The significance of this review is that social media can be a vehicle for direct and indirect income generation, for example club products, click-through advertising or funding from sponsors and commercial links. This is a season preview with a twist, instead of previewing each team based on player quality and recent performers I have chosen to preview each team based on social media reach and how this could grow during the season. The basis of each of the team’s social media reach will be primarily based on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram with potential bonus growth in others such as YouTube or Snapchat. Furthermore, the increase in reach of the teams main ‘Social Idol’ will be analysed as well. In a recent report commissioned by the league that Deloitte carried out, the Belgian league states that it is very important to have at least 5 clubs competing for the title each season for sustaining the growth of football within the country. Also, by having a competitive league it increases the chances of the clubs doing well in the European competitions, which in turn increases the reach of the teams on the social media platform. Figure1.0 (Club follower continuity Circle) One point that will be drawn on during this article is the impact on the club’s brand that international stars can have and their ability for the club to reach new markets. For example, the Pro League currently has a number of players who participated in or, came close to being selected for, this year’s World Cup in Russia. These include Guillermo Ochoa, Ramin Rezaeian (Iran), Cristian Benavente (Peru) and Lovre Kalinic (Croatia), while Moses Simon (Nigeria) and Yuya Kubo (Japan) both of Gent just missed out. From figure (1.1) below you can clearly see that these players can have a big impact on the profile of their club side within their homeland, and this can be especially rewarding when they produce club-related content. Both Ochoa and Rezaeian had great World Cups in their own right and both have well over 1 million followers on Instagram to the benefit of their club. This reach increases the chances of their club sides (Standard Liege and Oostende respectively) being able to establish a foothold in the market in Ochoa’s Mexico (Central America) and Rezaeian’s Iran (Western Asia). Those of you who follow or wish to follow the Belgium league can do so now via Free Sports (free to air sports channel) who since 17/18 have shown up to 3 live games a week. Figure 1.1 (Pro League teams profile) Anderlecht It would probably come to no surprise that the team from Brussels is by the most popular team on social media with over 1 million Facebook likes as well as dominating Twitter and Instagram too. Missing out on the Champions League this upcoming season will most likely impact the amount of growth Anderlecht would experience on Social Media had they of qualified. However, they have a chance in the Europa League to grow and I would expect them to do so, but the amount of growth will vary depending on how far they get in the competition as well as the reputation of their opposition. They did gain great exposure during the World Cup having been able to play into the euphoria surrounding the Belgium National sides success at the tournament with the likes of Lukaku and Tielemans having come through the clubs youth ranks over recent seasons. This club and national side crossover content helped establish a footing for the upcoming season in regards to Social Media, in what some might class as their ‘pre-season’. The real battle and growth will all depend on how far they get in Europe and if they can win their first Belgium Cup in 11 years or regain the league title. Antwerp Antwerp has enormous potential as a club to challenge near the top given the population of the city and as demonstrated by their Facebook likes, sitting 4th in that regard. If Antwerp are to compete in the social media league they’ll be needing to show a strong performance in both the league and cup in order to increase their online presence and build on their 225k+ likes on Facebook. This underlines Antwerp’s importance as one of Belgium’s best supported teams, however underachievement over the years has ultimately hampered their progress in terms of growing a following both on the ground in Belgium and internationally online. Part of this underachievement was spending 13 years outside of the Pro League until their promotion in 16/17, so after an 8th place finish last season ‘The Great Old’ will be looking to gain ground on what is seen as the top 5 (Anderlecht, Club Brugge, Standard Liege, Gent and Genk) both on and off the field. Cercle Brugge Having won promotion back to the top flight, Cercle Brugge will be wanting to grow their online presence and I believe that being owned by French giants AS Monaco will only assist this. Their on-field success has been having an impact on their growth in that regard as since gaining promotion back in March their followers on Twitter have increased by 1,600 (1,000 between July 10th-24th), while on Facebook they’ve added an additional 700 extra likes. Cercle’s biggest increase on twitter came when they played Monaco in a friendly (mid-July) adding 700 followers, thus showing that links to established sides pay off. Furthermore, Cercle Brugge appear to be to be trying to grow their presence internationally with the recent acquisition of Japan international Naomichi Ueda