BB FANS

Premier League announces extra games and plans to go global

· Bonus matches in foreign cities worth £5m per club
· Government and fans not impressed by proposals



Premier League clubs will bank as much as £5m each for playing an extra round of fixtures in foreign cities under hugely controversial plans outlined by the league yesterday.

Proposals for an additional "international round" of fixtures unveiled by the Premier League's chief executive, Richard Scudamore, will see clubs receive an increase in revenue of more than 10% for playing a 39th game in overseas cities that will bid for the rights to stage games.

The plans, which came as a surprise to many in the game, including the Football Association, may yet be blocked by Fifa and were immediately opposed by supporters' groups. They also received a lukewarm response from the government, with the new culture secretary, Andy Burnham, calling for "careful consideration" before any final decision is made.

Club chairmen are unlikely to be so circumspect given the prospect of the additional round of matches parcelled up as a fresh package of rights in the league's next round of broadcast negotiations. Outlining the plans to club chairmen at a shareholders' meeting in London yesterday, Scudamore said they could expect to earn up to £5m for their foreign expedition on top of their regular-season rights, delivering a significant increase on the £40m they are currently guaranteed. The international round is scheduled to be introduced from the start of the 2010-2011 season, which will be the first of the Premier League's next television deal. Scudamore heralded the proposal to expand overseas as "an idea whose time has come" and there is a logic to the move from a league whose commercial creativity has long set standards for British sport.

Under the plan five cities would bid to stage two Premier League games each over a weekend in early January, probably after the third round of the FA Cup. The fixtures would be decided by a draw at the start of the season. The league is considering using a seeding system to try to make the system fair, and it will want to ensure that the major clubs are spread throughout the venues. The cities would be spread across time zones, allowing British viewers to watch five back-to-back games on the Saturday and Sunday. The games would also afford endless marketing opportunities in the cities they are staged in, and with a clear week before and after the games the clubs would have ample opportunity to promote their brands.

Scudamore rejected criticism of the decision to add a round of fixtures rather than take existing games overseas, and said the move would not affect the integrity of the competition. "There is a difference between symmetry and integrity. What we currently have is a perfectly symmetrical league, and what this proposition does is alter by 1/39th the perfect symmetry that exists, but these will be genuine matches, they will be drawn and they [the clubs] will know the rules when they join. Every club knows they will have an equal chance of being treated unfairly."

He acknowledged that the proposal would have critics but insisted it was the only measure that allowed the league to play overseas without sacrificing the principle of equal distribution among the 20 clubs. "The idea of a single game, say Arsenal v Manchester United, being held in New York was anathema to us [but] if we are going to move this league forwards then we are going to have to do something, because standing still is not an option. This proposal today seems to have captured the imagination of the 20 clubs."

The FA appeared as surprised by the announcement as anyone, with its chairman, David Triesman, and chief executive, Brian Barwick, informed only hours before the news became public. They offered qualified support, unlike the government, which appeared as sceptical as supporters. The Football Supporters' Federation chairman, Malcolm Clarke, called the proposals "ludicrous" and disrespectful to the traditions of the English game.

How the game is changing shape

1888

Football League founded, with 12 clubs, three years after the Football Association had sanctioned professionalism

1892-93

Second Division formed and promotion and relegation introduced, with two places contested via "test" matches between the bottom two teams in the First Division and top two in the second

1898-99

League expanded to two divisions of 18; automatic two-up two-down promotion and relegation introduced

1919-20

Top flight expanded to 22 teams as football resumes after the first world war

1973-74

Number of promotion and relegation places increased to three

1981-82

Three points for a win introduced

1986-87

Promotion and relegation play-offs initiated involving third-, fourth- and fifth-placed teams in the Second Division and fourth-bottom team in the First Division

1988-89

Play-offs to involve only the third- to sixth-placed teams in Second Division

1991-92

First Division increased to 22 clubs

1992-93

Breakaway Premier League formed
guardian

Premier League plan to hold 10 extra matches abroad to rake in £240million
By Martin Lipton, Chief Football Writer And Stephen Moyes




Greedy Premiership bosses were last night accused of a £100million sell-out over plans to play 10 extra games abroad.

