: Belgian clubs vote in favour of cross-border league with teams from the Netherlands

[Thewobbler]

Eredivisie: Belgian clubs vote in favour of cross-border league with teams from the Netherlands

Belgian Pro League clubs have voted in favour of merging with teams from the Netherlands Eredivisie to form a cross-border league called the BeNeLiga; critics say any such move would favour big teams; no formal proposal has been unveiled

www.skysports.com

Belgium's leading football clubs have voted in favour of a possible cross-border league with the top Eredivisie teams from the Netherlands.

The Belgian Pro League said on Tuesday its general assembly unanimously voted in favour of an "agreement in principle" for what it calls the BeNeLiga.


"This ambition is based both on the respect of the big clubs' sporting ambitions, and on the need for economic stability for the other professional clubs," the Pro League said. "The 25 clubs are unanimous in their desire to give the BeNeLiga a fair chance."

 

[John48]

So what happens if the league is dominated by teams from the Netherlands & teams from Belgium never get into either the CL or EL?

Not likely to be the other way around, but if it were I'm sure the Dutch would be really, really unhappy.

 

[Tucker]

So what happens if the league is dominated by teams from the Netherlands & teams from Belgium never get into either the CL or EL?

Not likely to be the other way around, but if it were I'm sure the Dutch would be really, really unhappy.

Short term that will likely happen. But the bigger Belgian clubs are probably betting that their larger supporter base and stadiums will allow them to compete over time.

Like if Rangers and Celtic entered the premier league, they’d be lucky to stay up in the first season or two, but once the better revenues hit they’d soon start to compete with the top teams.

 

[Marty]

Short term that will likely happen. But the bigger Belgian clubs are probably betting that their larger supporter base and stadiums will allow them to compete over time.

Like if Rangers and Celtic entered the premier league, they’d be lucky to stay up in the first season or two, but once the better revenues hit they’d soon start to compete with the top teams.

Not to mention that Gent and Club Brugge have performed similarly to the Dutch clubs in the CL over the last few seasons bar Ajax's run to the semi finals so I don't think the quality of the top Dutch teams is that much higher.

It's a move that is surely coming and I think it'll become a fun league to watch. One of those ideas that makes quite a lot of sense from a spectator point of view.

The flaw is if it becomes a closed shop. The bottom club from each nation should surely be relegated to maintain some sort of connection with the pyramid below.

 

[Col_M]

Intershting.
It’s a brave idea. There will be winners and losers from this that’s for sure.

 

[Trix]

So what happens if the league is dominated by teams from the Netherlands & teams from Belgium never get into either the CL or EL?

Not likely to be the other way around, but if it were I'm sure the Dutch would be really, really unhappy.

I think you aren't giving enough credit to some of the bigger Belgian sides to be honest. The likes of Anderlecht, Liege and Brugges are big enough clubs to go toe to toe with the Dutch sides financially. It won't all be one way traffic.

 

[Trix]

A question here is what have the respective leagues FA's had to say about this? Surely be some people out of a very cushy job if this happens?

 

[Everlasting Seconds]

The interesting thing is that as much as Eredivisie contains the the two absolute best clubs, Belgian clubs would probably make up the majority of the upper half in this league. So it's not the case that the Dutch clubs would entirely outrank the Belgian clubs. The joint league could possibly also be more prestigious and easier attract or retain good players.

For Brugge, they would probably still get CL footie just like today, and attract more spectators and play more matches of higher prestige throughout the season. So they lose out on nothing. For the mid sized Belgian clubs that probably won't get EL/CL anyway, they would benefit from attracting more spectators. Pre covid a mundane mid table club could struggle with filling their stadium. This new league could renew the interest and see high match day incomes more frequently. The joint league could possibly also be more prestigious and easier attract or retain good players.

For the smallest clubs in each division, they would in the new setup be playing each other for an actual trophy one step down in a new league setting, rather than remain forgotten at the bottom of today's top league in each country. So in reality, there are probably more gains than disadvantages for most clubs one way or the other.

 

[scat1620]

Intershting.

Easy there, Schteve McLaren.

 

[CoopsieDeadpool]

The interesting thing is that as much as Eredivisie contains the the two absolute best clubs, Belgian clubs would probably make up the majority of the upper half in this league. So it's not the case that the Dutch clubs would entirely outrank the Belgian clubs. The joint league could possibly also be more prestigious and easier attract or retain good players.

