The Premier League Thread!

[Jaffa Cake]

Christie Park Morecambe, capacity of approximately 6400.

And I should answer my own question, I suppose. Queensgate for me, home of Bridlington Town – capacity round about the 3,000 mark. I've been there quite a few times, most recently before Christmas when we saw them play FC United of Manchester – the crowd was a little over 1,000, the largest that they'd had for quite a few years apparently.

Mind, we're looking to visit North East Counties League outfit Hall Road Rangers at some point this season, as they're not that far away from us – their Dene Park ground is about 20 minutes walk away from us. The capacity there is about 1,200.

Non-league football is ace.

 

[Blue Velvet]

I've been invited to go and enjoy Leyton Orient vs. Swindon Town at the beginning of March for a work thing... not sure what the capacity is. I've been told the Bovril is good, but the pies are pretty ropey.

 

[xUKHCx]

It's a shame that Rocky Baptiste didn't score. Sounds like they did themselves proud, such a shame it wasn't on the Telly.

Watford 1 - Wolves 4.

 

[Jaffa Cake]

Brisbane Road isn't that big a ground, the capacity is just shy of 10,000 if memory serves.

I find the further down the leagues you go, the standard of football worsens but the standard of Bovril and soup increases proportionately. A League One club should therefore serve up something halfway decent at least.

 

[pachyderm]

as a wednesday/spurs fan(in that order) it's good for me. Wednesday doesn't seem likely to be promoted to the prem any time soon. kinda awkward for me to post about them in here... and as is obvious by some of the above post's i don't get a lot to talk about with spurs....lol



what about some poor bloke in huddersfield or swansea? they might feel left out!

Oldham 0 - 1 Huddersfield
10' 0 - 1 L Beckett
now where is their thread?

 

[OllyW]

Watford 1 - Wolves 4.

I wasn't going to mention it

 

[tefleming]

3 Questions for you all...

1) What is the biggest Stadium you've watched football at?
2) What is the biggest game (Most important, of course) you've been to?
3) What is your best memory of a game you've been to?

1. Olympiastadion Munich (haven't been to many games in person).
2. USA 2-0 Mexico WCQ, September 3, 2005
3. the atmosphere of #2 was astounding - sealing qualification, against Mexico, clean sheet... doesn't get much better

 

[xUKHCx]

3 Questions for you all...

1) What is the biggest Stadium you've watched football at?
2) What is the biggest game (Most important, of course) you've been to?
3) What is your best memory of a game you've been to?

1.) Old Trafford/Old Wembley (if it had a bigger capacity in about 1996 than the old Wembley)
2.) A few Liverpool Champions League Group stage
3.) Seeing Fowlers last game for Liverpool

 

[MOFS]

I've been invited to go and enjoy Leyton Orient vs. Swindon Town at the beginning of March for a work thing... not sure what the capacity is. I've been told the Bovril is good, but the pies are pretty ropey.

Is that for a bonus or punishment? If its the latter, I can quite happily recommend watching the mighty Boro - pure masochism for only £31 a pop.

 

[swiftaw]

Two interesting facts from this weekend's FA Cup 4th round:

1) There were no draws, all 16 games finished with a winner. This is the first time this has happened since 1957.

2) Only 6 of the remaining 16 teams left in the cup are Premier League teams. Here's hoping they all draw each other in the 5th round, meaning only 3 of the 8 quarter finalists would be from the premier league.

 

[MOFS]

Two interesting facts from this weekend's FA Cup 4th round:

2) Only 6 of the remaining 16 teams left in the cup are Premier League teams. Here's hoping they all draw each other in the 5th round, meaning only 3 of the 8 quarter finalists would be from the premier league.

Here's hoping for Man Utd vs Chelsea and Liverpool vs Arsenal, then the winners play each other, followed by a Boro thrashing as the Smoggies lift the cup!

seriously tho' - any ideas why Wigan v Chelsea was a live game? What happened to the spirit of the cup - Auntie seems to have lost it in the post.

 

[swiftaw]

Here's hoping for Man Utd vs Chelsea and Liverpool vs Arsenal, then the winners play each other, followed by a Boro thrashing as the Smoggies lift the cup!

seriously tho' - any ideas why Wigan v Chelsea was a live game? What happened to the spirit of the cup - Auntie seems to have lost it in the post.

no, it's all about ratings, so you get heavy doses of Man U and Chelsea matches.

On another note, the Sheff Utd - Man City match today was great, a real cuptie

 

[Lord Blackadder]

Arsenal, Chelsea Man U and Liverpool will be the final four...but the best possible FA Cup outcome would be for a team outside the Premier League to win. Here's hoping.

I love how the Man City fans created a goal for Sheffield with the balloons.

 

[Jaffa Cake]

Arsenal, Chelsea Man U and Liverpool will be the final four...but the best possible FA Cup outcome would be for a team outside the Premier League to win. Here's hoping.

Not this season, seeing as we aren't in it any more.

It would be fantastic, though. Of course, this (albeit remote) possibility is the reason why winning the FA Cup will never carry Champions League qualification – the big clubs wouldn't accept a 'lesser' team taking their place at the table. I remember complaints from some quarters a few years back when Millwall qualified for the UEFA Cup as FA Cup runners-up – they weren't worthy of being there, it was a waste of one of England's European places and other such rubbish.

Can you imagine the wailing and gnashing of teeth if, say, a lower Championship or League One club got Champions League qualification at the expense of one of the big four? It would be quite, quite brilliant.

 

[swiftaw]

Not this season, seeing as we aren't in it any more.

