Latest Championship Relegation Odds

[The Laughing Bluebird]

If that's not fighting for the cause I don't know what is.

Good work. Sounds almost as effective as a parade around the pitch. Not quite, but almost.

 

[Norman Baker suck my lozenge]

I think Gibraltar would struggle in the Premiership without significant investment in the playing staff.

And there is no sustainable intergeated transport link,and the barbery apes have launched a protest group.

 

[The Laughing Bluebird]

I have no problems Welsh teams play in the English league, just as long as they don't claim to be 'proud to be Welsh'. If they were proud to be Welsh, they would be in the Welsh league.

The Football League is NOT the English Football League, as has been explained to you before. The Football League has no specific rules regarding the nationality of its member clubs.

 

[Hannibal smith]

That's the spirit. I hope Wrexham recognise your efforts and name a stand after you if they make it.

I should hope so too. We wore red at the races if that helped.

 

[DTES]

The Football League is NOT the English Football League, as has been explained to you before. The Football League has no specific rules regarding the nationality of its member clubs.

I have no problem with Cardiff etc being in the football league - a kind of "English & Welsh" football league, although I realise that's not its name either.

I just don't like the way Welsh teams have entered 3 cup competitions in one season that have European qualification as a prize for winning - Wrexham even made the Cup Winners Cup 1/4 finals once didn't they? If you ask me, that's a bit of an unfair advantage.

 

[Trufflehound]

And there is no sustainable intergeated transport link,and the barbery apes have launched a protest group.

Was that the Barbary apes or the Burberry apes?

 

[The Laughing Bluebird]

I just don't like the way Welsh teams have entered 3 cup competitions in one season that have European qualification as a prize for winning - Wrexham even made the Cup Winners Cup 1/4 finals once didn't they? If you ask me, that's a bit of an unfair advantage.

Cardiff once made the ECWC semis, but the rules have changed. Cardiff, Wrexham and Swansea no longer play in the Welsh Cup, and now have no way of getting into Europe at all.

If any of the Welsh clubs were to 'qualify' for Europe by winning or being placed in a competition administered by the English Football Association (Premiership, FA Cup, League Cup), they could and would not be put forward to represent England in Europe.

The three Welsh Football League clubs are among a tiny handful of clubs around Europe who currently have no route into European competition. So much for having an unfair advantage!

 

[CHAPPERS]

Cardiff once made the ECWC semis, but the rules have changed. Cardiff, Wrexham and Swansea no longer play in the Welsh Cup, and now have no way of getting into Europe at all.

If any of the Welsh clubs were to 'qualify' for Europe by winning or being placed in a competition administered by the English Football Association (Premiership, FA Cup, League Cup), they could and would not be put forward to represent England in Europe.

The three Welsh Football League clubs are among a tiny handful of clubs around Europe who currently have no route into European competition. So much for having an unfair advantage!

Really? Why's that?

 

[Bob!]

Cardiff once made the ECWC semis, but the rules have changed. Cardiff, Wrexham and Swansea no longer play in the Welsh Cup, and now have no way of getting into Europe at all.

If any of the Welsh clubs were to 'qualify' for Europe by winning or being placed in a competition administered by the English Football Association (Premiership, FA Cup, League Cup), they could and would not be put forward to represent England in Europe.

The three Welsh Football League clubs are among a tiny handful of clubs around Europe who currently have no route into European competition. So much for having an unfair advantage!

So, does that mean that Cardiff wouldn't be allowed into the Premiership as it's administered by the English Football association?

 

[DTES]

If any of the Welsh clubs were to 'qualify' for Europe by winning or being placed in a competition administered by the English Football Association (Premiership, FA Cup, League Cup), they could and would not be put forward to represent England in Europe.

But if its not an "English football league" as you say, surely our teams don't represent England. They are representing "England and Wales"?

 

[Pevenseagull]

my cheeky fiver on Watford @ 7-1 just before the new manager was announced looks good value now

(hope it pays out, GOD how I hope it pays out)

 

[The Laughing Bluebird]

Really? Why's that?

Unlike the Football League, European competitions do have rules regarding the nationalities of the competing teams. Football associations cannot nominate clubs to represent them in European competition if the clubs are not affiliated to or nationals of the associations concerned.

Therefore, if Cardiff City were to win the FA Cup, we could not be nominated by the English FA to represent England in Europe, as we are Welsh and are affiliated to the Welsh FA.

Similarly, when Shrewsbury, Hereford, Chester, etc, used to play in the Welsh Cup, they could not be nominated to represent Wales in Europe as they are English clubs who are affiliated to the English FA. Shrewsbury did win the Cup on a couple of occasions, but they weren't allowed to play in Europe as a result.

The Welsh Cup itself had a big shake-up in the mid-Nineties, and the Welsh FA stopped the clubs who compete in the English pyramid system from entering the competition. Therefore, Cardiff, Wrexham, Swansea and Newport now have no route into Europe at all. That's the price we pay for playing in the Football League.

 

[The Laughing Bluebird]

So, does that mean that Cardiff wouldn't be allowed into the Premiership as it's administered by the English Football association?

No. We would be allowed into the Premiership as the league itself has no nationality rules. But we wouldn't be able to qualify for Europe through the Premiership.

 

[DTES]

The Welsh Cup itself had a big shake-up in the mid-Nineties, and the Welsh FA stopped the clubs who compete in the English pyramid system from entering the competition. Therefore, Cardiff, Wrexham, Swansea and Newport now have no route into Europe at all. That's the price we pay for playing in the Football League.

Wow. So you'll never be as big as Barcelona?

 

[The Laughing Bluebird]

But if its not an "English football league" as you say, surely our teams don't represent England. They are representing "England and Wales"?

No, the English clubs who play in Europe represent the English FA, just as the Welsh clubs who play in Europe (TNS, Rhyl, etc) represent the Welsh FA.

 

[The Laughing Bluebird]

Wow. So you'll never be as big as Barcelona?

We're currently aiming to be bigger than Barnsley.

 

[looney]

Weird rules.

 

[Ex Shelton Seagull]

I think FC Vaduz are one of the few teams in Europe in a similar situation. They play in the Swiss league but cannot qualify for Europe via the League or the Swiss cup because they are registered with the Liechtenstein FA. But because Liechtenstein doesn't have a league, FC Vaduz qualify for the UEFA Cup as Liechtenstein's representatives by winning the Liechtenstein Cup which they've done for something like 10 years on the spin.

Not that i'm comparing Wales with Liechtenstein of course.

 

[DTES]

That's the price we pay for playing in the Football League.

Price worth paying though, you're not going to sacrifice playing in the Football League for it.

What if it was the cup though? If you could play in the Football League and Welsh Cup, but not the FA Cup, would you do it, for the chance to do a Millwall, and be a Championship club in Europe?

 

[The Laughing Bluebird]

What if it was the cup though?

When the Welsh FA set up the League of Wales, they closed the European door on the likes of Cardiff, Swansea and Wrexham because we refused to join their parks league.

Since then, the FA has had a change of officers and the new men are reportedly keen for the Football League clubs to represent Wales in Europe. But UEFA's rules have changed with the advent of the Champions League and the scrapping of the ECWC, so it now looks unlikely that the Welsh Cup route into Europe will ever be re-opened for the clubs concerned.

UEFA review their rules on a regular basis, and our case has been looked at recently, but as things stand it doesn't look very hopeful.