who was in the Japanese side for the World Cup in Russia. However, Ueda lacks any social media presence, so Cercle will not be able to rely on him to generate any content which would help expose the club brand in Asia. Nevertheless, any club generated content will go some way to establishing a foothold in the Asian market. This is perhaps something the club could work with him on? Overall, I believe that with the backing Cercle now have that they can challenge both on and off the field for a top 6 position with their social media accounts potentially experiencing a significant increase this season. Charleroi Having broken into the top 6 over recent seasons Charleroi will be looking to establish themselves in order to cement a following similar to the likes of Gent and Standard Liege who are from cities with not too dissimilar populations. Charleroi is currently ranked as the third most populous municipality with over 200,000 people so this is something the club could target in addition to growing their fanbase internationally. This strategy seems to be something that the club are employing given the recent arrivals over the last year of a number of Iranian internationals (Kaveh Rezaei, Ali Gholizadeh, Omid Noorafkan) all of whom just missed out on the World Cup squad. This strategy could have been further aided by the prospect of Europa League football however, despite the club finishing an impressive 3rd place during the regular season Charleroi ended up 6th during the play-offs, thus missing out on any Europa League football. If interest in the club from Iran grows then maybe Charleroi could consider launching a Persian Twitter feed or at least some content specifically aimed at them. If they do have a good season on the field with Gholizadeh and Rezaei chipping in with goals, then expect good growth. Club Brugge Last season’s champions, the biggest club from Brugge will want to replicate that success again as well as closing the gap on Anderlecht within the most popular Belgian Pro League side on social media. There is no doubting that when it comes to on-field performances Club Brugge have been getting the better of Anderlecht recently, however when it comes to Social Media performance it has been the team from Brussels that has been shining. This is not at all surprising given that they are the team from the capital and arguably have more history, although Brugge is an historic city and tourist destination so there is a possibility to target that customer segment in order to grow the club’s presence. Last season they did manage to attract some positive media attention with the loan signing of Jordy Classie from Southampton, however is has gone back now and there does not appear to be another ‘star signing’ on the horizon meaning Brugge will have to let their on the field performances do the talking in terms of social media growth. Eupen After surviving on goal difference at the expense of Mechelen last season, Eupen will be looking for improvement. Whilst I expect a small improvement in terms of on field position, I predict a bigger improvement with social media growth. Why you may ask? Well I think Eupen’s biggest asset is their manager Claude Makelele and the global appeal he has which could attract fans from all across the globe on the various social networks. In the last 6 months Makelele’s Twitter followers have grown by roughly 1,000. Also, Eupen have been targeting other markets recently with the addition of Japanese forward Yuta Toyokawa in January who has raked up over 5,500 Instagram followers. It is worth pointing out that Eupen’s biggest star in terms of following is Moussa Wague (28k, Instagram) who played and scored for Senegal at the World Cup and is currently being linked with Barcelona. This transfer link could lead to a temporary increase in social media following for Eupen. Although, if Eupen are to experience the level of growth that I am predicting then all will depend on a strong performance in the cup or a challenge for the top six if they are to get noticed. However, I think that it will be a tough ask for the club and an increase of about 4 places it probably most accurate. Excel Mouscron After a challenging season in 2018/19 which saw the club stave off relegation by only 3 points, an improvement is needed by Mouscron in order to see a fair increase in their social media following. Although, in the play-offs which followed the regular season Mouscron did finish 3rd out of six teams within their group so there was evidence of ending the season on a high. Mouscron do have a fairly stable following when it comes to social media with followers evenly spread across two of the three main accounts (Facebook, Twitter), with work needed on their Instagram with under 4,000 followers. Whereas, on Mouscron’s Facebook and Twitter they have 19k and 16k respectively. Regarding Facebook they have only increased their page likes by just over 400 in the last six months, with 100 coming during the period of the World Cup. Judging by these statistics it seems as though that this season may be one of slow growth coupled with the fact that the majority of their players are domestic based so have very little appeal internationally. Genk The club of the Limburg province has enjoyed great success over recent years both internationally and domestically, and this has showed with their impressive social media followers. Currently Genk sit 6th on Facebook, 