Champions League revamp that nobody wants

You will have noticed no doubt, if you happen to support FC Santa Coloma or Jagiellonia, that the ‘First Qualifying Round’ of Champions League football started on June 18 and has been running every midweek since (writes Dave Thomas).

Hundreds of matches in near and far-flung places, feeding the apparently insatiable appetite of UEFA for more games and, of course, more money.

But that’s just the start.

What you and I would recognise as the ‘actual’ Champions League draw was held the other day, amid great pomp and pomposity as UEFA did its best to sell another makeover and another expansion to an already sated public.

If you don’t follow one of our ‘elite’ clubs, you may have missed it. More power to your elbow.

You may also have thought that the previous Champions League format was pretty adequate. But, according to UEFA, it wasn’t nearly busy enough for them, their clubs, their fans or their ‘stakeholders’.

There used to be eight groups of four clubs, playing each other home and away, who had qualified by filling the leading positions in their domestic leagues.

That moved on to H/A Rounds of 16, then Quarter Finals, Semis etc.

We’d just about got our heads around that.

Unless, of course, you were far more interested in how the Luton Towns, Bradford Citys, Colchester Uniteds or Torquay Uniteds of this world were getting on, which is actually the vast majority of the football public, multiplied many times over by fellow fans in other countries.

But UEFA aren’t too bothered about us or them.

For the 2024-2025 season the 32 teams in their showpiece competition have been increased to 36.

After several years of computer programme-driven research, they’ve managed to come up with a new single ‘league’ format.

Starting on September 19, which happens to follow soon after UEFA’s current first international break of the season, groups of nine clubs will play the other eight teams, four at home and four away.

That will pack our midweek nights nicely until January 19.

The top eight clubs will go through to the Round of 16, but the next eight, who will have finished 9th-24th, will then play in a Knock-Out Round, home and away of course, to fill the other eight places.

Then it’ll be on to the Rounds of 16, Quarters, Semis etc.

It will involve more than 300 matches in the main Champions League alone, to say nothing of hundreds more in UEFA’s Europa League and Conference competitions.

UEFA say: “The changes are made to secure the positive future of European football at every level and meet the evolving needs of all its stakeholders.”

Really?

And it adds: “There is a reason why European football is one of the world’s most successful and popular sports. It never stands still.”

In other words, watch out...

Of course, the one ‘stakeholder’ who is never mentioned by name is TV, both satellite and terrestrial, who ultimately drive and pay for this relentless expansion.

And if anyone is in any doubt about how important it is, and how big a threat it’s become to the domestic, grass-roots game, our own brave-as-a-lion Football Association confirm it.

Remember, last April 19 they announced that ‘as part of a six-year agreement with the Premier League’ FA Cup replays will be abandoned from the First Round Proper onwards.

The reason given was to ease the calendar pressures on top clubs and their players - the very pressures that UEFA continue to increase by the changes above.

That’s even though Premier League clubs don’t come into the FA Cup until the Third Round. And even though most of them play reserve teams when they do enter it.

It was and remains a scandalous decision, materially hurting the very levels of the game and the clubs which the FA are supposed to protect and sustain.

The suits in Soho Square may still be wondering how on earth they got away with it.