, but it looks very much like we're getting our new Head Coach from Newcastle United...

Rafa is coming to Auld Reekie?!? :wow:

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Fly the Saltire

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

 

Not again this again it's a dead parrot and never going to happen as lower league sides in England won't vote for old firm mayhem.

 

Hearts crowds would dwindle as no one wants to spend years watching glamour opponents like Dover or Boreham Wood rather than Aberdeen or Hibs,

 

There would be little or no TV coverage of English 6th division where the Scottish clubs would have to start in the unlikelyhood that it would ever happen.

 

No more Europa Cup games againgst Spurs and Liverpool etc

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How would playing at New Douglas Park, Dens Park, the Caledonian Stadium etc, benefit the like of Man Utd, Liverpool, or even Stoke City or Everton?

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How would playing at New Douglas Park, Dens Park, the Caledonian Stadium etc, benefit the like of Man Utd, Liverpool, or even Stoke City or Everton?

They wouldnt be playing there so I dont really see your point.

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So, we?ve just lost our manager (coach?) to a team in the lower echelons of the third tier of English football. It?s been said in threads on here before that the pros and cons of the two clubs is not a team v team affair, it?s a league v league comparison. This is correct.

 

Scottish club football has been dire for a good number of years now and there are no signs that it is getting any better. The game globally has by-passed Scotland and there is not enough money or interest as things stand for there to be any realistic or sustainable opportunity for change.

 

I have long argued that by far the best way ahead from here would be for the two top leagues in Scotland to join a British league. While the ugly sisters in Glasgow would have their own agenda over this, the one club in Scotland however who would benefit the most from this has to be Hearts.    

 

In terms of the size of our support, the population and prestige of the city of Edinburgh, we would make at least a very competitive Championship side, perhaps even the Premier league itself. Look at Leicester City, nothing is impossible.  

 

Now I know a lot of people will disagree with this, and are quite happy to see us play Kilmarnock, Ross County, Partick Thistle, Motherwell etc. four times a season, but imagine Newcastle, Aston Villa, Leeds Utd. Derby County etc. all coming to Tynecastle.

 

It?s well known that there is tremendous potential at Hearts, but it?s never really been unlocked apart from a brief spell in the late fifties. A British league would benefit us perhaps more than any other club in Scotland.

 

I know it ain?t going to happen.

 

In the meantime, our manager has gone to MK Dons.

 

Fork That!

 

U a weedjie supporter?

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To many people happy to dismiss this due to us not getting into Europe. We're realistically not going to have a decent run in Europe anytime soon. It's not going to happen but it would be something seriously worth considering if it was ever on the table.

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Thought Police

How would playing at New Douglas Park, Dens Park, the Caledonian Stadium etc, benefit the like of Man Utd, Liverpool, or even Stoke City or Everton?

In what world would those clubs reach that level?

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ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

 

Not again this again it's a dead parrot and never going to happen as lower league sides in England won't vote for old firm mayhem.

 

Hearts crowds would dwindle as no one wants to spend years watching glamour opponents like Dover or Boreham Wood rather than Aberdeen or Hibs,

 

There would be little or no TV coverage of English 6th division where the Scottish clubs would have to start in the unlikelyhood that it would ever happen.

 

No more Europa Cup games againgst Spurs and Liverpool etc

 

this is the only advantage of the current set-up, and with the way things are going with Scottish teams having to play 3 or 4 qualifying rounds in July, it's hardly worth it anyway.

 

Totally agree with the OP. The current set-up is obsolete.

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I have no interest in playing in the Premier League in England.  Zero.

 

Rather our poor league any time.

 

We're a Scottish club and we play in Scotland.  If everyone, OF included, got their heads round this and started focussing inwards instead of looking down south with wistful eyes, we'd maybe start getting somewhere.

 

Is football not about going out with your family or mates for a day out any more?  Is it not a community thing any more?  Is success and money all that matter now?  Really?  Not for me.

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It would be piss poor.

 

We already have to travel to shite football grounds within Scotland to watch the club. Imagine those distances x10 to watch Hearts v mediocre English teams. Then there are the cost implications - higher ticket prices, travel etc.

 

Scotland is shit but a UK league isn't the answer either.

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It would be piss poor.

 

We already have to travel to shite football grounds within Scotland to watch the club. Imagine those distances x10 to watch Hearts v mediocre English teams. Then there are the cost implications - higher ticket prices, travel etc.

 

Scotland is shit but a UK league isn't the answer either.

Another thing I'd say is that most people that seem to love English football and think it's the be all and end all haven't been to many games down there.  When you're at a game, and I include EPL here, you see the standard isn't all that great.  It's all bluster.  Folk fall for it and keep paying Sky and keep dreaming that one day it'll be us though.

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It would be piss poor.

 

We already have to travel to shite football grounds within Scotland to watch the club. Imagine those distances x10 to watch Hearts v mediocre English teams. Then there are the cost implications - higher ticket prices, travel etc.

 

Scotland is shit but a UK league isn't the answer either.

As a London based season ticket holder I'm all for this.. It's not x10 for all of us..