5th on Twitter and 3rd on Instagram which is not bad for a team that only has a population of around 60,000, thus showing that their reach extends beyond he region. However, where I believe Genk will be let down this season compared to some other clubs is their lack of ‘social media idol’ who can draw fans in on their own. Despite that, a season which involves getting into the Championship play-off and challenging most of the way may increase fans that way, however the best chance to appeal to a wider audience is through the European competition and advancing to the latter stages of that. By doing this it allows the club to create some innovative content appealing to their current fans and beyond documenting their journey, just look at Salzburg last season for example in that regard. Furthermore, Genk’s growth could be aided further with the range of different nationalities currently in their team with 19 presently. The amount of growth in this will vary depending how many have social media accounts and are able to reach out to their home country. Gent Having enjoyed a good run in the 2015/16 Champions League and the 2016/17 Europa League, Gent has seen a rise in interest and follows in their social media channels. Furthermore, Ghent’s online reach will increase further after the World Cup as they currently have World Cup finalists Croatia’s second choice keeper, Lovre Kalinic on their books. Gent do also have players who nearly went to the World Cup and who arguably hold a good online following in their own right with Yuya Kubo of Japan and Moses Simon of Nigeria who are both very active on Instagram with 21.1k and 36.1k followers respectively. Although it is worth mentioning that Simon is currently subject to interest from Liverpool. However, this interest shown in Simon could play into Gent’s hands as more social media users may take an increased interest in their various accounts, but the question is whether this interest in Gent is a permanent or just a passing one. Nevertheless, Gent have plenty to work with this season and a strong title challenge could see them break into the top three of a number of social media accounts, most likely Twitter or Instagram. Kortrijk ‘The Guys’ have been a club on the rise over recent years having faced bankruptcy 15 years ago and were taken over by Cardiff City chairman Vincent Tan back in 2015. Further evidence in the club’s rise can be seen in the recent analytics of their twitter account where in the last six months they managed to add an additional 2,000 followers taking them up to over 21,000. Their drastic rise over previous months would most likely be put down to their on the field form that saw them come within 2 points of a top 6 finish, thus given them an opportunity at Champions League football. However, they finished 7th and only had an outside of any European football at all, finishing the season in 2nd place in Group A of the Europa League playoffs. The challenge that Kortrijk face is the lack of ‘social media star’ so do not have anyone who stands out online or has a great following, so I would not expect too much growth to come from outside of Belgium. Overall, I would expect Kortrijk to keep on strengthening across the main three social media platforms, especially given the Cardiff City link, aided by the Bluebirds now being back in the Premier League, which in course could lead to further exposure. Lokeren When it comes to comparing the analytics of the various clubs, Lokeren are a team who equates to the middle of the social media table with over 20,000 likes / followers on both Facebook and Twitter. From this it would be a fair assumption that their off the field performance matches their on the field one with the club finishing 11th in the regular season and manging to advance to the semi-final of the Europa League playoff. Furthermore, the club gained over 8,000 new followers on Twitter in the past year with 2,500 followers joining over the past six months. However, in terms of Facebook likes their official page has remained much unchanged with less than 20 likes since February. Furthermore, Lokeren struggle too by lacking any players with a real social media presence with Belgian Tom de Sutter on 8,873 Twitter followers and recent signing José Cevallos Enríquez with 4,550 Instagram followers being the only ones of note. However, it may be worth keeping an eye on José Cevallos as he’s a young player who only broke into the Ecuadorian national side in the last year so if he develops well he could help Lokeren experience increased growth. Regarding the upcoming season I cannot see much change for Lokeren as I think most of the other teams have more appeal about them, nevertheless good form could go someway to helping the club get to 30k followers on Twitter. Oostende After finishing the 2016/17 season in impressive form by finishing 5th in the regular season and 4th overall via the playoffs, thus securing a chance at Europa League qualification, Oostende suffered a deteriation in form by finishing 11th last season. However, the same thing cannot be said for their performance on social media which appears to be growing and growing as they managed to increase their social media following by over 6,500 in the last year, while on Instagram their following currently stands at 10,330 with Facebook likes increasing by 1,000 over the last 3 months. I believe that Oostende have the tools to increase their