Baltic League could revive Doyle’s Atlantic dream
THE architect of plans for a North Atlantic League in 2020, Shelbourne vicechairman Andrew Doyle, won’t give up the ghost on cross-border leagues just yet. Football in Europe, has been ‘completely broken’ by UEFA, he says. The Champions League is dominated by teams from the big five leagues. And Doyle has seen nothing to shift his view that regional leagues are now an economic and sporting necessity.
He told Mail Sport: ‘It’s a closed shop. Absent a bizarre statistical anomaly, only leading teams from four countries can win the Champions League. That (Porto in 2004) has happened once in over a quarter of a century. ‘The Champions League is already UEFA’s very own super league. The champions of some countries — Ireland, for example — have never even played in the damn thing, ever. So, of course, the system is broken.’ Change could stem from an unlikely corner. The Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania never trouble the latter stages of UEFA events and in 2022, the combined income of their leagues was less than £50million. A Baltic league format has been discussed and UEFA officials believe it holds potential. If it works it could have implications for leagues like Scotland, Ireland, the Scandinavian nations, Holland, Belgium and Portugal. Four years ago, Doyle invited Aberdeen, Celtic, Hearts, Hibs and Rangers to form a 20-team league with clubs from Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Ireland, backed by JP Morgan investment bank and with projected broadcasting revenue up to £350m a year. Talks ground to a halt when Celtic major shareholder Dermot Desmond said the Scottish champions were no longer interested. Could the Atlantic League be revived? ‘Yes it could, of course,’ said Doyle. ‘But Celtic would have to want to be competitive in Europe and my guess is they’re perfectly happy being at the top of a depreciating SPFL forever and being perennially uncompetitive in the Champions League.’