tartofmidlothian Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 With all this talk of the OF moving to England, it makes me wonder why we don't just go the whole way and merge the entire Scottish and English football set-up? Why should the OF steal all the glory when teams like us, Hibs, Aberdeen, Dundee Utd and more would be perfectly capable of competing with English levels of TV cash coming in. The lower couple of Scottish divisions would probably have to go back to a lower league setup, but then would the Elgins and Peterheads of this world really have less support or cash if they were back in the Highland League? Particularly if there was still some kind of cup involving all the Scottish clubs and winning the local leagues enabled a route to... er, what's the league below the English 2nd again? All complete pie in the sky of course, and I fully expect to be shot down! But just out of interest, where would Hearts end up? Still consistently the 3rd most successful Scottish club, I'd reckon, camped out near the top of the Championship and earning ourselves a season or two in the Prem every few years. Wolves, but from a better city! Your thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewYorkJambo Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 Years ago, perhaps because Hearts were better or maybe just because I was more naive, I used to think Hearts could survive in the Premiership (just!). Now though there's no way. I reckon we'd end up bottom almost certainly. I think if all league's were merged (hypothetically as it will never happen) that Hearts would finish in the lower reaches of the Championship. In a bad season we could maybe even be fighting relegation. Not meant to be pessimistic just my view. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JT's & Irons Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 Think we'd toil, even in the Championship TBH. It's a hellish league to get out of and there are some big teams in it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I.J Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 We wouldn't be as bad as some think, I reckon. Bristol City aren't a bad side in the Championship, and they've got Jamie McAllister as one of their stars, fer chrissakes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marmeladent?rtchen Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 I think Hearts would be bottom half of the championship to start with but the club would grow and could make the prem over the years. Currently we are the biggest club in terms of support outside the OF. But we only sell out game's to the OF Hibs and maybe Aberdeen if they are on a run. Other teams don?t fill the ground. If we would be championship we would get a lot more support from visiting fans and we would need to build that new stand ASAP to accommodate them and cash in on the revenue that would generate. I like to think Hearts could do a Stoke. Stoke were a division 1 club in 2000/2001, they got promoted to the championship and worked their way to the Prem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FORTHCLYDE Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 I think we would be about the play off position in the championship or just below, the only problem is I reckon the old firm would still be in the same league as us! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speedbump Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 3rd tier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiberius Stinkfinger Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 With what i have witnessed this season on our our day we could comfortably compete with the top sides in the Championship but unfortunately we cannot seem to keep that level of performance up week in week out which would therefore see us mid table ruing lost opportunities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gibbo Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 I'd say that we're a bigger club than Fulham (8th in the Premier League) and a smaller one than Leeds (5th in League 1), so that shows that there's a rather wide range that we might expect to finish somewhere in. We've got more chance of winning the SPL (with the OF in it) than we would have of qualifying for Europe from a British league. One possible benefit would be that Edinburgh big business might start to spend its hospitality money at Tynecastle as well as at Murrayfield. The current team would be in the bottom half of the Championship. Last season's would have done poorly in League 1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingantti1874 Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 Our current squad we see us mid-to lower table in the chapionship i think. but with the same revenue as those clubs we could easily compete at the top end of that division. clubs such as ipswich, QPR, wolves and reading are no way a bigger club than hearts...all they have is a lot more cash... i think a british league is exactly what we should be doing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midloth_Iain Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 I just cant see many English clubs wanting to change the status quo. The Old Firm might get enough votes to make their entry possible, but there is no way they would want any other clubs to join them. How would a British League be set up ? How would the top clubs in League 1 feel if 4 SPL clubs were shoehorned into the Championship above them ? Therefore would we have to start in League 1 or League 2 and would that realistically give us the economical security we would need until we could gain promotion to the higher Leagues ? Having said that I would equate our current team to be on a par with mid table Championship