following sharply this upcoming season but a lot of this will rely on them discovering their form from a couple of season’s back that saw them clinch a top 6 spot. Unlike some other teams Oostende will not be able to rely on European football this season in order to attract attention, although they do have a ‘social media star’ who has the second highest number of followers on Instagram in the entire league with over 1.5M in Iranian international Ramin Rezaeian. So if Oostende can develop a strategy which integrates club and player content more then I wouldn’t be surprised if the club can up their social media ranking to 7th-8th. Sint-Truiden In the last 6 months Sint-Truiden have added an impressive 1,500 followers to their twitter account which can only be matched by a small handful of clubs including the big 3 (Anderlecht, Club Brugge and Standard Liege). Sint-Truiden’s recent transfer activity could prove a huge boost to their social media accounts as they (at the time of writing) look set to complete the permanent addition of Arsenal striker Chuba Akpom, with the striker having spent the second half of last season on loan there. If the deal is confirmed it helps to widen the appeal of the club as Chuba Akpom has an impressive following with 244k on Twitter while boasting an even more impressive 464k followers on Instagram. Not only will this signing help bring quality on the pitch, but it will also play a huge part in the increase in social media following this season. The early signs seem to show that this season may be a good one for Sint-Truiden, especially if they can pick up where they left off (4 points of Europa League spot in Group B play-offs, after 10th place finish) and with the addition of Akpom this will only add quality. My view is that Sint-Truiden will be the team to watch when it comes to social media and it will be interesting to see how their signings and on the field performances correlate in an increase in following/likes across all social media networks. Standard Liege Seen as one of the biggest clubs in Belgium, Standard have been having mixed fortunes over years and arguably have not lived up to their hype. However, in terms of social media ranking they come in second behind Anderlecht and I don’t see that changing during the upcoming season. However, I believe that the gap will close given that Standard Liege have the chance to participate in the Champions League, while rivals Anderlecht must settle for Europa League at best. If they get into the Champions League it will expose them to new fanbases, especially if they are able to cause an upset or make headlines for another reason. Furthermore, Standard gain extra exposure from being associated with Mexican World Cup goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa who outranks every other player and all Belgian sides when it comes to social media presence with over 1.9M followers on Instagram and 2.82M on Twitter. If Standard have a successful season that involves winning a trophy along with Ochoa’s presence in the side then I expect Standard to grow their reach in a strong 2nd spot. Waasland-Beveren Currently one of the teams with the lowest number of total followers across the three major platforms, only surpassing Eupen, Waasland-Beveren will have their work cut out if they are to be competitive in growing their audience this season. One bit of comfort for them is that they managed to grow their twitter account by roughly 1,300 since the middle of February, although this growth has slowed and plateaued in the last month. The team did finish the regular campaign of 2017/18 in a respectable 12th but ended up finishing the Europa League playoff group 5th and one point above bottom place Lierse and this could be a continuing trend for them. Furthermore, like a number of the smaller sides in the league Waasland-Beveren suffer from not having any high profile players on social media or anyone with a great amount of followers for that matter. They do however have a range of foreign players which may appeal to a small following back in their homelands with Ghanaian international Opoku Ampomah being the most high-profile in that regard with 3,000 followers on Twitter. All in all I expect the club to grow but at a much slower rate than the others and will probably finish next May bottom of the social media table. Zulte-Waregem Over recent seasons Zulte-Waregem have been pushing towards the top half of the table and manged to secure a Europa League spot via the end of season play-offs, however they missed out to Genk in the final of the play-offs. Nevertheless, by advancing to the final playoff it gave them extra exposure within Belgium and a further opportunity to grow their online presence. For the upcoming campaign I would expect relatively stable growth for the club judging by the past 6 months analytics which saw the club gain over 4,700 followers, making them the 6th most popular Belgium team on twitter. In terms of attracting followers from outside of Belgium, Zulte-Waregem seem to be going down a different route in terms of signing certain nationalities in order to grow their fanbase in a certain continent. Whilst some clubs have signed players from countries representing the Asian market, Essevee approach seems to be players from Scandinavia (currently standing at six). I cannot see this being part of their on-line strategy, but it could prove beneficial if their