A broken European super league TL

I actually wrote this weeks ago when the discussion about this was going on but I sort of abandoned it when I couldn't work out a final solution.
It is probally broken and full of errors particularly near the end but meh, may as well post it.

Part 1: Those Cheating Argie Bastards


POD- The US national football team is in better shape for the 1978 world cup qualifiers and manages to be the North American team that makes it through to the finals themselves (in large part due to some poor results for Mexico).


At the finals in Mexico the US was drawn in a group together with the Netherlands, Austria and Peru. Though they were beaten by the Dutch they quite easily won their other two games and finished up at second place and went through to the next round.

In the second group round the US were drawn together with Brazil, Argentina and Scotland.
In their first match they found themselves facing Brazil and many in America feared the worse however quite miraculously the Americans managed to triumph 2-1, scoring both of their goals in the final twenty minutes.
Their second game was against Scotland, though they again emerged victorious 2-1 this victory came at quite a price with several key players picking up injuries.
In the final game against the hosts Argentina the Americans finally lost 3-1 however two of the Argentine goals during this game proved highly controversial. The final results for this group are:


USA 2-1 Brazil
Argentina 2-0 Scotland

USA 2-1 Scotland
Brazil 3-2 Argentina

USA 1-3 Argentina
Brazil 3-1 Scotland

P W D L F A Pts
Argentina 3 2 0 1 7 4 4
Brazil 3 2 0 1 7 5 4
USA 3 2 0 1 5 5 4
Scotland 3 0 0 3 2 7 1


The American public sees that qualification for the final was narrowly snatched from their grasp by the underhand play of the Argentinians (and to a lesser extent the aggression of the Scots). Interestingly this would later impact on events outside of the world of football with the US offering far more aid to the UK when Argentina invaded the Falklands then they did IOTL- the suspicion of the regime threatening referees during the world cup held in their country even impacted people in positions of power within the US.
Despite their failure to win anything the exploits of the American team's overcoming the mighty Brazil and only finally been beating due to events not directly related to the games they were actually playing at the time made them national heroes.
Football sharply increases in popularity across the country and the NASL receives a huge boost.

(For the record: During the final Argentina emerges victorious, beating the Netherlands 3-2. In the third place match Brazil is narrowly beaten 1-0 by West Germany)


Part 2: U$A

This huge increase in popularity for the North American Soccer League came at just the right time and managed to push the league in quite the opposite direction to the one it took IOTL.

The gate receipts kept coming in and large advancements were made well ahead of time in football merchandising. The vast majority of the teams in the league managed to stay financially in the black with the more successful teams such as the New York Cosmos, Los Angeles Aztecs and San Jose Earthquakes proving very profitable.
In essence the 'golden age' of big name signings keep on going, the key difference being that the American teams are no longer so artificially funded by their rich owners. This is still partially the case of course with a lot of teams trying to buy their way to success but it is no longer the problem it was IOTL. Additionally football's probability makes it indirectly profitable for a team to be successful via associating other business interests of their main share holders with the team.

In 1982 as per OTL Columbia announced it was not capable of holding the 1986 world cup. Again as per OTL Mexico, Canada and the US offered to fill the void.
The success of domestic football in the US makes all the difference and contrary to OTL FIFA decides to offer the world cup hosting rights to them. As a result of this mere announcement football in the US receives another small popularity boost; the expected outcome when the time for the competition itself comes is huge.

In the meantime though the 1982 world cup takes place in Spain.
As per OTL this is eventually won by Italy only this time it is the hosts who are defeated in the final.
As can be expected unlike IOTL the US manages to qualify for this competition once more however its 'success' doesn't match that of the previous championship with them finding themselves drawn against Spain and West Germany in the first round. They put up a good show however are (uncontroversially) beaten by both teams.
England performs in a similar manner to OTL in this tournament being knocked out at the second group stage though this is a somewhat closer run thing then our 1982 with their failure to qualify being solely on not having scored as many goals as Brazil during both side's respective thrashings of the USSR (5-1 vs. 3-0).

