Rep Ireland 7 Gibraltar 0

[not on facebook]

Its got to be Asked that why are the like Of Gibraltar playing
In a european qualify group for the Euros in 2016 .

Same can be said for likes Of san mario and a couple Of teams from Across europe who i Cant spell .

Got to be a better way to allow these teams to compete ,Its like letting armthorpe welfare enter a champions league qualifying group.

No fcuker benafits ,and just think of the  meltdown if a player like
Rooney etc etc, would suffer a football  ending playing Injury after the defender put in a very bad miss timed tackle from a team with far far less skill Than armthorpe welfare defender .

Man utd would not be happy ,players insurance company will have to pay for it as UEFA wash Their hands

[DRFCSouth]

Should put them all in one group. At least it would give one of them a chance to reach a tournament.

[Dagenham Rover]

yeh but it was a cracking own goal by the keeper, how he chipped it over his defenders was terrific 

[Superspy]

Should put them all in one group. At least it would give one of them a chance to reach a tournament.

And then get absolutely battered and put up no kind of competitive fight, taking away a tournament place from a country who could compete? I don't think that's the way forward personally. In my opinion a better option would be pre-qualifying like we do with the FA Cup.

[not on facebook]

When ever England have  played  at san marino Its not as if the home ground is packed with
Local fans too ,never mind Wembly

[IDM]

All EUFA/FIFA affiliated states should be able to compete, however I would be in favour of a pre-qualification tournament for the lowest ranked nations.  At least then you would occasionally see them winning..

[DRFCSouth]

The current seeded system only favours the better teams. There is no incentive for the smaller teams despite being able to compete. I'd rather see some cannon fodder in a tournament than all the usual faces serving up cagey 0-0 draws.

[boro_rover]

I don't know about that south. The San Marino games might be goal fests, but they are boring games. They offer nothing as a spectacle, and as Oslo is right, it is needlessly risking players.

I think pre qualifying is neccessary for the minnows.

[German Rover]

Its not that long ago San Marino pretty much knocked England out the world cup.

Another point is where would you draw the line?  Northern Ireland and Wales would be sweating a bit. 

If the team represents a country they should be able to play international football.

[pib]

Its not that long ago San Marino pretty much knocked England out the world cup.

Another point is where would you draw the line?  Northern Ireland and Wales would be sweating a bit. 

If the team represents a country they should be able to play international football.

I agree.

Plus, I know Gibraltar defender Scott Wiseman used to play for Barnsley, but I think it's a bit harsh to call him Armthorpe Welfare standard. 

[VivaRovers]

Another point is where would you draw the line?  Northern Ireland and Wales would be sweating a bit. 

Oi, do you mind, Wales are actually ranked 29th in the World a the moment (18th of 53 in Europe).

[boro_rover]

Because they scored a goal against us German? I hardly think that means much. It's the rest of the results that cost qualification.

Sorry but I disagree, they have no quality and it's a waste of time playing them.

[afro goal machine]

Because they scored a goal against us German? I hardly think that means much. It's the rest of the results that cost qualification.

Sorry but I disagree, they have no quality and it's a waste of time playing them.

It's that sort of attitude we are against isn't it ? Bigger teams play rovers, expect to beat us and that's part of the challenge.

[German Rover]

It's just an extension of how corporate football has become. Why does the team who finished fourth in England qualify for the champions league, when other countries champions have to qualify?

MONEY!

Why would the Television companies prefer england to play teams like Germany and Italy more often?

MONEY! It's easier to sell advertising for these bigger games. 

money has destroyed competition in football

[boro_rover]

Afro - the difference is they don't even have professional players making up their starting 11s. They are lucky to have one pro amongst them. Which means their standards are worse than the conference.

German - the reason is the quality of football that is on show and available. Realistically teams from smaller countries won't be able to compete competitively with the elite teams of Europe. The same can be said nationally.