aim is to gain regular Europa League football. Furthermore, the club have added well-known Belgium player Thomas Buffel to their ranks who will bring a fair bit of interest and followers to the club too (his Instagram current stands at 31k followers). Ways clubs can grow and standout · Include a movie cover as opposed to the standard photo cover on Facebook · Increase reach in another continent by Signing a player with good social media presence and who is highly respected. · Behind the scenes content · Fun and relaxed content (e.g. kit launch and pull funny faces) · Supporting the National team with club related content (i.e. during the World Cup) Top 10 performers (players) of social media *Where the player is active on both Instagram and Twitter I have selected the account in which they have the most followers and are the most active on. Figure 1.3 (Top 10 SM performers) The table above shows the 10 most popular players in the Belgian Pro League with the most popular being players who are internationally recognised. This trend was demonstrated throughout the World Cup in Russia where Ochoa’s Twitter account (the most popular Social Media account within the Belgian league) saw a steep rise in followers during the World Cup especially on days on which Mexico played. Figure 2.0 (Ochoa's Twitter follower increase) (Socialbakers, 2018) Figue 2.1 (Ochoa Twitter analytics) (Trendsmap, 2018) Analysing the various trends, it is fair to say that from appearances by various players throughout the tournament it was the specific club that benefited more than the league itself as the Pro League hardly saw an increase in followers (roughly 100 for the duration). While Standard Liege in this case did see a much steeper rise in users following them on Twitter. The general point with a number of teams specifically on Twitter is that their followers saw a dramatic rise of up to 3,000 in the later part of last season (February-May). This can be mainly attributed to the end of season play-offs which attract more attention and it’s a fair assumption too that the amount of followers are predominantly from Belgium during this period. Overall I’m predicting that this season could see the highest amount of average growth for most clubs as the league seems to be getting more competitive with more teams competing for the title. Furthermore, over recent seasons the Belgium sides have been doing a lot better in the European competitions so garner more interest and subsequent followers this way too. Also it seems as though a number of the teams are keen to break into new markets given some recent acquisitions, such as Japanese international Ueda joining newly promoted Cercle Brugge, while Charleroi have a few Iranian’s on their books. In conclusion I would expect the majority of teams to stay in similar positions to last in terms of social media, although some clubs do make inroads higher up the table thanks to a new signing or good form in the league and in Europe. Anderlecht will continue their dominance, while Club Brugge and Standard Liege will be trying to outdo each other, while the teams to watch this year in terms of growing their audience will be Cercle Brugge and Sint-Truiden with the Cardiff City link at Kortrijk proving an interesting watch too. Who will win the 2018/19 Social Media table? Table Key
0 Comments
After just over a month since finishing the 2014/15 campaign the 2015/16 campaign gets underway this upcoming weekend. If you are new to Swiss football the league contains 10 teams playing each other 4 times across July into May, 2 times at home and the same away. Last season saw Basel record their sixth straight title as they reaffirm their dominance of Swiss football, while Aarau were relegated back to the Challenge League (2nd division) after 2 seasons in the top flight. Replacing in Aarau in the Super League are Lugano from the Italian speaking part of Switzerland who are returning to the top flight after a 13 year absence. Basel The reigning champions of the league have little left to prove domestically as they go in search of their seventh straight league title and their 19th overall. However if Basel are to achieve another league success they will have to do it with a new manager after Paulo Sousa decided to move on to pastures new at the end of last season, despite only spending the one season with the Swiss club. The new man taking the helm at the club is Urs Fischer who arrives with a good reputation in Swiss football having turned Thun (the club he arrives from) into top 4 contenders. Grasshopper After what the club would have perceived to be a poor campaign last season, Grasshopper’s will be looking to bounce back to the heights of two seasons ago where they finished runners-up in the league to Basel. However the club from Zurich have struggled to keep hold of players recently as well as struggling to obtain a licence to play in the league (won on appeal on both occasions). With a number of coming and goings last summer the team found it hard to gel but with limited disruption in the closed season, Grasshoppers may be able to re-establish themselves in the Swiss elite again. Their cause may be helped after bringing in vastly experienced Swedish midfielder Kim Kallstrom into the ranks. My overriding opinion is that should Grasshoppers hit the ground running then a 4th place European spot may be the least they get. Lugano After 13 years out the Super