In 1984 the primary example of the US domestic leagues' increasing strength emerges with New York Cosmos overcoming AC Milan 3-1 in a pre-season friendly.
Previous games between American and big European teams had for some time become increasingly close run affairs however this is seen as the most important victory of the period due to Milan's fielding a virtually full strength team towards the end of their pre-season preparations.
Many in Europe try to ignore the result as just being a simple friendly and nothing out of the ordinary however during the game Milan were simply outclassed by New York's multinational super star team and serious talk about the American league rapidly becoming one of the best in the world has already been taking place for sometime.








Part 3: Europe Awakes


Come 1985 and action has been taken in Europe to try and counter the American threat. Plans are set in place to drastically reform the Champions League for the 1985/86 season, these effectively make it something like the Champions League that we know today.

The 1986 world cup in the US proves a huge success with what is considered some of the best football of all time being played in impressive stadiums in front of excited, enthusiastic crowds.
The home team performs well, winning their group and managing to make its way through to the quarter finals where they lose to West German, en route however they enjoy a famous 'revenge victory' against Argentina in the group stages.

Over the second half of the 1980s 'Gary' is the most popular name for boys in England as a result of their second world cup victory taking place 20 years after the last.
After winning their group and destroying Argentina in the second round they then successfully beat Denmark in the quarters and then (probably in part thanks to home-like the New England weather) Brazil in the semis. In the final they face off against reigning champions Italy and with a Lineker hatrick win 3-1.

On the domestic front, in the late 80s football continues to prove popular in the United States; a position which is beginning to become firmly cemented as children who have grown up with the game between to enter adulthood.
Universities in America are slow to latch onto the idea of football being a big sport however so 'college leagues' fail to become the big deal they are in other sports. This indirectly leads to a somewhat amusing backlash against soccer as 'corrupting the youth of America'; whereas in other games if a young man wants to become a professional then going to college is a logical first step, with football studies are completely irrelevant to attaining a professional contract.

In Europe things are not going nearly as well.
Domestic league gate receipts for the majority of teams continue to decline and aside from a few exceptions such as Ajax and Liverpool few embrace the various sources of alternative revenue that the Americans have discovered.
The Champions League on the other hand is proving exceptionally popular. With its games played late at night on a TV and high quality football being the norm, every game is seen in a similar vein to a cup final.
Not only do the fans of the big clubs which actually play in these tournaments avidly follow the Champions League but due to the running undercurrent of nationalism people from all over the country tend to tune into support teams for whom which they would normally be ambivalent at best.

By 1988 the big clubs of Europe led primarily by Ajax, Liverpool and Barcelona are beginning to put serious thought into breaking away to form a pan-European league.
The reaction of the national football associations and UEFA to these rumours is largely muted, neither believing it will actually happen. On new years day 1989 however its announced that it will happen, the 1990/1991 season will mark the start of the European Super League.
The initial teams to form this league are to be:

Liverpool (Eng)
Manchester United (Eng)
Arsenal (Eng)
Ajax Amsterdam (NL)
PSV Eindhoven (NL)
AC Milan (Ita)
Inter Milan (Ita)
Juventus (Ita)
Benfica (Por)
Barcelona (Spa)
Real Madrid (Spa)
Bordeaux (Fra)
FC Metz (Fra)
Bayern Munich (Ger)
Borussia Dortmund (Ger)
Celtic (Sco)
Rangers (Sco)
RSC Anderlecht (Bel)

This selection of teams proves highly controversial with many believing that they are more deserving of a place in the league then those selected. One particular case is the upset from Club Brugge that their rivals are to be in the league but they are not to be- which also has the effect of destroying their derby matches.
Likewise several teams are in the opposite position with Porto being the most famous example- they are opposed to the very idea of a European League and despite being one of the first choices to be put into such a league they vehemently refuse.
Originally feeders were sent out to far more clubs then those which were finally selected with the 'big teams' and other financial backers of the league (primarily various pay-television services) making the choice of which smaller teams to admit. Rather then simply picking 'the best teams' attempts are also made to take in a wide geographic selection of teams (whilst at the same time keeping the league firmly routed in western Europe for the time being).

