Today's blog is inspired by a column I read in today's Daily Mail (not my usual paper) and continues with a theme I have discussed in many of my blogs. In past blogs I have discussed ways of making the English Premier League more of an even league to play in, as I'm sure we could all predict prior to this season the title was going to one of three destinations. We also know with still 3 months of the season remaining we can narrow that very small field down to one, as United have all but won the league. In the past I have mentioned creating a more even and exiting league by introducing salary caps or restricting the number of non English players but today I read about introducing a play off system.
The more I read into it the more I could really see this happening in the premier league. It will attract so much excitement and attention if you have had a grand final as the show piece at the end of the season in front of a sold out Wembley. This would attract an incredible amount of TV money, sponsorship and media attention the FA would not be able to resist. The workings of this could take any format from the top 4 playing in a knockout top position v fourth and second v third and the two winners going to the final. Or second v third with the winner playing the top finished team in the final. There are multiple options, I'm sure you can even think of your own.
There is no denying how much excitement and entertainment this system would create. Just take this season for example how demoralising it must be starting the season as one of the 17 teams that know your not going to win the league or being one of the 19 teams two thirds of the way through the season knowing your not going to win the league. Soccer needs to keep its fans hocked for larger parts of the season and this would achieve that.
With renewing the TV deal fast approaching this could be an avenue a very lucrative avenue that gets explored in the not to distant future. Why this seams as a really drastic change to soccer in this country just take this final thought. The grand final would probably rival any sporting event worldwide including the Super Bowl and at first Rugby did not want to make this change but it is now the highlight of their season. A soccer playoff in May consisting of the best teams in the country with a grand final on the last day of the season between the best two teams would create something unforgettable.
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