League, Lugano will be looking to fight against the odds and survive in the division. The club may also feel added pressure to do well given that its 5 years since there was a team representing the Italian part of Switzerland in the top flight (Bellinzona 10/11).If Lugano show the same spirit which saw them achieve promotion then I’m sure this season can be a successful one. After Lugano’s league win there was joyous scenes in the town and the club will need that atmosphere to help lift the team over the line in the bigger games this season. I have a feeling they may just stay. Luzern Markus Babbel’s men go into this campaign having narrowly missed out on a place in the upcoming season’s Europa League. However it is worth taking into account that it was still a good position for Luzern as they were fighting a relegation battle until Babbel took over the reins last October and revived their fortunes. This season Luzern should be targeting a top half finish given the stature of the club and under Babbel’s stewardship this is a realistic proposition. Sion The only team in the league that currently represents the French speaking part of Switzerland, Sion are a team that garners mixed opinion. They are also not shy of controversy having experienced transfer bans and a point deduction over recent years. However it’s not been all doom and gloom for Sion over recent years having won the Swiss Cup as well as finishing runner-up to Basel in last season’s competition. Sion do have quality within their ranks but have failed to live up to expectations over recent years, however with the club managing to keep hold of Moussa Konate the club have someone who could hit 20+ goals if given sufficient service. Could be the leagues surprise packages. St Gallen St Gallen will be wanting to bounce back from their second half of the season showing last season that saw the side drop out of the European places into mid-table obscurity, they did however recover in their remaining few games but still missed out on the Europa League. This has me questioning their ability as you do not quite know what team is going to turn up on the day of games, with a dysfunctional one appearing to turn up for half of last season which ultimately put pay to any European football. Jeff Saibene does have decent squad at his disposal with players like former Lyon man Yannis Tafer who can chip in with the odd goals, but St Gallen will need more than just the odd goal to stand a chance this season. Possibly relegation contenders. Thun This season sees a new era ushered in at the Bernese Oberland club as successful manager Urs Fisher leaves the club as he takes up the top job in Swiss football at Basel. His replacement is former Wohlen manager Ciriaco Sforza who guided his club to a 2nd place finish last season (technically 3rd but Servette got demoted at the end of the season) behind eventual champions Lugano. Sforza comes to the club with a wealth of experience having managed Grasshopper in the Super League for a 3 year period up until 2012 as well as having a playing career in Germany with Kaiserslautern and Bayern Munich. Thun will be looking to be competing for European places again this season along with the attractive football that Sforza’s predecessor implemented. Vaduz Vaduz are the only team in the league that are not from Switzerland as they come from one of the countries neighbours due to Liechtenstein not having a professional league in place. Last season saw Vaduz return to the flight after a 5 year absence and stave of relegation in their second to last game with results going their way as Aarau failed to win. I’m predicting another tough season for Vaduz given the limited resources within the club and the inability to attract high calibre players. However another 9th place finish will satisfy the hierarchy this season but will need to rely on the former Manchester United player (although he never made an appearance and creative midfielder Markus Neumayr for them to be able to achieve this. Young Boys After finishing runners-up to Basel last season Uli Forte’s men will be targeting taking the crown from their league rivals and claim their first title since 1985-86 season. The club from the capital are most likely to be Basel’s closest challengers along with Zurich this season given the reasonable strength of their team which includes an attack spearheaded by former Paris Saint-Germain striker Guillaume Hoarau. The former French international was in prolific form last year season scoring 15 in 22 appearances. Along with Hoarau’s presence in the team they also have wingers Renato Steffen and Alexander Gonzalez, both of whom add plenty of creativity to the side. Zurich
Zurich secured 3rd place last year having recovered from a mid-season stutter to overtake Thun on the final day of the season and achieved the opportunity to play Europa League football this upcoming season. As briefly mentioned above Zurich like Young Boys will be Basel’s main challengers for the league this season, with Urs Meier’s being the only club apart from Basel to have won the league in the league in the past 10 years. The reason I believe Zurich will be up there come the end of the season is the foundations the club has in place with virtually a key player in every position including a deadly attack of Mario Gavranović and Yassine Chikhaoui who if they play to their full potential could be the best forward line in the league.