For Brugge, they would probably still get CL footie just like today, and attract more spectators and play more matches of higher prestige throughout the season. So they lose out on nothing. For the mid sized Belgian clubs that probably won't get EL/CL anyway, they would benefit from attracting more spectators. Pre covid a mundane mid table club could struggle with filling their stadium. This new league could renew the interest and see high match day incomes more frequently. The joint league could possibly also be more prestigious and easier attract or retain good players.

For the smallest clubs in each division, they would in the new setup be playing each other for an actual trophy one step down in a new league setting, rather than remain forgotten at the bottom of today's top league in each country. So in reality, there are probably more gains than disadvantages for most clubs one way or the other.

I can't pretend to have a clue about anything to do with the leagues in discussion.

Would travel be an issue for away games? Both for the clubs that have to travel, and then for the supporters to follow their team?

 

[spursfan77]

If that happens it will be amusing after all the talk of a European Super League, we might see the start of a European not so Super League once clubs from Scotland and other smaller footballing nations like San Marino and Lichtenstein want to get involved!

 

[Japhet]

So what happens if the league is dominated by teams from the Netherlands & teams from Belgium never get into either the CL or EL?

Not likely to be the other way around, but if it were I'm sure the Dutch would be really, really unhappy.

Given time I think it would make a couple of relatively weak Leagues into one fairly strong one. The same would happen if Scotland had more than a 2 horse race every year.

 

[Syn_13]

I wonder how the French speaking Belgians feel about this. I have friends in Belgium and there seems to be quite a split between the two different cultures which can get quite heated. I wonder if French Belgians like the idea of lumping in with the clubs from Holland.

 

[Japhet]

If that happens it will be amusing after all the talk of a European Super League, we might see the start of a European not so Super League once clubs from Scotland and other smaller footballing nations like San Marino and Lichtenstein want to get involved!

Nobody would want Scotland. There's still a load of them in Argentina after the 78 World Cup. Most of them told their Mrs they were just popping out for a packet of fags.

 

[worcestersauce]

Short term that will likely happen. But the bigger Belgian clubs are probably betting that their larger supporter base and stadiums will allow them to compete over time.

Like if Rangers and Celtic entered the premier league, they’d be lucky to stay up in the first season or two, but once the better revenues hit they’d soon start to compete with the top teams.

I've always said if Celtic were in the premier League they'd be regular champions.

 

[funkycoldmedina]

I've always said if Celtic were in the premier League they'd be regular champions.

Why Celtic and not Rangers?

 

[Everlasting Seconds]

I can't pretend to have a clue about anything to do with the leagues in discussion.

Would travel be an issue for away games? Both for the clubs that have to travel, and then for the supporters to follow their team?

Yeah good point. I haven't travelled between Netherlands and Belgium for football purposes, but if we look at what could be possible examples of geographical extremities, I suppose a trip between Groningen and Charleroi would be shorter than say Southampton to Newcastle. So I find it plausible that the travel would be acceptable for enough people to make it worth it, due to the increased prestige in a league that would firmly be the the best league in Europe behind the obvious top 5.

I wonder how the French speaking Belgians feel about this. I have friends in Belgium and there seems to be quite a split between the two different cultures which can get quite heated. I wonder if French Belgians like the idea of lumping in with the clubs from Holland.

Well, how many teams from French speaking Belgium would likely be candidates for participation? How about now, aren't there two teams in the present Belgian league from French speaking communities? And then you have one team from the German speaking corner. The likely candidates for a new league would be by far mainly Flemish. Lidje would be the obvious best team from non-Flemish clubs, but I have the impression that it's a community that doesn't have clear French associations beyond language.

 

[worcestersauce]

Why Celtic and not Rangers?

Because I prefer Celtic.?

 

[worcestersauce]

If this were to come off I can't help wondering if the likes of Denmark, Sweden and Norway would think about doing it, possibly with Finland too?

Just a thought but if they do this and keep their seperate international Football Associations it might pave the way for Scotland to join England and Wales.
I'm sure the Football Associations worry was a deal breaker before.

 

[Marty]

If this were to come off I can't help wondering if the likes of Denmark, Sweden and Norway would think about doing it, possibly with Finland too?

Just a thought but if they do this and keep their seperate international Football Associations it might pave the way for Scotland to join England and Wales.
I'm sure the Football Associations worry was a deal breaker before.

We tried an offseason tournament between the top four in each Scandinavian country in the mid 2000s called the Royal league. It was just a preseason joke really and was disbanded after 4/5 years.

There are certainly no serious suggestions that we put Copenhagen or Malmö in the same division as Bodø/Glimt or Tromsø. That truly is a hell of a trek.