It would be fantastic, though. Of course, this (albeit remote) possibility is the reason why winning the FA Cup will never carry Champions League qualification – the big clubs wouldn't accept a 'lesser' team taking their place at the table. I remember complaints from some quarters a few years back when Millwall qualified for the UEFA Cup as FA Cup runners-up – they weren't worthy of being there, it was a waste of one of England's European places and other such rubbish.

Can you imagine the wailing and gnashing of teeth if, say, a lower Championship or League One club got Champions League qualification at the expense of one of the big four? It would be quite, quite brilliant.

How about a compromise... if the FA Cup winner is outside the top 4, there is a playoff between the 4th place team and the FA Cup winner. Winner of the playoff goes to the champions league, loser to the UEFA cup.

 

[Jaffa Cake]

How about a compromise... if the FA Cup winner is outside the top 4, there is a playoff between the 4th place team and the FA Cup winner. Winner of the playoff goes to the champions league, loser to the UEFA cup.

Nah... still too much chance of a 'little' team getting into the Champions League at the expense of a 'big' team. Best to keep things the way they are – the big boys don't like change, unless it's to their benefit of course.

 

[swiftaw]

Nah... still too much chance of a 'little' team getting into the Champions League at the expense of a 'big' team. Best to keep things the way they are – the big boys don't like change, unless it's to their benefit of course.

Yeah, if that's the case though, they should rename the tournament as it is clearly false advertising. Most of the teams in the Champions League aren't Champions of anything. Perhaps "Rich Team Cup" is a better name.

 

[Jaffa Cake]

Yeah, if that's the case though, they should rename the tournament as it is clearly false advertising. Most of the teams in the Champions League aren't Champions of anything.

Exactly. I'd love to see a return to the original format – a knock out competition whereby the only way to qualify is to be the champions of your domestic league or the defending holders of the trophy. But once again, it'll never happen because it'll remove a big chunk of revenue away from a lot of 'big' clubs, and – horror of horrors – some of the big boys might not get past the first round or two.

We couldn't have that, could we?

 

[swiftaw]

Exactly. I'd love to see a return to the original format – a knock out competition whereby the only way to qualify is to be the champions of your domestic league or the defending holders of the trophy. But once again, it'll never happen because it'll remove a big chunk of revenue away from a lot of 'big' clubs, and – horror of horrors – some of the big boys might not get past the first round or two.

We couldn't have that, could we?

What would be really great if it were a knockout competition where every team in every top division was entered (like a European FA Cup). Where you finished in the league would determine which round you entered.

 

[Fuzzy14]

Yeah, if that's the case though, they should rename the tournament as it is clearly false advertising. Most of the teams in the Champions League aren't Champions of anything. Perhaps "Rich Team Cup" is a better name.

Correct, and part of the formula UEFA use to decide on the number of spots a football association receives is how many television viewers that country will generate - nothing to do with champions or quality of football hence England 5, Scotland 1.5

 

[Jaffa Cake]

Correct, and part of the formula UEFA use to decide on the number of spots a football association receives is how many television viewers that country will generate - nothing to do with champions or quality of football hence England 5, Scotland 1.5

Not quite... domestic results are used for the calculations. However, bonus points are awarded for success in European competitions and stuff, and this is where the 'bigger' nations get an advantage.

As we all know, the higher up the list of UEFA coefficients a nation is, the more places it gets in the Champions League. So for example the three highest ranked nations – Spain, England and Italy, each get four places, while the next three ranked nations get three places, and so on.

As mentioned, you can improve your coefficient ranking by doing well in European competitions, so if your country has more teams competing in those tournaments it figures that you're likely to pick up more bonus points and retain your place high up the list of coefficients. And of course, the clubs from these nations get the lion's share of the cash, meaning it's harder for the teams from other nations to compete against them – the result is that it's these teams who year on year advance in Europe, picking up the bonuses. This financial advantage skews national leagues as well – would the Premier League's big four be as dominant domestically without their Champions League gravy train? Most likely not.

It's kind of like a self-fulfilling prophecy – yes, this system means that what are ostensibly the best leagues in Europe get the most places in UEFA competitions, but it can be argued that they're only ranked higher because of the advantages the system gives them.

I will concede that a useful result of this system is that the countries with the traditionally larger TV audiences get to keep their place at the top of the pecking order and have more teams competing – meaning more money for UEFA from TV rights. Great, isn't it?

 

[Fuzzy14]

I'm still sure I heard that TV figures came into it. Will have to go and look.

However some of the posts were suggesting going back to the old days where England gets one place and (racks brain for random European minnow) Malta gets one place. That's not right either.

Ah well, can't please them all.

 

[Jaffa Cake]

I'm still sure I heard that TV figures came into it. Will have to go and look.

I'm certain it is just the results and stuff that count – for one thing I would have thought a huge stink would have been kicked up if TV figures were being used rather than sporting performance – but if you find out otherwise I'd be interested to read about it.

However some of the posts were suggesting going back to the old days where England gets one place and (racks brain for random European minnow) Malta gets one place. That's not right either.

Nah, if it's a 'champions' competition it should be champions only. If they want to keep the format as it is, they should change the name to the Euro League or something equally bland.

While we're at it, bring back cotton shirts and heavy leather balls. Marvellous.

 

[Fuzzy14]

Agree, the name should be changed, and perhaps the trophy as the one won by Real, Celtic and Liverpool 30-40 years ago was very much a different competition.

While we're at it, bring back cotton shirts and heavy leather balls. Marvellous.

Just wondering how many of those overpaid prima donnas would survive a Mitre MouldMasters skelping your thigh on a cold Saturday morning on a red ash pitch. Kids today, they don't know they're bloody born!

 

[Lord Blackadder]

While we're at it, bring back cotton shirts and heavy leather balls. Marvellous.

I doubt Christiano Ronaldo would get as many headed goals then - those old balls look like they'd mess your hair.