A country with a population of 50k will never win a trophy, and will never have a decent international side. Therefore surely it makes sense for the minnows of Europe to have some kind of pre qualification round to distinguish who progresses and who doesn't to the group stage.

[German Rover]

but would you not agree that the champions cup should only contain the champions? a team who finishes fourth doesn't deserve to be in the champions cup. smaller teams won't be able to compete? teams like Swansea have done very well in the cup winners cup before and who's to say the champions of Iceland wouldn't beat the champions of England? I'd rather watch something like that happen then the usual Arsenal vs the team who finished third in Italy we get treated to every year.

The Champions league and the seeding systems it employs are there to protect the revenue streams of the big clubs in Europe, and b*llocks to everyone else.  I'd rather have a tournament that gives every team in it a chance of winning rather than the same few clubs winning it every year.

Its not helped by the media selling things such as Super Sunday like its the greatest thing ever and cannot be missed!

[BillyStubbsTears]

I've spent 20 years wondering what was the point of encouraging countries with no prospect of prospering to compete in major tournaments.

Leave it to the big guns who actually have a chance of winning the f***er. The little countries just get in the way and spoil the event with their lumpen approach to the game, while the decent countries are trying to advance the standard of the game.


But I expect that no-one will listen to me, and England will still be there floundering around in the First Round group in Euro 2016.

[BobG]

It's not all that long ago that France were a joke side and Turkey were worse. Spain were half way decent but there for the beating all the same. If we didn't score 5, it was a national disaster. Malcolm MacDonald did it once all on his own. Teams are getting better. Dunno if the minnows could ever threaten, but Rovers supporters above most anyone ought to give 'em the chance. (Even if it is a none event!)

BobG

[Rios]

I prefer the idea that these countries play in a pre-qualifying tournament, ideally whilst the WorldCup/EuroChamps are being played.  This would not only remove most of them from the main groups but it would also give them competitive games against opposition of the same standard.  The only down side is that the ones that don't qualify for the main qualify tournament would have no games, but surely even friendlies against similar non-qualifying opposition is better than defending for 90 minutes and getting battered 7-0.

[The Red Baron]

I prefer the idea that these countries play in a pre-qualifying tournament, ideally whilst the WorldCup/EuroChamps are being played.  This would not only remove most of them from the main groups but it would also give them competitive games against opposition of the same standard.  The only down side is that the ones that don't qualify for the main qualify tournament would have no games, but surely even friendlies against similar non-qualifying opposition is better than defending for 90 minutes and getting battered 7-0.

Agree, Rios. I can't see how they are going to get any better if they keep getting hammered. It also fills up the fixture list with one-sided games. The top European sides ought to be playing friendlies against South American/ African etc opposition which they could be if more dates were freed up.

[GazLaz]

There are signs that some of these no hoper, part time, bottom of the footballing barrel minnow nations are improving a bit. Scotland have had some decent results lately.

[Colin C No.3]

I've spent 20 years wondering what was the point of encouraging countries with no prospect of prospering to compete in major tournaments.

Leave it to the big guns who actually have a chance of winning the f***er. The little countries just get in the way and spoil the event with their lumpen approach to the game, while the decent countries are trying to advance the standard of the game.


But I expect that no-one will listen to me, and England will still be there floundering around in the First Round group in Euro 2016.

1992 - Denmark 2 v Germany 0
2004 - Greece 1 v Portugal 0

[Filo]

I've spent 20 years wondering what was the point of encouraging countries with no prospect of prospering to compete in major tournaments.

Leave it to the big guns who actually have a chance of winning the f***er. The little countries just get in the way and spoil the event with their lumpen approach to the game, while the decent countries are trying to advance the standard of the game.


But I expect that no-one will listen to me, and England will still be there floundering around in the First Round group in Euro 2016.

1992 - Denmark 2 v Germany 0
2004 - Greece 1 v Portugal 0

1953 - England 3 Hungary 6

[boro_rover]

I appreciate your point bob, but any country with enough people could eventually turn them selves into a decent footballing nation. With the popularity of football in the states going up, there team has got much more competitive in the last few years. However countries the size of a small town, simply will never be able to compete with nations who have populations of millions.