It is now that footballing authorities finally take action however it is largely contradictory and indecisive. The option of what to do with the break away teams in the meantime proves particularly confusing with some quarters calling for their immediate expulsion from domestic competitions- such reactions apparently forgetting that this is exactly what they intend to do with themselves.
The most effective counter measures are threats aimed at the players for these teams that they will not be allowed to play international football if they play in the unsanctioned super league however few players cave to this pressure; the promises of earning in a week what a normal man makes in a year being more then enough to keep them loyal to their clubs.

















Part 4: A New Era


The background organisation of the 1990 world cup proves very complicated due to the political situation of the would be hosts: the USSR.
When they were chosen in 1984 the current instability in the country was completely unforeseen. The Russian authorities eventually manage to convince the world that the tournament can still take place in their country, the hope being it can prove a unifying factor.
The tournament goes ahead without any major hiccups, though the difficulties experienced by foreign fans in the country prove a huge annoyance.

For the USA the tournament is a disappointing one. Finding themselves drawn in a 'group of death' with West Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands. The Americans fail to win a single game and ultimately finish 3rd in the group only ahead of Ireland who conceded more goals in their losses against the Dutch and Germans.
For England too the tournament doesn't meet the high expectations the reigning champions have. They breeze through their qualifying group with Yugoslavia, Japan and Sweden and then in the second round manage to narrowly overcome the home team despite being completely unprepared for the unseasonable cold (an error in the new, state of the art stadium's air conditioning system the Russian authorities claim).
Come the quarter-finals however and England meet up with the Netherlands against whom they are finally beaten in a hard fought match that goes through to penalties.
The Dutch wind up eventual winners of the competition; beating Brazil 2-1 after extra time in the final.

During the world cup the difficult situation domestic football is in is largely ignored by the press, the 1990 world cup is in later years seen as a period of the world being in collective denial and remembering happier times.
The 18 breakaway clubs are set in their actions however and on the 18th August, 1990 Barcelona kick off against Liverpool for the first match of the super league.
Back in the national leagues the situation has largely been accepted as fact by now even though the respective national FAs are far from happy about it.
In England the previous season already saw one fewer relegation and one extra promotion between divisions one and two (making Sunderland and Sheffield Wednesday fans very happy in the process).
Belgium is the one nation which takes the complete opposite approach to the formation of the super league and instead acts as if everything is going entirely as normal and keeping Anderlecht on their fixture lists. A few attempts to gather publicity to their case by making teams due to play Anderlecht turn up for the game as normal are made but no one partakes. The shell Anderlecht is left to lose all its games by default and steadily fall down the Belgian football league pyramid.

Relations between the Super League and the domestic leagues remain frosty for the following three seasons. It is the Super League which is the primary mediator in attempting to restore relations hoping that it can initiate a proper promotion and relegation system with domestic competitions though UEFA stops any such reconciliation.

The league for the 1990/1991 season reads:

1: Juventus
2: Liverpool
3: Inter Milan
4: Barcelona
5: Real Madrid
6: Ajax Amsterdam
7: Arsenal
8: Benfica
9: Manchester United
10: Bayern Munich
11: Borussia Dortmund
12: AC Milan
13: Celtic
14: Bordeaux
15: PSV Eindhoven
16: FC Metz
17: Rangers
18: RSC Anderlecht

And for 1991/1992:

1: Liverpool
2: Barcelona
3: Juventus
4: Arsenal
5: Inter Milan
6: Manchester United
7: Bayern Munich
8: Real Madrid
9: Ajax Amsterdam
10: AC Milan
11: PSV Eindhoven
12: Benfica
13: Bordeaux
14: Rangers
15: Borussia Dortmund
16: FC Metz
17: Celtic
18: RSC Anderlecht