 

Joking aside, no it's not the answer. We're a scottish team, we should play in Scotland.

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I'm sure our fans would love to travel to Plymouth/Exeter/Gillingham/Bournemouth etc etc as much as the fans of those clubs might relish the trip to Aberdeen or Inverness

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IMO the only way this will happen is, if a franchise system is introduced under the guise of a Brtish league.Edinburgh would be a very attractive prospect to investors. A growing city, pretty affluent, with a strong financial sector.

Using Murrayfield as a home stadium, strong tv income, atractive fixtures against championship/premiership opposition would attract very healthy attendances along with lucrative sponsorship & hospitality income.

Alas it would mean the demise (relatively) of Hearts & Hibs as we know them, although they could survive in a regional league.

It may not happen in my lifetime (I'm 62) however changes in European football, cross- border leagues & changing tv rights income may well force it sooner rather than later.

Rumours of SKY pulling out of Scotish football could see the demise of many senior scottish clubs. If this were to happen, perhaps a British franchise system maybethe saviour of some of the larger scottish clubs.

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IMO the only way this will happen is, if a franchise system is introduced under the guise of a Brtish league.Edinburgh would be a very attractive prospect to investors. A growing city, pretty affluent, with a strong financial sector.

Using Murrayfield as a home stadium, strong tv income, atractive fixtures against championship/premiership opposition would attract very healthy attendances along with lucrative sponsorship & hospitality income.

Alas it would mean the demise (relatively) of Hearts & Hibs as we know them, although they could survive in a regional league.

It may not happen in my lifetime (I'm 62) however changes in European football, cross- border leagues & changing tv rights income may well force it sooner rather than later.

Rumours of SKY pulling out of Scotish football could see the demise of many senior scottish clubs. If this were to happen, perhaps a British franchise system maybethe saviour of some of the larger scottish clubs.

Yes i agree, this would be the most realistic way such an event could ever happen. 

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Maroon Sailor

All it needs is for clubs like Hearts to be able to put in a strong enough challenge to win the league and suddenly the game up here will thrive.

 

Celtic winning the league every season is killing the game up here.

 

 

We've got a crap uncompetitive league but an even crapper competitive league would still be better.

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A British league is a shitty unimaginative way to try and deal with Scottish footballs problems.

 

There is no way to fix the problems, the OF have killed the competition up here and Sky have ensured that no team can build a squad because no marks down south can cherry pick.

 

Its a depressing affair.

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You must hate the English leagues if you'd want to export the old firm cancer down south. We have it up here and it's us Scots that will have to deal with the cancer we call bigotry.

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PeterintheRain

To many people happy to dismiss this due to us not getting into Europe. We're realistically not going to have a decent run in Europe anytime soon. It's not going to happen but it would be something seriously worth considering if it was ever on the table.

 

  Dismiss this because we're Scottish from Scotland and not ****ing English.

 

  You want to be a craven little quisling of your beloved fleg waving racists then go ahead and move.

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Nelson was pushed IMO

 

Sent from my HS-U980 using Tapatalk

And Durrant dived.

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Maroon Sailor

Dismiss this because we're Scottish from Scotland and not ******* English.

 

You want to be a craven little quisling of your beloved fleg waving racists then go ahead and move.

Bet you Swansea and Cardiff fans are gutted they are not playing The New Saints and Aberystwyth every season.

 

Instead they just have to settle for playing the likes of Chelsea, Man City, Newcastle and Aston Villa

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  • 4 weeks later...

Great idea!

 

Just a thought ...

 

Robbie & Stevie Crawford go South, following legends like e.g. Dave MacKay, Arthur Mann (NB for younger fans he was a great full back that we sold to Man City), Robbo (but he bounced back!), Jordan McGee, Christophe Berra etc., Callum Paterson(??)

 

Why do these people move South? Opportunities both financial and personal!

 

 

Cathro says no limits, Ann (Queen) Budge says (I read reported) we will never match Celtic on finance (why not? Let's be ambitious!)

 

If HMFC can't meet the ambitions of employees, primarily financial due to the constraints of the SPFL (that's geared to only meet the needs of the Glasgow teams (Celtic & new Rangers) then why not move the whole club

South??

 

Whilst away games would really be away, with larger travel distances than current, at least playing 'new' teams would be refreshing!! Imagine playing x23 different teams in one season rather than eg Motherwell, Kilmarnock, etc. 4 times again!

 

We could be a successful Championship club in 4 seasons and then build beyond that to the Premier League - new stands at Tynecastle required!!

 

Why not? And don't use the derby against the Lochend boys as a reason ..... who cares if we ever play them again!!

 

Just a thought!

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Why don't the French and Belgian leagues merge too in that case? Or austria and germany? Or spain and portugal? I'll tell you why. They respect the fact that countries have their own leagues.

 

The British league stuff is cringeworthy.

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As a London based season ticket holder I'm all for this.. It's not x10 for all of us..

 

Joking aside, no it's not the answer. We're a scottish team, we should play in Scotland.