clubs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regal Kingston Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 I reckon as a team who got 57,000 (all diehard jambos mind) for a friendly we would thrive in England! Away fans would love to come to Edinburgh for a game of football (Beats Doncaster, Wigan, Burnley etc) and would consistantly fill the away end. Many current and ex-pros vote Tyncastle as their favourite ground to play on due to the stadiums close proximity to the pitch and legendary Tynecastle atmosphere. International class players would be attracted to a great city like Edinburgh and gradually our team would improve and be able to compete in the lower echalons of the Premiership. Then all it would take is one mad sheikh with a penchant for shortcake and castles to propel us up the league. I think Aberdeen & Hibs would do well too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingantti1874 Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 yep - honestly, the away trips weould be immense....and imagaine what could happen if we made the premiership....could we attract the investment to finally realise our potential...i think so bring it on...as personally im bored watchin motherwell, killie, falkirk and pash like that.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djf Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 People over-rate English football a lot. Obviously the top sides are on a different planet from us but as somebody who has watched Newcastle and Wigan over the last couple of seasons it really wasn't that much of a difference. Some of the defending is absolutely abysmal. And that's before the inevitable cash boosts. I'd expect us to be a top Championship side. Possibly better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flux Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 They should do it on the size of the stadium. End of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thig Ar Latha Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 I just cant see many English clubs wanting to change the status quo. The Old Firm might get enough votes to make their entry possible, but there is no way they would want any other clubs to join them. How would a British League be set up ? 1. How would the top clubs in League 1 feel if 4 SPL clubs were shoehorned into the Championship above them ? 2. Therefore would we have to start in League 1 or League 2 and would that realistically give us the economical security we would need until we could gain promotion to the higher Leagues ? 3. Having said that I would equate our current team to be on a par with mid table Championship clubs. 1. If the 4 SPL Clubs were joining the English Leagues, you would have a point about 'shoe horning' them into the Championship. However, your talking about a 'British League' and that would have to be a new League as it does'nt exist just now, so a means of qualification would have to be worked out which would mean there's no reason why qualification to the tops Leagues would be out of the question. 2. The answer to question 1 makes most of No.2 illrelevent, however increased tv, sponsorship, merchandising and gate money would lead to a much stronger squad and quickly lead to us consolidating in the top Leagues. 3. I would rate us higher than that and with the extra investment I mentioned, we could be in the Premiership. That said, I would much rather stay within the Scottish Leagues and grow that system. We could then meet some of the English Teams in glamour European matches and then we can start to measure our selves against them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Optimus Prime Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 I've been to a number of games this season in the lower leagues of England this season and i would probably say at present we'd be a low Championship side/top League 1 side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thig Ar Latha Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 We'd hold our own in the Championship, sure thing. I'd love to see an Anglo-Scots cup started up, maybe to replace the gash league cup format in both England and Scotland. The Texaco Cup went well for a couple of years for Teams who just missed out on Europe. It faded after that due to lack of interest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victorian Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 championship level. possibility of doing well at times and even getting the odd promotion to the EPL, also the possibility of struggling at times and being relegated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mac_fae_Gillie Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 Over time league position all comes down to cash and that is determined on the whole by the Fanbase of a club.Hearts are 20th in UK so it puts us at present fighting for promotion from CC or relegation from Prem... A few bads years would occur and god knows we may even make Uefa Cup once in a blue moon. And of course a few great Cup runs. Sounds depressing never having a real winning target but with present Spl setup and OF dominance we haven't anyway(ok 86). But look at Middlesburgh,BirmCity or Wolves they are the teams we will be fighting with,great fans with real hardcore supporters. I could live with that... Could very well mean the end of the 4 nations(or3 if NI out)but what is Scotlands place in the world of football today compared to even 20years ago...bugger all...I could live with that too.be mighty tough supporting an english dominated national side could hurt as much as an OF dominated side but doubt it. I prey for the day a British league exists,just hate the SPL and hate its lack of vision... Away games would be fantastic,maybe few overnighters and of course a few less due to cost but the NE clubs Newcastle/Sunderland asnd boro all very easy even Manchester/Liverpool areas only 3hours away so still a few matches to travel too on day of game...good on trains trips... