One of the great weaknesses in American sports leagues is that division winners aren't the only ones in what we call the postseason.  And sometimes, these teams in American football, baseball and hockey get hot and run the table (it doesn't happen in basketball - different animal).  My division-only winners playoff would solve this problem.  And everyone would still have to play everyone at least once.

 

I'm just kicking around an idea - I knew coming in it wouldn't be popular.

 

But if it became reality, I would bet a large sum of money that many of you would be saying after experiencing it, "Why didn't we do this sooner?"

You're all a bunch of fuddy duddy imbeciles, The guy making the thread has come up with a wonderful idea and you're all dismissing it for no real reason, I'd love to watch the Chelsea Royal Blues play the Manchester United Redskins, The Liverpool Mourners up against the Southampton Saints, I also say if you shoot the ball into row z you get 3 goals as it means you have kicked a field goal, Therefore games involving Fellaini and Ashley Young would usually end up with United scoring 25 goals per game and that would mean in the Super Premier Bowl when they come up against Manchester City Bluehawks, Fernandinho the middle linebacker for City would be assigned with the task of man marking Fellaini and Toure would man mark Young as a way of stopping those two maestros from scoring field goals.

 

The Super Premier Bowl would be played at the Honda Civic Wembley Stadium, It's a fantastic idea, I'm all for it.

Edited March 18, 201511 yr by Kinkladze1871

How about rather than a rather silly American idea you simply take the models we have in rugby league and union. Still silly ideas that we don't need because we have an incredibly valuable league which is marketable all over the world (something you've ignored in your focus on having a Superbowl equivalent), but at least this one preserves most of what football supporters (your customers) actually enjoy currently.

You're all a bunch of fuddy duddy imbeciles, The guy making the thread has come up with a wonderful idea and you're all dismissing it for no real reason, I'd love to watch the Chelsea Royal Blues play the Manchester United Redskins, The Liverpool Mourners up against the Southampton Saints, I also say if you shoot the ball into row z you get 3 goals as it means you have kicked a field goal, Therefore games involving Fellaini and Ashley Young would usually end up with United scoring 25 goals per game and that would mean in the Super Premier Bowl when they come up against Manchester City Bluehawks, Fernandinho the middle linebacker for City would be assigned with the task of man marking Fellaini and Toure would man mark Young as a way of stopping those two maestros from scoring field goals.

 

The Super Premier Bowl would be played at the Honda Civic Wembley Stadium, It's a fantastic idea, I'm all for it.

 

If you put it that way, I'm sold    Plus we get the added bonus of heated arguments about the political correctness of Redskins

Okay, this is an American idea, but let me present it anyway.  If you haven't experienced the Super Bowl in America, here's what it's like:  Literally half the country stops to watch.  It's also broadcast in well over 100 countries...and that's for a sport that has virtually no popularity outside the US.

 

Now imagine if the Premier League would have such a game.  The whole of England would watch, and I guarantee the ratings internationally would dwarf the Super Bowl's.  But first, how to make such a thing happen?

 

I propose four divisions based on the previous year's results.  So, for 2014-15, the divisions would be:

 

A)

Manchester City

Southampton

Stoke

Hull City

West Bromwich Albion

 

B)

Liverpool

Manchester United

Newcastle

Aston Villa

Leicester City

 

C)

Chelsea

Tottenham

Crystal Palace

Sunderland

Burnley

 

D)

Arsenal

Everton

Swansea

West Ham United

QPR

 

Play four games against each team in your division, A and B would play 2 games each against each other as would C and D, and one game against the other divisions.  In other words, Divisions A and B would play one game each against C and D.  This gives a total of 36 games.

 

For the semi-finals, winners of Division A and B would square off two matches aggregate, and winners of C and D would do likewise.  The winners would meet in a winner-take-all match at Wembley.  All Division winners would qualify for the Champions League.

 

How to relegate 3 teams?  A four-team playoff between the bottom of each division, winner stays in Premier League.  This way, relegation would not be automatic.

 

The following season, divisions would change based on results.  Therefore, a new Division A would go:  #1A, #2B, #3C, #4D, #5Team Avoiding Relegation.  Division B would go #1B, #2C, #3D, #4A, #1Championship...etc.

 

Advantages:  

- The semi-finals and championship match would be huge worldwide and create incredible excitement

- More teams have a chance deeper into the season to qualify for the playoffs  

- Teams that suffer injuries during the season can potentially come back to full health

- Prevents anti-climactic season finish 

- Makes more games more meaningful

- Two fewer regular-season games helps teams with Champions League, FA Cup, etc., obligations

- Division-only champions playoff addresses weakness of American sports leagues playoffs, where non-division winners also qualify and often win championships

- Relegation playoff gives bottom teams something to hope for

 

Disadvantages:

- Team that dominates regular season or is clearly the best may not win championship

- Tradition

- Some derbys compromised

- Only one game against 10 teams

 

Finally, I realize a playoff system will never come to fruition...at least not in the short term.  But, all things evolve eventually.  I believe the advantages outweigh the advantages, but that's my view.  Okay, let me have it!

i would rather have dental treatment from the dental technician par exellence: mad frankie fraser, whilst simultaneously having my BALLS defuzzed  by charlie richardson and his 240v ballbag defuzzer.