The last stand After a week of turmoil for FIFA, it has left many of the outside footballing world question their credibility (if they hadn’t been questioning it before last week’s events), not least the European footballing governing body, UEFA who are debating what action to take. This proposed action by UEFA is a result of Sepp Blatter being re-elected for the fifth time. Obviously it’s not solely down to Blatter being re-elected, it’s many others thing too during his controversial tenure with the final straw coming after 14 FIFA delegates were arrested on money laundering and fraud charges and many more arrest look set to follow. So what next for UEFA
Well according to some reports UEFA are considering breaking away from FIFA and rival the World Cup with a Euro+ tournament happening in that time frame. It is a proposal supported by Denmark’s UEFA Ex-co member Allan Hansen who wants a full breakaway. So if this is backed by other members the calendar may see the Euro 2016 in France go ahead as planned, then instead of the majority of European nations attending the Russian World Cup in 2018 there could be an expanded European Championships with invites to other rebelling nations from other confederations across the World. In a way it could be similar to this year’s Eurovision song contest where Australia were invited to take part and I’m sure the Socceroos would be on the guest list for the Euro+ tournament too. Whatever happens I feel the breakaway can’t come soon enough as there’s a disease in FIFA which is difficult to eradicate and will slowly kill our beautiful game. The only way is to take drastic action and turn the attention away from FIFA. Last weekend saw Basel claim their sixth successive title, first under Paulo Sousa, after a 0-0 draw at home to 2nd place Young Boys. It would be fair to say the Swiss league has become rather predictable in recent years mainly due to Basel’s dominance, with Zurich being the last team to win the league back in 2009. However it’s not all bad as Switzerland has produced a number of quality players who have earned moves to other countries, most notably Germany, as well as the race for the remaining European competition spots going down to the final games of the season. The top flight currently has 10 teams who battle it out while the second tier, also professional has 10 teams. The league underwent change to this current format at the end of the 2002/03 season having previously 12 teams and until the 2012/13 season there was a relegation/promotion play-off spot which consisted of 9th place in the Super League playing Challenge League runners-up for a place in the top tier. The play-off did give the league some added excitement but now only 1 team comes up and 1 goes down. The reason for writing this is that I feel that the league can and should embrace change given the quality of the league has improved a lot over recent years, especially when you take into account the performances by a number of teams, most notably Basel in the Champions League and Europa League. It appears the league is fast becoming a tired format with all 10 teams playing each other 4 times per season (equalling 36 games in total), which some may argue gives teams consistent revenue playing 18 home games and a number of big teams (Basel and Young Boys). However others, including fans of the league within Switzerland are getting rather bored as there are very few games that give the league excitement. I would propose expanding the league to between 14-16 teams as I think the Country despite its small size can operate successfully with it. By doing this the league in my opinion would enhance its brand reputation over a few seasons meaning more popularity globally and as a result would receive substantial sponsorship deals benefiting both the league as a whole and individual clubs. The expansion would be worth considering now due to the amount of new stadiums built within the last five or so years as well as other clubs commitment to build or upgrade their current stadiums. Below is a list of teams with recently built or planned stadiums Team Stadium Capacity Year built/projected Biel-Bienne Stades des Bienne 6,000 2015 Lausanne Sport Stade de Tuilère 12,000 2019 (projected) Luzern Swissporarena 16,800 2011 Schaffhausen FCS Park 10,000 ??? St Gallen AFG Arena 19,694 2008 Thun Arena Thun (Stockhorn Arena) 10,000 2011 Wil IGP Arena 6,900 Expansion Winterthur Schützenwiese 8,000 Expansion Zurich/Grasshopper Hardrum 20,000/22,000 ??? (Vote later this year) In conclusion the expanding league would see improved competition all areas of the league with potentially a title race consisting of 3 clubs, instead of the usual 1 or 2 horse race. The race for the remaining European places may involve 5 teams fighting it out for about 2 places, while a number of teams would settle for mid table obscurity. Regarding the battle at the bottom there could be a scrap involving up to 7 teams trying to stay into the league.
However for these changes to take place all teams need to be in agreement first and foremost and the fans (season ticket holders/database ticket purchases) should be consulted through a survey. Realistically there needs to be a big increase in TV revenue to allow all teams to compete in the league (obviously won’t be all challenging at the top) and financial rules, possibly more stringent to the ones currently, need to be in place to stop teams going bankrupt. Personally this would be a massive step forward for Swiss football, a league that’s gradually growing, but the question is will we ever see it given the authorities seem to be satisfied with the status-quo. Comment below to get your views heard. |