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flimsy Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 We are a relatively big club in a relatively small country which gives us the opportunity to qualify for European football every season. Why would anyone want to be swallowed up in a mammoth, foreign league set-up with no prospect of ever playing in Europe again? To answer the OP, Hearts would find their level in the Championship, we are bigger than 90% of League One clubs and smaller than 90% of Premiership clubs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingantti1874 Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 because instead of having 3 or 4 ganmes every 2 or 3 years against decent clubs we would could potentially be facing them on a weekly basis. with regard to being smaller than 90% of premiership clubs - wigan, fulham, stoke, bolton, pompey, hull middlesborough, west brom are all smallish clubs. I think if you had a hearts team including the likes of glen johnson, nico krankjar, james beattie, giovanni, alvaro alves, tuncay etc etc we could easily eclipse or be at least on a par with all of those clubs in terms of support. I mean - imagine the scenario hearts vs middlesborough in a UEFA cup final (dreaming i Know) - i would bet that hearts would take a bigger support by a mile.... clearly all of this would be dependent on finance and quality of footballer which we clearly will never achieve under the current structure - but the potential is there....obviously - we would also run the risk of being a yo yo club between prem, championship and league 1 if it didnt go well but it would at least be interesting...the spl is pesh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cut The Crap Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 I think we'd yo-yo between the Championship and League 1 for two or three years, but with stability and good management we should be able to establish ourselves as a mid-table Championship side within five years or so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrew Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 With all this talk of the OF moving to England, it makes me wonder why we don't just go the whole way and merge the entire Scottish and English football set-up? Why should the OF steal all the glory when teams like us, Hibs, Aberdeen, Dundee Utd and more would be perfectly capable of competing with English levels of TV cash coming in. The lower couple of Scottish divisions would probably have to go back to a lower league setup, but then would the Elgins and Peterheads of this world really have less support or cash if they were back in the Highland League? Particularly if there was still some kind of cup involving all the Scottish clubs and winning the local leagues enabled a route to... er, what's the league below the English 2nd again? All complete pie in the sky of course, and I fully expect to be shot down! But just out of interest, where would Hearts end up? Still consistently the 3rd most successful Scottish club, I'd reckon, camped out near the top of the Championship and earning ourselves a season or two in the Prem every few years. Wolves, but from a better city! Your thoughts? No No No No No! I enjoy going to the away games in the SPL - most of which you can get to within an hours drive. Feck travelling down to QPR or Bristol City every fortnight! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingantti1874 Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 seriously, swansea are 7th in the championship - i certainly would not be worried about them, Jason Scotland FFS..he is pesh - burnley are 5th and graham alexander gets a regular game... blackpool, barnsley, and doncaster - other teams not in the relgation zones from the championship... Any hearts fan who thinks we do not have players that could compete at that level immediately are sufering from a chronic lack of confidence...we have a higher quality of player than any of those clubs right now...- im not having it that we would struggle against them..no chance I think we would be mid to higher half of the chanpionship and within 3 years could establish ourselves as a promotion chasing side with the opportunity to play at the top level...we may yo yo but manu, arsenal, pool, everton, villaor chelsea coming to tynie is something id pay to watch and pay to chase...a little bit better than a saturday in january against st mirren Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sealpup Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 Over last few years the OF teams have beaten English teams in Europe. English fans seems to think Scottish football is rubbish and really only talk of Gers and Celtic. They have dominated your league for years, they say. My reply is and Man U, Chelsea and maybe Arsenal have not in your league!?!? I think everyone agrees the premiership is best league in world. Apart from top 6 teams in the premiership it is not that exciting. Would you go out your way to watch Spurs v Wigan for example, not me. We beat Hull in a pre season friendly and they never looked up to much. It is all about money. Blackburn have bought the league, Chelsea did it etc and Gers and Celtic have always bought the league in Scotland with the backing they have received from wealthy individuals. Look what happened when Vlad came in we were right up there. If he had kept it under Burley etc we could well have won the league and built on it. We bought quality in and spent money and it worked. Realistically Gers and Celtic could