Pan-Great Britain Football Trophies - Big Idea -

Pan-Great Britain Cups.

I think there should be a selection of Pan-Great Britain Cups, all the way down the levels, at men’s and female football. I do not want the Scottish, Welsh and English leagues to merge as that would end our identity, culture, history, and would decrease the number of British teams who qualify for Europe.  I want 3 strong national leagues on the island of Great Britain, not just one or two.

Best Of Both Worlds.

The best system would be to continue to have our own Welsh, Scottish, and English leagues, but have cross border Pan-Great Britain cups on top of the domestic leagues, domestic cups, and European football. This way the Welsh Premier sides would grow massively, from playing big English sides, every year.  

Possibilities.

I think a selection of Scottish League and Welsh League sides should be allowed entry into the English Football League Trophy.

This would help Celtic soccer, especially the Welsh league sides, by giving them big teams to play against.  

There could also be a British Premier Cup between sides in the Scottish, Welsh, and English Premiers. This could be done in male and female soccer.

Also all Welsh Premier sides, and some South Scottish sides could be invited into the English non–league FA Trophy.

Perhaps selected Scottish and Welsh sides could be invited into the English FA Cup, or English League Cup.

 

Teams to be invited.

What about inviting in all Scottish Premier sides who have not qualified for Europe, plus a selection of Welsh Premier League sides, into the English Football League Trophy?

 

Travel.

Some would say that travel would be too much, but at present it is possible for Welsh part-time sides to travel to Eastern Europe, in European competitions, and for sides in England to travel to Gateshead and Truro for games. Even the Isle of Man are joining the English League system. So I do not think that a one off trip from Inverness, or Dingwall, to the Midlands of England is too much of a journey, for professional sides.

 

Plus the solution to the problem in the Football League Trophy is to continue to have the Football League Trophy, divided between North and South. So the Scottish teams play in the North section of the Football League Trophy, and the Welsh League sides could play in the South section of the Football League Trophy.

 

Fixture Congestion in terms of Football League Trophy moderation.

There is no need to increase the number of games each English sides play. The draw for the group stages could be structured to ensure there is no increase in the number of games each English team plays in the Trophy. The trophy could be held on European nights. So that Scottish, and Welsh, sides participating in the trophy, would only be participating when the top Scottish sides who qualified for Europe. are playing in European competitions anyway.  So they would simply be in the same boat as the Scottish teams who are playing in midweek anyway.

Plus playing big English sides would be such a draw for Scottish and Welsh sides that it would counter act any negatives from playing extra games.

 

 

The problem of non-Football League teams in the trophy.

At present under-21 teams of English Premier League sides are playing in the EFL Trophy. Plus for a while non-league teams were allowed to play in the English Football League Trophy. In the past many English sides played in the Welsh Cup. Many English sides have won the Welsh Cup.

 

What if Scottish or Welsh sides win an English Trophy?

Welsh sides have already won many English trophies. Plus many English sides have won Welsh trophies. So it would not be a massive change for Scottish or Welsh League sides to win an English trophy.

 

Superiority of this idea to having a British League.

Some argue for a British League. But if we did this it would mean some Scottish sides travelling many, many hundred mile trips each fortnight. To the extent that the travel would become monotonous, repetitive and tedious. So my idea is keep travelling to England, Wales or Scotland, as an exciting novelty. Not as a repetitive burden. Putting Scottish sides in the Football League trophy would mean realistically no more than a couple of trips to Scotland for teams in Northern England. While Scottish teams that even get to the final would only have to make a handful of trips to England. That is not too much to ask.

 

Scottish and Welsh sides playing B teams of the big sides in the EFL Trophy.

I know some fans would find this a problem. But I think that with exception of Celtic and Rangers, every Scottish team would pack their ground out from a visit by a English Premier League side’s B team. Especially the likes of Man Utd and Liverpool. And Welsh sides would be excited by playing big English sides, like Chelsea.

 

Would UEFA allow this?

Yes. The Scottish have already allowed English, Welsh, and Irish sides in the Scottish Challenge Cup, and Uefa were OK with this, so Uefa would be OK with cross border trophies.

 

If the English really want to help Welsh and Scottish soccer, then Pan-Great Britain cups on top of our own leagues and European football is a good idea.

Playing in these trophies would be a like European football for smaller sides.

 

I would also back cross border cups all the way down the levels of British football, on top of domestic and European football.

 

Perhaps Irish sides could also be invited into the trophies also?