It was towards the close of play in 1992 that UEFA finally relented and officially recognised the Super League. This situation largely came about due to various pressures from within such Everton wanting to once more have a chance of a regular derby game against their local rivals, the Scottish League being close to folding due to the loss of its two major teams and Marseilles' utter dominance of a serious rival free French league.
Both sides want to get a system put in place as soon as possible and so six games from the end of the SL season it is announced that the bottom 4 teams will be forced to play off against the top teams of their respective domestic leagues to determine if they will retain their place in the league.
This move so near to the end of the season of course does not prove popular (in case of two teams from the same country finishing in the bottom the second placed domestic team will also have a chance of entering the SL).
In Italy, Spain and England the big teams remaining see their chances of being promoted as being virtually nil despite their being the best non-SL teams.
The struggling SL teams too say that it is unfair to change the rules so far into the game (though they are roundly ridiculed for this suggestion that they would somehow have played better with the threat of relegation hanging over them all year)
When the play-offs finally occur Anderlecht lose to their rivals Brugge, Metz are beaten by Marseilles and Dortmund narrowly loose to Werder Bremen on penalties. Celtic is the only team to retain its place by beating Aberdeen


Part 4: The yo-yo

The close of the 1992/1993 season sees the top of the table featuring familiar faces:

1: Juventus
2: Barcelona
3: Manchester United
4: Liverpool
5: Inter Milan

whilst the bottom also ends in a fairly predictable manner

14: Marseilles
15: Celtic
16: Werder Bremen
17: Rangers
18: Club Brugge

In the play-offs Brugge are beaten by Anderlecht, Rangers by Aberdeen and Celtic by Hearts. Bremen is the only SL team to retain its place by beating German champions Hamburg.

In 1993/1994 the anger from those teams stuck playing in domestic leagues despite their strength reaches a peak and it is suggested that the bottom finishing SL team of any nation should have to play-off against its nation's champion.
This proposal is roundly rejected by every SL club as under it theoretically a team could manage to finish 3rd (or even 1st should Benfica win the league or Anderlecht pull off the greatest upset in sporting history) and still be relegated.
Time goes by with no changes being made due to this failed proposal until once more right at the end of the season a decision made whereby the winner of the faltering Champions League will be promoted in place of the bottom finishing team (in addition to the three teams above playing off as normal).

For the 1994/1995 season despite criticism this takes place with Hearts being replaced by champions league winners Tottenham Hotspur in addition to Celtic, Bremen and Brugge taking over from Aberdeen, Hamburg and Anderlecht.
Also in 1993/1994 Juventus manages to become the first team to retain the SL title two years running, narrowly edging out Liverpool on the last game of the season.


Meanwhile in America football is still continuing to be popular. It has lost some steam in its growth due to the fact that it already has the market saturated but it is holding steady and several world class players are still drawn to America even despite the European SL's offer of higher quality, more prestigious football for the same pay.

The 1994 world cup is held in Morocco. FIFA having decided that:
1: They should try and make the world cup a true world cup as opposed to a primarily Euro-American affair.
2: Teams should ideally only hold the world cup once (though this is flexible in decades to come)

England are one of the favourites to win the competition and easily make it to the semi-finals however here they meet Brazil against whom they appear hopelessly outclassed and are lucky to get away with only losing 2-0.
The final is between Brazil and Germany, the South Americans emerging victors on penalties after an exciting and hard fought 3-3 draw.


Part 5: Reorganisations Galore



Further discussions take place over the course of the 94/95 season about how to 'fix' the obviously broken super league system.
The current situation of promoting the Champions' League winner is popular with most of UEFA's members however many think it doesn't go quite far enough.
Additionally the SL's organisers are somewhat worried by potential developments of this system as it could rapidly lead to the elimination of teams from the weaker footballing nations thus cutting off a large chunk of their revenue.
It was hoped that via playing top class opposition week after week that the likes of Anderlecht would develop into far better teams then they were to begin with. Due to the current situation though of them being sent back to their domestic league only to be promoted again however this is not happening.

The most popular suggestion which is agreed upon early on is to expand the Super League to a more standard 20 teams and to create a second division. This though would probably only delay potential problems. The broken system of relegation and promotion would still remain. A far more fluid system is required to keep the league exciting and 'free'.