compete easily in English Premiership due to the financial backing they would get. If you said could Hearts compete on their present revenues, team they have etc, my answer would be, possibly bottom of premiership or a decent championship team. If someone invested ?500 million into Hearts we could win the English Premiership. Money talks in the game now!!!!!!!! It would be nice if the OF departed knowing we could win the treble and Champions league football each year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jambos1983 Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 The championship is being vastly overated by some on here. Charlie Adam is a superstar for Blackpool, Alan Gow was as well when on loan. I'm sorry but the championship whilst they get bigger attendances aint as strong as is being made out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingantti1874 Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 i wouldnt go out of my way to watch spurs vs wigan, but i would go out of my way to watch spurs vs hearts...i would also rather watch spurs vs wigan than motherwell vs killie... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buffalo Bill Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 The flaw with these arguments is that people think of the team we, or the Old Firm, have now. If Rangers, Celtic or Hearts were in England, we'd have a completely different wage structure to what we operate in the SPL. Why is it that Wigan can spend millions on players but Rangers can't? Because Wigan are in the EPL with their ?50M jackpot. Heart of Midlothian of Edinburgh would be a much bigger club if they were to operate in a UK league. If we got our stand built, we'd be top end of the Championship at least. Buffalo Bill . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Optimus Prime Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 seriously, swansea are 7th in the championship - i certainly would not be worried about them, Jason Scotland FFS..he is pesh - burnley are 5th and graham alexander gets a regular game... blackpool, barnsley, and doncaster - other teams not in the relgation zones from the championship... Any hearts fan who thinks we do not have players that could compete at that level immediately are sufering from a chronic lack of confidence...we have a higher quality of player than any of those clubs right now...- im not having it that we would struggle against them..no chance I think we would be mid to higher half of the chanpionship and within 3 years could establish ourselves as a promotion chasing side with the opportunity to play at the top level...we may yo yo but manu, arsenal, pool, everton, villaor chelsea coming to tynie is something id pay to watch and pay to chase...a little bit better than a saturday in january against st mirren And Robbie Neilson gets a regular game for us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rods Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 We are a relatively big club in a relatively small country which gives us the opportunity to qualify for European football every season. Why would anyone want to be swallowed up in a mammoth, foreign league set-up with no prospect of ever playing in Europe again? To answer the OP, Hearts would find their level in the Championship, we are bigger than 90% of League One clubs and smaller than 90% of Premiership clubs. I would agree even if we were invited to say join the championship. I reckon we would be better of here without the OF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Bateman Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 What a horrible, horrible idea. Yes, let's urinate on 135 years of history so we can potentially earn a bit more money. Why on earth would the English want to change their already highly successful and lucrative product? What do people fail to understand? It won't happen. The Scottish league undoubtedly needs a shake up otherwise it won't develop, but I suspect the diddy clubs (St Mirrens, Motherwells, etc) will be desperate for that extra Old Firm game for revenue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grainger Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 I take it no one on this thread (or any of the other threads) who are pro "British League" gives a toss about the Scottish National Team? As soon as the first baw is kicked FIFA will jump in and withdraw the UKs right to have individual FAs - we'll be under a unified British (read English...) FA - and bang goes any chance of seeing Scotland at a World Cup or Euro Championships. And then there's the implications for Hearts. We'll have no hope in hell of winning anything or even getting any European footie so what is the point in wanting us to move to a league where we'd hinder our chances of silverware or a wee trip overseas? It just doesn't make sense. And I for one will not support a unified British (read English) national team - William Wallace will be turning in his grave... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Optimus Prime Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 The flaw with these arguments is that people think of the team we, or the Old Firm, have now. If Rangers, Celtic or Hearts were in England, we'd have a completely different wage structure to what we operate in the SPL. Why is it that Wigan can spend millions on players but Rangers can't? Because Wigan are in the EPL with their ?50M jackpot. Heart of Midlothian of Edinburgh would be a much bigger club if they were to operate in a UK league. If we got our stand built, we'd be top end of the Championship at least. Buffalo Bill . Of course. There is two questions here. Where we are now and were could we go. I think we would be low championship at present but have the potential to be a top championship/lower Premiership team and with good management who knows, we could do a Wigan or Bolton, equally with bad management we could do a Charlton/Norwich. As for the Old Firm the potential is there for them to make the top 4 a top 6. