Pan-Great Britain Cups

Pan-Great Britain Cups

I think there should be a selection of Pan-Great Britain Trophies all the way down the levels, at men’s and women’s 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 three strong national leagues on the island of Great Britain, not just one or two.

 

Best of Both Worlds

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

 

Possibilities.

I think a selection of Scottish League and Welsh League sides should be allowed entry into the English Football League Trophy. That is the trophy primarily played between English League One and League Two sides.

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

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 Wales Premier sides, and some South Scottish sides could be invited into the English Non – League FA Trophy.

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

Also there could a cup trophy between English Championship clubs  and Scottish, and Welsh sides.

 

 

Fixture Congestion in terms of Football League Trophy moderation.

There is no need to increase the number of games each English side plays. 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 Europe nights. So that Scots, 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. As a result 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.

 

Travel

Some would say 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 soccer 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 pro 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 Scots 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.

 

 

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.

 

 

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.

 

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

 

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.  The women’s British game could have lots of cross border cups at many levels.

 

Perhaps Irish sides could also be invited into the trophies also? I mean both Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland could have teams invited into the cross border trophies.