Atlantic League (football)

The Atlantic League is a proposed international association football competition to be played in a number of European countries. The aim of the Atlantic League to allow clubs who have been successful in their national competitions to participate in a more competitive league that would be more attractive to fans and television viewers, resulting in higher revenues and the ability to attract more talented players. An Atlantic League would aspire for itself and its clubs to achieve parity with the "Big Five" leagues, which are Europe's largest existing national leagues in England, Italy, Germany, Spain, and France.^[1]

2000–01 proposals

The first Atlantic League proposal was made by Peter Fossen and Harry van Raaij, chief executive officer and club president respectively at Dutch club PSV Eindhoven. Fearing that their club would be left behind in terms of financial revenue and ability to attract star players relative to those that play in the largest European national leagues, they contacted a number of other clubs, both in the Netherlands and abroad, with large fanbases, with the proposition that they secede from their existing league competitions and form an international competition with one another. A plan was drawn up for a league featuring clubs from the Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal and Scotland, plus a contingent from Scandinavian countries. Talks were held with Ajax, Feyenoord, Porto, Rangers and Celtic; Celtic were particularly receptive of the idea. The league was planned to begin in 2002 at the earliest, following the conclusion of television rights contracts in the affected countries.^[1]

By 2001, Fossen had abandoned a parallel idea of setting up a completely Europe-wide league competition (the Euroleague) - he had forwarded this idea through the influential G-14 group of clubs, of which PSV was a member, but was forced to relent following opposition from clubs in the largest national leagues like England and Germany. He instead furthered his Atlantic League proposal, entering into discussions with UEFA's marketing director Lars-Christer Olsson with a project that now included the other Dutch and Scottish clubs contacted in the initial stage, plus S.L. Benfica and Sporting C.P. from Portugal's Liga Sagres, R.S.C. Anderlecht and Club Brugge K.V. from Belgium's Jupiler League, IFK Göteborg and AIK from Sweden's Allsvenskan, and Brøndby IF and F.C. Copenhagen from Denmark's SAS Ligaen. A system of promotion and relegation would be maintained, with the least successful clubs relegated back to their national top leagues to be replaced by that league's champions. Qualification for the existing European club competitions (the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup) would be available through the league.^[2]

With a target population of over 40 million in Atlantic League represented countries, and with a proposed average attendance of over 30,000, which would be the third largest of all European leagues, van Raaij hoped to secure a television contract comparable to that of the larger leagues.^[3] The Scottish Premier League (SPL) were actively involved in the negotiations, but other domestic leagues affected offered lucrative deals to clubs to remain in their national setup.^{[citation needed]}

UEFA chief executive Gerhard Aigner accepted the need for action in preventing the disparity between the largest clubs and the would-be Atlantic League participants, but during a two-day summit in Nyon, Switzerland in February 2001, ultimately rejected the proposal. He instead proposed a revamp of the UEFA Cup competition to try to redress the balance.^[4] With meetings still on-going between the Atlantic League group that September, UEFA insisted that if they broke away from the governing body to set up the league, they would suffer from no longer being able to compete in Europe-wide competition such as the Champions League.^[5]

2002 proposals

By April 2002, Rangers and Celtic (collectively known as the Old Firm) were openly attempting to secede from the SPL and enter the English league system instead. van Raaij and PSV approached the pair with a new Atlantic League proposal, now featuring between 18 and 20 teams and no longer including the Scandinavian countries. Up to five places would have been awarded to Scottish clubs under the new proposal; significantly, this would allow clubs in the SPL other than the Old Firm to contest the competition. This development came just as those clubs threatened to resign from the league in protest at the dominance of the Old Firm.^[6] The new Atlantic League would again maintain promotion and relegation with the national top leagues and facilitate qualification for Europe-wide competition.^[7]

North Atlantic League Cup

In the autumn of 2003, representatives of the Dutch, Belgian, Danish and Scottish leagues proposed an alternative competition called the North Atlantic League Cup. It would feature the top four clubs from each of the four leagues in a round-robin group stage followed by a knockout tournament each January, although those still competing in the Champions League or UEFA Cup would be exempt from the competition. Celtic CEO Ian McLeod reassured UEFA that this competition would be complementary to, and not intended to replace, the existing national competitions, unlike the Atlantic League.^[8] UEFA replied that international competitions must take place under their jurisdiction, but were not opposed to the idea, only insisting that the national associations involved be in full agreement.^[9]

2008 resurrection

In December 2008, Rangers manager Walter Smith admitted he would like to see his club competing in the Atlantic League, with a reserve team continuing to compete in the SPL - opining that the financial domination of the largest leagues has cheapened the appeal of the Champions League, as top clubs are able to field weakened teams and still able to qualify easily.^[10] The SPL remained open to the idea, but refused to enter into any negotiations until its existing television rights deal concludes in 2014.^[11] Scandinavian clubs were included again in media speculation over interested clubs, this time including Rosenborg BK from Norway's Tippeligaen.^[12] UEFA are likely to oppose the proposals once more, citing fear of the proliferation of non-national leagues.^[3][13]