The 1994/1995 sees the creation a second division for the SL being started in addition to other changes to the organisation of football in Europe.
One big idea is the drastic reformation of the Champions League. There would be no final or trophy and instead competition is purely for the rights of promotion to the SL in the following season for 4 teams.
The problem with this is spotted early on however in that it promotions would be a year behind relegations and in the meantime the past years' champions could always win again. This overly complicated proposal is rejected.

No final solution that works and everyone is happy with can be reached. There is talk of creating regional divisions at lower levels however all this is doing is moving the problem of promotion and relegation from national leagues further down the pyramid. Nonetheless this is the direction it is decided the league will gradually head in.

The creation of the league will take a different form to the eventual system which will be ultimately set in place (but few dare to doubt that this 'final system' would just be changed in a few years anyway) so as to create the second division as soon as possible.

The normal process of qualification as for the original Super League occurs as per usual however the losing teams of the play-offs and the bottom finishing team rather then being sent to their domestic leagues are instead allowed into the second division of the SL.
The semi finalists of the last Champions League are also instantly allowed in- these being Aston Villa, Bayer Leverkusen, Steaua Burcharest. Also granted instant admission to the second division this year are the winners of the French, Spanish, Italian, German, and English leagues (though in practice Everton actually finished


The 1994/1995 SL season finishes:

1st division:

1: Ajax Amsterdam
2: Manchester United
3: Bayern Munich
4: Liverpool
5: Juventus
6: Barcelona
7: Inter Milan
8: Real Madrid
9: Benfica
10: Arsenal
11: AC Milan
12: Tottenham Hotspur
13: Bordeaux
14: PSV Eindhoven
15: Hamburg
16: Club Brugge
17: Celtic
18: Marseilles

2nd division:

1: Hamburg
2: Lyon
3: Aston Villa
4: Bayer Leverkusen
5: Valencia
6: Steaua Bucharest
7: Roma
8: Aberdeen
9: Everton
10: Anderlecht
11: Hearts
12: Paris St.Germain

One notable exception from the Super League remains FC Porto who despite winning the Portuguese league wish to remain playing domestic football. No Portuguese teams are promoted to the SL in their place (amidst protests from the 2nd and 3rd placed teams).
Via good performers in the Champions' League being permitted admission this also sees the addition of the first Eastern European team to the league in the form of the Romanian's Steaua Bucharest. Their entry proves controversial as it means teams must now travel much further they did previously.

Only one team is relegated from the 1st division in this season and 3 teams are promoted- giving the 1st division its desired 20 teams.
For the second division two teams are relegated whilst to speed up the process of getting the league how the organisers want it the 8 'finalists' the new champions' league are promoted along with the two finalists of the cup winners cup (again something which proves a controversial move with certain teams who performed well in their domestic leagues but not in cup competitions).

1995/1996 looks like:

1st division

1: Barcelona
2: Liverpool
3: Manchester United
4: Real Madrid
5: Juventus
6: Inter Milan
7: Ajax Amsterdam
8: Benfica
9: Bayern Munich
10: Arsenal
11: AC Milan
12: Lyon
13: Tottenham Hotspur
14: PSV Eindhoven
15: Hamburg
16: Celtic
17: PSV Eindhoven
18: Club Brugge
19: Bordeaux
20: Aston Villa

2nd division

1: Sparta Prague
2: Valencia
3: Bayer Leverkusen
4: Roma
5: Marseilles
6: FC Metz
7: Roma
8: AZ
9: Borussia Dortmund
10: Rangers
11: Red Star Belgrade
12: Everton
13: Anderlecht
14: Lazio
15: Panathinaikos
16: Stuttgart
17: Steaua Bucharest
18: Aberdeen
19: Gothenburg
20: Leeds United


With this it is believed that the league is fixed. The second division/first division will act just as in domestic competitions whilst the bottom 4 of the second division will be replaced by the 4 Champions' League winners.
This system is only in place for another season however before objections are once more raised-this time due to the fact that promotion between the Champions' League and the Super League takes two seasons to complete
 
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