German - back in the day what is now the champions league used to be the European cup. It has just evolved to become the Champions League. It is monetary based without a doubt. But I'm sorry I just think your wrong if you think the idea that the champions of Azerbaijan vs the champions of Andorra is going to make a thrilling spectacle, in comparison to Arsenal playing someone like Monaco. Neither are champions of their respective leagues, but the quality of football on show is far superior. The champions league is about the best of the best.

[BillyStubbsTears]

Colin

I was being ironic.

[German Rover]

I appreciate your point bob, but any country with enough people could eventually turn them selves into a decent footballing nation. With the popularity of football in the states going up, there team has got much more competitive in the last few years. However countries the size of a small town, simply will never be able to compete with nations who have populations of millions.

German - back in the day what is now the champions league used to be the European cup. It has just evolved to become the Champions League. It is monetary based without a doubt. But I'm sorry I just think your wrong if you think the idea that the champions of Azerbaijan vs the champions of Andorra is going to make a thrilling spectacle, in comparison to Arsenal playing someone like Monaco. Neither are champions of their respective leagues, but the quality of football on show is far superior. The champions league is about the best of the best.

well they should at least change the name of it, because as you said the majority of these teams aren't champions.  As for the champions of Azerbaijan vs champions of Andorra, at least they've earned the right to be there, rather than stumbled into fourth place and getting an easy route because they have 'quality' players.  Since I started watching football in the mid 80s money has ruined the game and the champions league is the prime symptom.  this debate about international football is just an extension of it.  I guess football should be more of a sharing game, but it isn't. its all about making money for those at the top and b*llocks to everyone else.

[boro_rover]

I understand what you are getting at German that the game is centred around money and in principle that is wrong. There are many issues such as parachute payments which I don't believe are right. But there have always been more successful teams, which in turn have attracted the best players and the best and biggest investments. It's why teams like Donny will probably never reach the premier league. Millions in investment won't alter that for us when championship teams can spend 12m on a striker.

But my point remains about small international teams. They don't bring any competition and they never will. They are just whipping boys, needlessly making up numbers in games that are neither competitive nor a spectacle.

[German Rover]

But Premier league teams would say the same about us, a lot of championship clubs said the same when we were first promoted back to the championship. As a club who have consistently punched well above our weight for almost ten years we should have sympathy for these countries.

[Rios]

But Premier league teams would say the same about us, a lot of championship clubs said the same when we were first promoted back to the championship. As a club who have consistently punched well above our weight for almost ten years we should have sympathy for these countries.

It's not the same thing though.  The way that qualification is structured is they take one Prem, one Champ, one L1, one L2, one from the Conference and one from the Northern Counties pub league and just smash them all together.  A proper league structure does over time mean that generally the bigger teams end up in the top division playing each other and the smaller teams tend to congregate in the same divisions.  There are exceptions (Leeds, Fleetwood, etc) where money either being absent or being subsidised means teams are above or below their natural position.  Euro/WC qualification has no natural way of doing that and just seeds it so that huge teams wallop the pub teams every single time.

[RedRover45]

But Premier league teams would say the same about us, a lot of championship clubs said the same when we were first promoted back to the championship. As a club who have consistently punched well above our weight for almost ten years we should have sympathy for these countries.

It's not the same thing though.  The way that qualification is structured is they take one Prem, one Champ, one L1, one L2, one from the Conference and one from the Northern Counties pub league and just smash them all together.  A proper league structure does over time mean that generally the bigger teams end up in the top division playing each other and the smaller teams tend to congregate in the same divisions.  There are exceptions (Leeds, Fleetwood, etc) where money either being absent or being subsidised means teams are above or below their natural position.  Euro/WC qualification has no natural way of doing that and just seeds it so that huge teams wallop the pub teams every single time.

Or win narrowly like England...