 

That's it in a nutshell. We are Scottish

and should work towards improving our own game.

Even if we did go for this idea we would have to start in the lower English leagues. By the time we work our way through all the lower leagues half of us will be dead and the other half would have lost interest anyway.

It's a terrible idea.

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Said it once and will say it a million times more

 

Ram the British league, Atlantic league etc, and increase the size of our top flight to 18/20 teams, have a 2nd tier of 24 teams

2 up/down automatically 3rd bottom v 3rd top playoff for a place in top flight

Lowland and highland league winners promoted and replace the bottom two in the 2nd tier (if it's not geographical, a slight rejig for that league for a year or so)

I would much rather have only two games a season v any team (Hibs Celtic rangers sheep Kilmarnock etc) than the usual dross of 4.

Would make the league more exciting and build up to games better.

 

 

Sadly i know it will never be but can hope

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Phil D. Corners

Problem with a British league is that people think it will automatically bring success.

 

That's seems to be the mind set of some fans for clubs like Hearts, Rangers, and Celtic. However there plenty of big clubs now struggling in the lower leagues.

 

Leeds, Nottingham Forrest, we big clubs in their day. Blackburn were former Premiership winners, and Coventry were FA cup winners, who are both struggling. And Recently massive clubs like Aston Villa and Newcastle have struggled. Its not all Leicester city.

 

 

If you want to change one thing it would be to change the TV deal.

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Give it 10 years and the old firm will be playing in an Atlantic League orEuro Super League Division 2 (North) and we can just carry on, challenging for the title along with Aberdeen.

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Playing in a British league lacks ambition. The way forward IMO is for a European league. This will come about as more Scottish (and English) clubs come under financial pressure. We already know the direction UEFA wants to take with the 4 clubs from the biggest leagues. Just makes sense that they will one day want to take it a stage further!

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How about a world league?

 

Then we could play Real Madrid and River Plate every week in big, luxurious stadiums with lots of film stars present, with every game live on TV as well, and we could all live happily ever after

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kingantti1874

Agree with OP.. sick of losing staff to non entity clubs.. there's no other solution.. we try to maintain our current leagues and we will be done within 20 years

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Agree with OP.. sick of losing staff to non entity clubs.. there's no other solution.. we try to maintain our current leagues and we will be done within 20 years

 

If it wasn't for the TV money most of these English teams would be in financial trouble.

It's only my opinion but these bubbles usually burst and when it does there will be carnage.

We are better off where we are spending what we can afford and not chasing after a land of milk and honey.

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kingantti1874

If it wasn't for the TV money most of these English teams would be in financial trouble.

It's only my opinion but these bubbles usually burst and when it does there will be carnage.

We are better off where we are spending what we can afford and not chasing after a land of milk and honey.

We've been hearing it will burst for nigh on 20 years. It won't happen... if there was ever a reduction in TV monies it would still be thousands of times the value of the Scottish deals..

 

We can't go on being cherry picked by nothing English teams.. evolve or die.

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Bazzas right boot

Not going to happen.

 

With the brexit fiasco and an 2nd referendum likley, talk of this will be on hold.

 

If Scotland bails out of the mess  the tories and ukip created  then the Brittish league idea is truley dead.

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I'm slowly coming round to the idea of a British league. Our game is broken up here and I can't see any hope of it being fixed.

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Bazzas right boot

We've been hearing it will burst for nigh on 20 years. It won't happen... if there was ever a reduction in TV monies it would still be thousands of times the value of the Scottish deals..

 

We can't go on being cherry picked by nothing English teams.. evolve or die.

 

 

As the internet improves it is a serious threat to sky and bt sports, simply put less folk will pay for it and watch it as the internet becomes the main media.

 

Think what TV done  to the Radio, if did take around 50 years, but it happened.

 

The internet will do to TV what TV  done to the radio.

 

might be a while, tho.

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kingantti1874

As the internet improves it is a serious threat to sky and bt sports, simply put less folk will pay for it and watch it as the internet becomes the main media.

 

Think what TV done to the Radio, if did take around 50 years, but it happened.

 

The internet will do to TV what TV done to the radio.

 

might be a while, tho.

And they will find a way to make people pay for it mate..

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Bazzas right boot

And they will find a way to make people pay for it mate..

Aye possibly, but even then the advertising revenue on the internet is even less focused than TV, don't think it will attract the same money.

 

However, as you say it might continue to grow, the Asian market will grow, it will all be about that.

 

We need to do something, Doncaster, Mackay etc are not the answer.

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kingantti1874

Aye possibly, but even then the advertising revenue on the internet is even less focused than TV, don't think it will attract the same money.

 

However, as you say it might continue to grow, the Asian market will grow, it will all be about that.

 

We need to do something, Doncaster, Mackay etc are not the answer.

Agreed.. it's heartbreaking watching the shit we have to watch now

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Bazzas right boot

Agree with OP.. sick of losing staff to non entity clubs.. there's no other solution.. we try to maintain our current leagues and we will be done within 20 years

 

I agree, we could fix it. It's sad no one sees what is happening.

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