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingantti1874 Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 wales have teams playing in the english leagues and still have a national team, as regards peshing on our histroy - i prefer to see it as potentially a proud new chapter in our history... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Bateman Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 wales have teams playing in the english leagues and still have a national team, as regards peshing on our histroy - i prefer to see it as potentially a proud new chapter in our history... Proud in what sense? That we'd get to play dross like Barnsley and Swindon? I'm pretty sure Cardiff and Swansea were members of the English FA before the Welsh league was created. I can't think of any other country in the world where teams fans would so desperately want to play in another. As I've said, Scottish football needs a great deal of restructuring, let's put pressure for that because it's far more likely to happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingantti1874 Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 proud as i think we would be able to do much better than what you are suggesting... to be honest, if the OF go what is left? winning the league against complete gash...i think it is pretty much a case of embrace change or die as a club...it will be even harder to attract kids to support us as they will be drawn to the alure of the premiership, it already happening - you see more kids in chelsea,liverpool and man u tops than anything else these days ...and i thinkit will happen sooner rather than later - the current national FA system cannot continue , join the english - enter some sort of euro league...something will happen i have no doubt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Bateman Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 The blazeratti at the SFA should be lined up against a wall and shot (or hanged because they don't deserve an honourable death), basically. Then someone with a progressive thought process should come in, announce that the league structure is a joke, get rid of the current set up and replace it with something effective. There are a number of ways the SPL could be made interesting, but just like when the 10 resigned from the league, I suspect most will lack the bottle to implement real change. Besides, I honestly think English football is a bubble which will burst in the next 5 years, just like the banks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankblack Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 Of course. There is two questions here. Where we are now and were could we go. I think we would be low championship at present but have the potential to be a top championship/lower Premiership team and with good management who knows, we could do a Wigan or Bolton, equally with bad management we could do a Charlton/Norwich. As for the Old Firm the potential is there for them to make the top 4 a top 6. I've been to a couple of Premiership games this season, and the teams at the bottom are murder. With the extra money we would get from being in one of the top leagues, I think our quality would improve throughout the team and at least make us somewhere near the play-off spots in the Championship. Our gates would improve by not having to play non-entities like Motherwell, St Mirren, Falkirk, and Inverness every week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad Sexington Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 Hearts would do just fine in the mid to long term. Short term might be more of a struggle, untill we were able to beef up our squad.. Once the extra revenue, bigger gates and such kicked in, we'd be at least a strong Championship side who flirted regularly with promotion, imo. Don't forget, we have a unique selling point. We're based in one of the most beautiful cities in Europe. People shouldn't underestimate what a draw that would be for prospective signings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie-Brown Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 How on earth could you merge the 7 English leagues (4 football league + 3 conference) plus the 4 Scottish leagues plus the Northern Ireland league or Welsh league.....who would decide on how each team would be weighted or scored to decide which of the 10-12 British League divisions they would be in? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cocobeab Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 as a team who got 57,000 (all diehard jambos mind) for a friendly we would thrive in England! 57,000 die hard jambos? so where do the other 44,000 die hards go during competitive home games? you make a few good points afterwards but thons a ridiculous assertion, sorry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToadKiller Dog Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 It would come down to where the English would want to put us ,and they would not start us in the championship or then epl 1 or 2 ,the current division 1 would be the highest they would let us in at if at all . I also see that they would maybe consider outwith the old firm ,Us ,Aberdeen and Hibs ,maybe a dundee side ,I dont see what interest they would have in anybody else ,the rest of the scottish clubs would die or turn into a part time league on the par with the current junior set up. Hearts could cope well in an english set up ,but you could kiss goodbye to europe for most likely ever .we would become a mid ranking side where the occasional cup draw against Man Utd would be the only highlights ,i think it would have a novelty factor which would soon wear off . I would rather take our chances up here with or without the uglies . