Month: April 2017
Premier League to be expanded to 22 teams
For the first time since the 1994/95 season, the Premier League is set to feature 22 teams in a decision that has startled the entire world of football.
It was decided the ‘showpiece’ league should include more teams in order feature even more excitement, with this change commencing in time for the 2017/18 Premier League season.
Instead of the usual three teams being promoted, there will now be five teams going up from the Championship, with four automatic promotion spots and the usual play-offs still in place.
The new format will involve the 1 team that win the league claiming a Champions League knockout stage place, whilst the following 4 teams will go into the usual group stage, and the 17 others missing out, although there will still be three Europa League places up for grabs.
This extreme decsion will of course cause controversy, and whilst the FA suggest that the move will benefit the quality of the league, it is difficult to see how, so it certainly seems as though there are a lack of pros with regards to the decision.
There are, however plenty of cons, beginning with the fact that the winners miss out on the group stage of the Champions League, where teams often take the opportunity to blood youngsters and give them vital game time.
Also, it will cause great confusion in the lower leagues, where teams may completely change their ambitions for the season, and teams that may have given up on a play-off place may have had a chance had they known that this bizarre chance would occur.
Overall, it seems like an absurd, out of the blue change which could be detrimental to English football for years to come.