2016 resurrection

North Atlantic League
(estimation)

Country	Belgium   Denmark   Finland   Netherlands   Norway   Scotland   Sweden
Confederation	UEFA
Number of teams	16   RSC Anderlecht   Club Brugge KV   KAA Gent   Standard Liège   Brøndby IF   FC Copenhagen   HJK Helsinki   AFC Ajax   AZ Alkmaar   Feyenoord   PSV Eindhoven   Rosenborg BK   Celtic FC   Rangers FC   AIK Fotboll   Malmö FF
International cup(s)	UEFA Champions League UEFA Europa League

The plan was again discussed in the beginning of 2016^[14] and talks have taken place throughout the year by representatives from the Netherlands, Belgium, Scotland, Sweden, Denmark and Norway according to Anders Hørsholt, the director of F.C. Copenhagen.^[15] Representatives of F.C. Copenhagen (Denmark), Ajax (The Netherlands), PSV (The Netherlands), Feyenoord (The Netherlands), Anderlecht (Belgium), Club Brugge (Belgium) Celtic (Scotland), Rangers (Scotland), Malmö FF (Sweden), Rosenborg (Norway) and HJK Helsinki (Finland) are believed to have taken part in the discussions.^[16][17]

According to Toon Gerbrands (general director PSV) in 2016, the talks were just in the initial stage. He also claimed that the purpose of the discussions was to put UEFA under pressure. ^[18]

2020–21 proposal

The chairman of Irish club Shelbourne F.C., Andrew Doyle, proposed a league involving Irish, Scottish and Scandinavian teams. The idea was given the go ahead by UEFA chairman Aleksandr Ceferin and had the backing of investment bank JP Morgan. According to the Daily Record (Scotland) the league would have an estimated income of £350 million.^[19] However, this proposal too failed to move forward as chairman of Scottish club Celtic F.C., Dermot Desmond declined to participate.^[20]

The chief executive of the Norwegian Premier League, Leif Overland, said "From what I have learned, it seems JP Morgan are involved in the investment and with good financing like that, the proposal must be taken seriously. But I think it's unlikely to be a good audience project because of the teams involved and the biggest challenge would be finding room in the football calendar."^[21]

See also

• Royal League - Short-lived competition between Scandinavian teams
• Baltic League - Similar competition between Baltic teams
• Proposals for a European Super League in association football

References

1. "Celtic back Atlantic breakaway". BBC Sport. 16 January 2000. from the original on 27 December 2008. Retrieved 4 January 2009.
2. Ziegler, Martyn (1 February 2001). "Clubs step up pressure for Atlantic league". The Independent. London. from the original on 28 December 2008. Retrieved 4 January 2009.
3. Marcotti, Gabriele (20 November 2006). "Bold plan for Europe". The Times. London. Retrieved 4 January 2009.
4. Tallentire, Mark (8 February 2001). "Uefa moves to head off Atlantic League". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 4 January 2009.
5. "Uefa warn clubs over Atlantic League". [sportbusiness.com]. 27 September 2001. Retrieved 4 January 2009.
6. "Dutch resurrect Atlantic League". BBC Sport. 24 April 2002. from the original on 27 December 2008. Retrieved 4 January 2009.
7. "PSV keep Atlantic dream afloat". BBC Sport. 29 April 2002. Retrieved 4 January 2009.
8. "North Atlantic League Cup is possible by January says Old Firm chief". Scotland on Sunday. 4 August 2002. Retrieved 4 January 2009.
9. Rodgers, Ian (5 August 2002). "Uefa in cool response to North Atlantic Cup project". The Independent. London. Retrieved 4 January 2009.
10. "Smith wants to see return of Atlantic league". The Herald. 24 December 2008. from the original on 2 February 2009. Retrieved 4 January 2009.
11. "SPL open to Atlantic league idea". BBC Sport. 24 December 2008. from the original on January 7, 2009. Retrieved 4 January 2009.
12. "Atlantic League Contenders". The Daily Telegraph, 29 December 2008
13. "Uefa would fight an Atlantic League every step of the way" The Daily Telegraph, 2 January 2009
14. Jackson, Keith (16 February 2016). "Atlantic League idea could be revived after secret talks with English consortium".
15. "Ajax in gesprek over Noord-Atlantische competitie". Het Parool. 13 October 2016.
16. Morten Crone Sejersbøl & Søren Hanghøj Kristensen (13 October 2016). "Klar til at forlade Superligaen: FCK forhandler om ny international liga". BT.
17. Masters, James (18 October 2016). "Champions League: Are European giants forcing smaller rivals out?". CNN.
18. Jeroen Haverkort (13 October 2016). . Metro XL. Archived from the original on 31 August 2022. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
19. ""Celtic and Rangers given Atlantic League go ahead but UEFA chief presents two key issues"". The Daily Record. 3 January 2021.
20. ""Celtic hold Atlantic League balance of power as Irish chairman reveals major Super League difference"". The Daily Record. 20 April 2021.
21. ""Celtic and Rangers on alert as ambitious Atlantic League plans shelved by Norway"". Glasgow Live. 29 December 2020.