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pants Shaton Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 It seems most of you have a major failure of imagination when it comes to envisaging Hearts as part of a UK league. This isn't a question of how we'd do if our current squad was transplanted into the championship. The prospect of Hearts playing regularly against quality opposition would boost attendances, corporate and TV revenue. A club representing the 7th largest city in Great Britain could propser in the top tier of British football, under the right management. Our support base is comparable or, in several cases, greater than 10 of the current 20 Premiership clubs. Attendances would easily break the 30,000 mark if Hearts were part of a 'UK Premier League'. Still it's a moot point as neither Hearts, Celtic nor Rangers will be leaving the SPL any time soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The People's Chimp Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 We'd hold our own in the Championship, sure thing. I'd love to see an Anglo-Scots cup started up, maybe to replace the gash league cup format in both England and Scotland. I've been sayingis for years. It would be a great idea and would really revive interest in the league cup(s). It would also be a real money spinner for anyone who put a few results together, would lead to some real glamour games, some amazing awaydays and the tv coverage would be fun as well, not to mention the potential tv audiences around the world. I'm struggling to think of the negatives tbh. People over-rate English football a lot. Obviously the top sides are on a different planet from us but as somebody who has watched Newcastle and Wigan over the last couple of seasons it really wasn't that much of a difference. Some of the defending is absolutely abysmal. And that's before the inevitable cash boosts. I'd expect us to be a top Championship side. Possibly better. I agree with you about that. I've been to a few games down south recently and they've been awful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingantti1874 Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 How on earth could you merge the 7 English leagues (4 football league + 3 conference) plus the 4 Scottish leagues plus the Northern Ireland league or Welsh league.....who would decide on how each team would be weighted or scored to decide which of the 10-12 British League divisions they would be in? this is a good point have 4 or 5 leagues made up of 18ish clubs. then the rest of the clubs play in regional leagues, a scottish, a welsh a northern irish, and england split into 3 or 4 regions...the champions of those regional leagues could then play off to see who qualifies for the main league structure. saves travel therefore good for the fans.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topcat Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 I'd expect us to do better than the likes of Stoke City but not as well as the likes of Leeds. Which means... Oh hang on.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wheatfield to sheffield Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 If we were in the English League we would never be able to sing the Europe song again, we would never be off to Basel, Paris, Sarajevo or Prague to see the JTs compete in Europe ever again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain_Peacock Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 People over-rate English football a lot. Obviously the top sides are on a different planet from us but as somebody who has watched Newcastle and Wigan over the last couple of seasons it really wasn't that much of a difference. Some of the defending is absolutely abysmal. And that's before the inevitable cash boosts. I'd expect us to be a top Championship side. Possibly better. Nail on head. This is my 2nd season watching L1 down here (old 3rd division) & it's dire. Clubs of a decent size have only entered this level on melt down (Leeds, Leicester, Boro, Man City, Forest etc). I'm not an expert on Hearts but they would have to be deep in the mire to drop down here & wouldn't be down here for long. I've spent most of my time watching 2nd tier football & this is a tough league to get out of. At any one time there are a number of clubs who have the finance / great manager / good team or a combination of them all. This makes this League a right pain in the arse to get out of. I reakon Hearts would be comfortable here, only a disaster would spell relegation & in with as good a chance as any to go up. EPL there are many teams who have made it here which wouldn't be described as giants (Stoke, Wigan,Hull, Reading, Boro, Swindon, Fulham). Why not Hearts? The English Leagues are not all some make them out to be, especially at the lower end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Optimus Prime Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 Hearts would do just fine in the mid to long term. Short term might be more of a struggle, untill we were able to beef up our squad.. Once the extra revenue, bigger gates and such kicked in, we'd be at least a strong Championship side who flirted regularly with promotion, imo. Don't forget, we have a unique selling point. We're based in one of the most beautiful cities in Europe. People shouldn't underestimate what a draw that would be for prospective signings. Excellent point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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