 

NB you can look up mad frank on wiki!

Edited March 18, 201511 yr by croydonblue

i would rather have dental treatment from the dental technician par exellence: mad frankie fraser, whilst simultaneously having my BALLS defuzzed  by charlie richardson and his 240v ballbag defuzzer.

 

NB you can look up mad frank on wiki!

Luxury! In my day there were nowt like 240v, thee had balls plucked by hand, aye by hand, by the big wench from 't turkey farm.

No no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no!!!!!!!! :-(

And you say that there are only four or five teams left in with a shout of winning the prem. That's only what happens, toward the end american season anyway.

Believe me, no offense (or offence) taken.  I knew this would be a hard sell. 

 

The regular season, I argue, would actually become more compelling.  Right now, halfway into a Premier League season and realistically only 2-4 teams are in line for the title.  Everyone else, save for those looking for a Champions League berth,  is playing for pure entertainment.

 

I also think you support my argument when you point out how the latter stages of the Champions League are tremendous.  Why not want that for the Premier League?

 

Derbys aren't always permanent.  There's no guarantee that Tottenham, for example, won't be relegated, although I know that is absurd to think in 2015...but again, anything can and does happen in sport.

 

Firstly, it would be tedious having to play a handful of teams over and over again in one competition. And next on Super Sunday... Sunderland vs Burnley IV.

 

You say only 2-4 teams currently have a shot of winning the league. That's more to do with the quality of the teams in the league. I'll take a wild guess that the semi-finalists would be four from Chelsea, Man C, Man U, Arsenal, Liverpool and Spurs, as in a league format it's usually the better teams who progress. The Champions League works because there are a lot of good teams in it, and it's a pure knockout tournament from round 2 onwards.

 

Now suppose there was going to be a Grand Final this year. We're currently 10 points ahead of the team in 5th with a game in hand. Barring a disastrous downturn in form, we'll probably finish in the top four. That being the case, why kill ourselves over the next ten games when we can just stroll through them, in the knowledge that our play-off place is all but guaranteed anyway. That wouldn't make for a very compelling run-in. In a five team group where one side is maybe 10 or 15 points clear, that would be even more likely.

Edited March 18, 201511 yr by Englishman

You're all a bunch of fuddy duddy imbeciles, The guy making the thread has come up with a wonderful idea and you're all dismissing it for no real reason, I'd love to watch the Chelsea Royal Blues play the Manchester United Redskins, The Liverpool Mourners up against the Southampton Saints, I also say if you shoot the ball into row z you get 3 goals as it means you have kicked a field goal, Therefore games involving Fellaini and Ashley Young would usually end up with United scoring 25 goals per game and that would mean in the Super Premier Bowl when they come up against Manchester City Bluehawks, Fernandinho the middle linebacker for City would be assigned with the task of man marking Fellaini and Toure would man mark Young as a way of stopping those two maestros from scoring field goals.

 

The Super Premier Bowl would be played at the Honda Civic Wembley Stadium, It's a fantastic idea, I'm all for it.

 

 

It'd have to be Man Utd Foreskins for me .

 

 

 

Terrible idea though, our league system bar a few changes has survived over 120 years, the product has been reasonably good throughout with good crowds. Don't try to fix what isn't broken.

You all know there's a good chance of this happening as clubs, sky, the fa all see just how much of a cash cow these end of season things can be. they already want extra games abroad and are looking to other income streams.

This new format should only be open to English clubs but we should call it the world series of soccer.

The Liverpool Mourners up against the Southampton Saints

This made me laugh out loud :)

However, I appreciate the opening posters idea, but don't really like the idea of a league, that's decided by a knock-out, and thus a cup competition.

Does it really work in Rugby? Or, as I suspect, are they chasing ratings?

I enjoy American Football, and the way it works, but we haven't got the draft system and such. Maybe we should look at that idea, as clearly FFP isn't what it says on the tin!

All right, so no one's buying into this.  I guess it's what you're used to.  Had a playoff system been used in the first place all these years and someone proposed going to a 38-game double round robin with no playoff, the reaction would be the same.  Again, it's what  you're used to.

Imagine a team, 30 points clear after 38 games. Then goes into a knock-out, and then isn't declared the best team of the season....

All right, so no one's buying into this.  I guess it's what you're used to.  Had a playoff system been used in the first place all these years and someone proposed going to a 38-game double round robin with no playoff, the reaction would be the same.  Again, it's what  you're used to.

 

It's not the idea that's bad, it's everyone in this thread whose wrong.

I am a big NFL fan - possibly the only one on the shed end by the looks of these posts lol. But this format has no place in our domestic football.

US sports are all play off driven and it makes the regular seasons just over kill, especially in sa baseball where it's a 6 month season or whatever it is and teams play about 3 times a week.

This new format should only be open to English clubs but we should call it the world series of soccer.

Hahaha :-)

First, the format has to be the same as that of the other European leagues if not those all over the world.

Second, we want football to be the main spectacle and not the spectacle itself. NFL cannot do this as the sport itself does not make great viewing.

Only if Katy Perry promises to do another concert aloft a mechanized tiger whilst men (or women) in shark costumes break it down to either side of her.

That's the only way that I see this working out.