REQUEST FOR DEMOCRATIC EUROPEAN CLUB COMPETITIONS:
Hi all you FM fans,
I'm one of those not so advanced users, who likes to "pimp" the game with new graphics, but just doesn't know how to edit.
I'v tried for hours and hours, and I'm getting nowhere. I have searched the FM-fansites for a custom database of my liking, but surprisingly enough nobody seems to have created the not so advanced (I guess) database I'd like to see.
So now I'm posting a request here. I don't think I'm the only on who'd like the following, which is an attempt at democratizing the European football - i.e. giving the smaller nations a chance to compete with the giants of club football.
1. A Champions League that is only for the league champions. One team from Enlgand, one from Spain etc...
This would mean that the play-off would be slightly smaller, because of the limited number of European leagues, but the group stage can still have 32 teams. In the long term, smaller champion clubs will grow from the big prize money in the CL and will be in the race for the big players. The same amount of play-off teams that fail to qualify to the CL will still make it to the Europa League.
(2)But it will have consequences for the Europa League too. The EL will be the hardest tournament to win in the beginning, because it will now include the runner-ups and third placed teams from the big leagues. We would see Chelsea and Manchester city battling it out with Inter and Napoli, while fourth-placed Arsenal and fifth-placed Tottenham would not qualify, making the national competitions even harder.
3. To compensate this lack of continental football, let's reintroduce the Cup Winner's Cup, in it's traditional cup format: a two-legged knock-out tournament for the winners of the national cups. This would give talented but economicaly poor teams the chance to play European football, and the teams who fail to qualify for CL and EL can concentrate fully on winning the cup instead.
So, to sum up, this is what I'm looking for, but can't find:
1. Champions League for the champions only.
2. Europa League keeps it's format, but with higher placed participants.
3. A Cup Winner's Cup where 32 teams from the highest ranked leagues fight it out in a knock-out tournament.
Advantages: More diverse opponents, more surprises, more economical equality between nations and clubs in the long run.
Disadvantages: Harder national competitions, the Europa League would be harder to win than the Champions League, something that can be countered by raising the prize money in CL compared to the EL.