All 20 clubs backed the move after being promised £5million each to hold fixtures in Asia, Africa, Australia or America.

But fans were furious. Manchester United Supporters' Association said: "It's an outrageous idea. Total madness."

They accused Premier League bosses of being driven by sheer greed over plans to play matches abroad.


The move was branded a £100million sell-out of our national game that will only serve to line the coffers of mega-rich clubs and alienate ordinary supporters.

League chiefs offered each team £5million to play an extra game in far-flung places such as Australia, Asia, Africa and America in an effort to boost their already growing worldwide fan bases.

But that would leave home-based supporters facing trips of up to £1,000 to see the stars.

Football Supporters' Federation chairman Malcolm Clarke said: "It's a complete disregard for the traditions of the game and a crass lack of consideration for the fans."

Marl Longden of Manchester United Supporters' Association added: "It's an outrageous idea. Total madness."

Manchester City fan Dave Wallace said: "We may as well move United to Disneyland and City to Thailand."

Under the proposals, all 20 teams in the league will play an extra match abroad starting in 2011, making the total number of league games in a season 39.

Foreign points would count towards the final standings.

The top five teams will be seeded so they cannot play each other. But that means teams in or near the relegation zone could, unfairly, face the big names three times in a season.

League chief executive Richard Scudamore said: "This is an idea whose time has come. If we don't do it, then a rival league will."

But former England skipper Alan Mullery said: "It's just another way of making money, simple as that."

All 20 clubs, who share £900million in TV revenue a year for games shown in 202 countries, backed the move at a meeting in London yesterday with Scudamore and league chairman Dave Richards.

Cities across the world would be invited to make vast bids for the rights to host the extra matches.

WHAT'S NEXT?

Olympic 100-metre sprint held over 105 metres - another split second of athletes' logo-clad vests boosts sponsorship.

Test matches extended from five days to 10 to double ticket sales.

British Open on 19-hole course with city bank paying millions for its logo on final extra green.

Grand National keeps going until last horse is standing - bets pour in as punters guess which nag will drop next.

British Grand Prix on moon to bring extra moneyspinning dimension to space race.

Boat race begins on Thames at 2am under floodlights to appeal to bets-mad Far East punters.

London Marathon goes to Beijing because more people there can be charged to watch.

Wimbledon men's final settled by tiebreak after Tie Rack bids squillions to sponsor penalty shoot-outstyle climax.

Stephen.Moyes@Mirror.Co.Uk

IT'S PURE GREED

By Oliver Holt Chief Sports Writer

Bloated by its lust for money, English club football sank to a new low yesterday when it rushed towards the wholesale betrayal of its fans.

But club chairmen were too busy counting their cash to realise their grotesque deal had exposed the league once and for all as little more than a vehicle for the naked greed of very rich men.

The Premier League has become a monument to disloyalty and extortion - a garish, preening poster boy for what's left of Rip-Off Britain.

It's Loadsamoney waving his bundle of notes in the air and mocking the supporters.

So to Richard Scudamore, the Premier League chief executive, and all the proud owners of Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and the rest. Well done. A ***** on a street corner has got more honour left than the Premier League now.

What happens now to the bloke who hasn't missed a league game at Anfield or Upton Park for more than 30 years?

Isn't it bad enough that the Premier League has done its best to disenfranchise him and his family already with their rocketing ticket prices? How can clubs expect true fans to fork out for a league game in Sydney or Singapore.

Just as bad, their ill-conceived plans have compromised the very integrity of the competition. There is talk that the games abroad will be seeded so that top teams avoid each other. The fixtures are being manipulated and once that happens, the credibility of the league is null and void.

It's a betrayal of the essence of one of the lynchpins of British sport and it stinks.

This is a stupid question to ask in a capitalist society, I know, but haven't the Premier League clubs got enough money already?

Sadly, it seems their greed has well and truly got the better of them this time.

Some people have been warning for some time now that one day English football will push its fans too far.

Yesterday's news may well mean that this day has finally arrived.
Mirror

Fergie fumes at 'big-mouthed Premier League chiefs' for leaking overseas match plans Mail