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When the Football League was originally founded it was intended to be a UK-wide league, hence the involvement of some non-English teams in the system. However, after the set-up of the independent Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish league systems, teams located within those Home Nations were encouraged to play within that nation's league system.

Supporters for the proposal include many chairmen of Scottish and Welsh teams, as well as some English club chairmen. However, FIFA president Sepp Blatter is opposed to such a move.

A single football league for the whole of the British Isles , including the Republic Of Ireland , has also been proposed; for example, in the 1990s, Wimbledon F.C. proposed moving to Dublin , whilst remaining in the Football League. However, this article concerns only a UK-wide league.


ARGUMENTS FOR

  • Clubs in the smaller Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish league systems would be more financially successful if exposed to the larger market and audiences.

  • Some of the largest metropolitan areas in the UK, such as Belfast , are poorly served by local football, due to the division.

  • The UK is the only country to have multiple top-tier leagues.

  • Several clubs, such as Cardiff City , already play in the English league, despite being located outside England, whilst one England-based team ( Berwick Rangers ) plays in the Scottish league.

  • Moving from one Home Nations' league to another is not unprecedented, even recently. Gretna F.C. (which is based just inside Scotland) moved from the English to the Scottish league system in 2003 . Total Network Solutions F.C. was formed by a merger between a Welsh club and an English club.

  • Even accepting the special nature of the Home Nations, several foreign countries have a joint league system, such as Australia and New Zealand, France and Monaco, or Switzerland and Leichtenstein.

  • The Football League was originally meant to be a British-wide system.

  • Most Scottish , Welsh , and Northern Irish internationals play in the English league, and a combined league would allow crowds in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland to see their own internationals on a regular basis.



ARGUMENTS AGAINST

  • Each Home Nation has its own national side, and so should have its own league system (although prior to the formation of the then League Of Wales in 1992 , this wasn't the case).

  • Other countries may use such a merger to justify demands that the Home Nations' national teams merge as well: a move that would be unpopular amongst the majority of football fans.

  • Altogether, the four separate leagues currently receive eight places (including those in qualifying) in the UEFA Champions League ; currently, the maximum number of places for an individual league is four, so a merger would have to reduce the total number of European places.

  • Determining the places of the teams would be very difficult; either non-English teams would start at the bottom of an enlarged English structure, or there would be a more complicated system.

  • With the exception of the Scottish Premier League , the quality of league football outside England is relatively low, and few Welsh or Northern Irish league clubs would be capable of playing in the English Football League (even at the lower levels).

  • The separate leagues are ingrained in British football tradition and culture.

  • If successful, some countries may demand to merge their leagues with their neighbours.



ALTERNATIVE PROPOSALS


The formation of a British league is merely a single proposal, and several other suggestions have been made to reduce the divide between club football in the Home Nations.

A 'British Cup', that is a domestic cup competition involving teams from all league systems, has been proposed. Originally, the FA Cup included teams from across the United Kingdom, and this continued even after the Scottish Cup was established; Queen's Park of Glasgow reached the FA Cup final in 1884 and 1885. With questions being asked about the future of both the English League Cup and the Scottish League Cup , it has been suggested that they be merged into a single competition. Square Football - "League Cup: What’s the future of the competition?" Other plans for the respective League Cups involve a merger between the later stages of the competitions, EPSN Soccernet: "English and Scots offered League Cup tonic" and an annual play-off between the two winning clubs. The Scotsman: "Scottish clubs back plans for British Cup" It is unlikely that any League of Wales of Northern Irish side would compete in any of these configurations.

Since the weakness of the smaller non-English clubs and the need to establish the correct level at which each club should begin are cited as disadvantages of a British league, the directors of the larger Scottish clubs have mooted the separation of only their clubs, leaving the rest of the Scottish league system intact. Since the formation of the English Premiership , in 1992, the two Glasgow ' Old Firm ' clubs, Celtic and Rangers , have sought, unsuccessfully, to negotiate their own entry into the break-away league. More recently, Hearts have firmly established themselves as Scotland's third club and, under the ownership of the ambitious Vladimir Romanov , have been mooted as another club that may be strong enough to make the leap to the English top flight. Square Football: "Hearts: Will the bubble burst this weekend?"


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