The English Premier League’s unveiling of a new proposal to play a 39th game overseas was met with considerable hostility this past week. This was because it would unleash a number of unnecessary precedents within the Soccer world. For starters, many fear that English teams playing a competitive match on foreign soil would do little for the development or promotion of the game in these foreign countries. And, it was felt that adding an extra game to the schedule would create a disparity within the English game as some teams would end up playing a more difficult opponent for their 39th game, whereas others would face a much easier opponent. Evaluating league champions or relegation teams under these scenarios could therefore be significantly hampered, especially during close affairs. But, is there something behind the proposal that may be interesting for the game.

Maybe the English proposal is signaling that it just may be time to unveil a ‘new’ super league in European soccer, where the top teams from each league actually play each other in a home-and-away league competition so that fans across the globe can see just how the best within England would fear against the best of Italy, and Spain, and all the other top leagues in Europe. Yes we already have the Champions League where teams play a home-and-away schedule within the group stages, then a home-and-away knock-out stage. However, how would these teams fare if they had to play an entire season against the very top European teams, similar to their domestic league competitions. Read more