Foreign owners 'want end to Premier League relegation'

[Darkon]

Commercially it makes sense

[Chris]

Love how as usual the LMA makes it an anti foreign thing. I'm sure if you said to Bill Kenwright and Mike Ashley they now cant get relegated they'd say no.

[RichC]

I'd imagine if it meant all the teams currently in the PL were safe for a few years none of the clubs would complain about it.

I don't like the idea of it but can see why chairmen wouldn't be against it.

[Exiled_red]

Love how as usual the LMA makes it an anti foreign thing. I'm sure if you said to Bill Kenwright and Mike Ashley they now cant get relegated they'd say no.

Hardly surprising though when you hear the views of some of it's more influencal members...

[Exiled_red]

I'd imagine if it meant all the teams currently in the PL were safe for a few years none of the clubs would complain about it.

I don't like the idea of it but can see why chairmen wouldn't be against it.

[Yozza]

I'd imagine if it meant all the teams currently in the PL were safe for a few years none of the clubs would complain about it.

I don't like the idea of it but can see why chairmen wouldn't be against it.

What would be the point in a competitive league though? & What would be the point in winning the Championship?

****ing hate even the idea of it

[RichC]

I agree, but from a financial point of view you can see why they would want this.

For me it would ruin football, I mean the last day of the season when teams can still go down or win the title is awesome as is then the play offs for teams coming up.

[Exiled_red]

What would be the point in a competitive league though? & What would be the point in winning the Championship?

****ing hate even the idea of it

That's the point isn't it? A decision like that would surely have to be agreed upon by the majority of teams in the football league, not just the Premier League.

From a purely selfish point of view presumably most of the teams in the Premiership would be happy to have their place guarenteed for a few years, the additional money and prestige would be huge advantages. Similarly the Championship clubs would be outraged as they wouldn't get the opportunity.

The whole idea is crazy and cannot happen.

[dom9]

Love how as usual the LMA makes it an anti foreign thing. I'm sure if you said to Bill Kenwright and Mike Ashley they now cant get relegated they'd say no.

This bit of the interview from Bevan doesn't suit the headlines so well:

"It doesn't really matter if you're from overseas or not, does it?" he said. "It doesn't matter whether you're from Birmingham or you're from Burma."

[Baracus]

if this was voted on today, I don't believe a single club would rejected the idea and certainly not the newly promoted clubs. Maintain status quo and guaranteed income, football is a business.

I'd hate to see that happen thou as I would still love to see many clubs return to the premiership

Notts Forest, Sheffield Wednesday etc Not Leeds thou

[dom9]

Leeds definitely can stay where they are.

[Mostar]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/oct/21/john-henry-liverpool-relegation-nonsense?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed

Liverpool's John W Henry says relegation talk is 'complete nonsense'



The Liverpool owner, John W Henry, has denied that foreign owners in the Premier League want to scrap the relegation and promotion system.

Richard Bevan, the chief executive of the League Managers' Association, said this week that some of the American and Asian owners have been talking about ending the system.

But Henry called that "complete nonsense", telling the Associated Press that the issue "hasn't been discussed".

Half of the Premier League's 20 teams are foreign-owned. Arsenal, Aston Villa, Liverpool, Manchester United and Sunderland are owned by Americans, while Blackburn is under Indian ownership and Queens Park Rangers has Malaysian backers.

Bevan warned that, if more teams are sold to overseas investors, they could force a change in the long-standing rules.

"There are a number of overseas-owned clubs already talking about bringing about the avoidance of promotion and relegation in the Premier League," Bevan said. "If we have four or five more new owners, that could happen."

Other American-owned teams have also dismissed Bevan's claims. The Manchester United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, whose club is owned by the American Malcom Glazer and his family, said eliminating relegation "would be absolute suicide for the rest of the teams in the country, particularly the Championship".

The Aston Villa board headed by Randy Lerner was "confused and surprised" by Bevan's remarks. But Bevan said "particularly American owners without doubt" have been looking at a system without relegation.

[Kenneth]

LMA are full of ****e.

[Exiled_red]

LMA are full of ****e.

Who would have thought that

[BringbackBiscan]

Didn't Bolton's Phil Gartside bring this up a few years ago?

Nasty foreigner.