England set to get more Champions League clubs

THE Champions League could feature five English clubs on a regular basis from 2024 after a major overhaul of the competition was agreed yesterday – and up to seven in exceptional circumstances.

More than a year of intense debate about the best way forward for Europe’s premier club competition after the collapse of the Super League has concluded, with UEFA deciding to award two places in a new, expanded 36-team league system to clubs from the two countries who collectively performed best in Europe’s club competitions in the previous season.

England would have gained an extra place in four of the last five seasons had this system been in use.

In theory seven English teams could qualify in a single season in this new model: the top four in the Premier League, a fifthplaced team via the country coefficient, plus the winners of the Champions League and the Europa League, if these were all different clubs.

A senior UEFA official described this scenario as being “as likely as a meteorite hitting this room”.

UEFA ditched an original proposal to award places based on an individual club’s performance in Europe over the past five seasons, which critics said created a safety net for big clubs who performed poorly domestically and had echoes of the Super League.

There remain some questions about just how open the new competition will be.

The current coefficient scoring system awards bonus points for Champions League group stage qualification, which means those countries which already benefit from four places are at an advantage from the start. UEFA sources said there are no plans as it stands to review that system.

Domestic leagues will also have questions about how these plans will impact their competitions, both in terms of arguably reducing interest by widening the Champions League race and the more pragmatic concerns around match scheduling.

Last year UEFA’S executive committee approved an increase in matches from six in the current format to 10; that has been cut to eight amid pressure from leagues and fans’ groups.

Teams will face eight different opponents, playing four home and four away on a seeded basis in the new 36-team league.

But even that more moderate increase still means Champions League matches in January for the first time, a period which has traditionally been reserved for domestic football in England.