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Anglo-Scottish Cup to Return?


HibeeJibee

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/31611760

Haven't seen another thread on this.

BBC reports SPFL are considering approaching the Football League to contest a cross-border cup in 3 to 5+ seasons time.

It would pit "top Scottish clubs" / "Scottish Premiership clubs" against those from the English lower leagues.

Thoughts?

Worth saying - it seems different (complimentary?) to this plan from before Christmas.


http://www.pieandbovril.com/forum/index.php/topic/218274-celtic-nations-cup-planned-for-championship-clubs/page-1

Scottish teams could be making regular trips to Wales and the Republic of Northern Ireland if plans for a Celtic Nations Cup get underway when representatives of the Home Nations meet in November. The new tournament would involve clubs from the Scottish Championship, Irish League and Welsh Premier, replacing the Petrofac Cup.

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The problem is the same now as it was back then - there's little attraction for the English clubs taking part in it. Why drive/fly all the way north to somewhere where there's every risk the travelling fans may outnumber the home support? We're the ones who want it to line clubs pockets, not the English, for whom it's likely to cost them money taking part.

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Fairly desperate, money driven idea.

However, that said if the Rovers were involved I'd go. I only ever attend pre-season friendlies if they are against English opposition. In recent years I went when we played Norwich and Sheffield United. Saw us beat Middlesborough back in the '90s and get humped 4-0 by Newcastle.

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The only value The Texaco Cup had was in allowing boys to chat, "When The Well go up to win the British cup we'll be there" whilst Keith MacRae let in another soft goal against Stoke or Ards.

Shite idea then and shite idea now.

The Motherwell - Stoke game was a cracker.

Pretty much Motherwell v Gordon Banks as I recall. 1-0 to 'Well

Still a shit idea tho

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It all depends on the premise and organisation as to whether it'd be a success. That the Challenge Cup and LDV Vans' Trophy plod along shows that you don't actually need huge names or massive outside interest to hold a tournament. As a one-off or semi-regular event, there's no reason why it couldn't be a success if well-organised, though I suspect a lack of suitable dates is a big stumbling block.

Between this and the reaction to league cup changes, there's an alarming stock response developing by which anything that has ever been attempted in the past in Scottish football, only to have the arse kicked out of it by holding it anually, will automatically prove to be shit for one-off or semi-regular occasions. That doesn't logically follow and the current setup is also having the arse kicked out of it anyway.

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will St Mirren get a bye as we are current holders?

It says here there was one more edition after the one won by St. Mirren, won by Chesterfield:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Scottish_Cup#List_of_Finals

I wouldn't mind seeing it being tried out. Even if it indeed would be friendlies dressed up as a cup, what would be wrong with that? Clubs play friendlies anyway.

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He'll be claiming St Mirren are holders as they arranged a 2-leg friendly while Scottish Cup holders against the FA Cup holders in the late 1980s (Coventry?), billed as "the Anglo-Scottish Cup-Winners' Cup" or something like that, and won the first leg, and the second leg wasn't played. Something like that.

In terms of this latest idea... I don't mind it as a one-off supplementary tournament, though I don't think Scottish Premiership clubs playing Championship and League 1 clubs or whatever sounds very appealing. What I dislike are suggestions wanting to replace our League/Challenge cups with such tournaments.

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It all depends on the premise and organisation as to whether it'd be a success. That the Challenge Cup and LDV Vans' Trophy plod along shows that you don't actually need huge names or massive outside interest to hold a tournament. As a one-off or semi-regular event, there's no reason why it couldn't be a success if well-organised, though I suspect a lack of suitable dates is a big stumbling block.

Between this and the reaction to league cup changes, there's an alarming stock response developing by which anything that has ever been attempted in the past in Scottish football, only to have the arse kicked out of it by holding it anually, will automatically prove to be shit for one-off or semi-regular occasions. That doesn't logically follow and the current setup is also having the arse kicked out of it anyway.

Agree with this. We'd be better off planning ahead to keeping things fresh, such as a biennial change in the league cup format.

I wouldn't want to see the Challenge Cup or League Cup replaced, but you could make use of the weekends in July for some sort of cross-border tournament as a one-off. If the format's a success, then possibly look to hold it every other year.

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It'll just help show how far we've slipped in comparison to the English Leagues. The likes of Aberdeen v Scunthorpe would be horrendous.

Interesting phraseology..."top Scottish clubs" / "Scottish Premiership clubs" . In other words, if a club with a big support get relegated again we'll still put them into the tournament.

Is a rubbish idea.

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I suppose it could depend on the format. If you took the 8 Scottish Premiership club which hadn't qualified for Europe, and the 8 EFL Championship clubs not promoted to EPL, there'd be some attractive names on both sides.

E.g. for 2014-15:

Dundee Utd v Notts Forest

Inverness v Bournemouth

Ross County v Ipswich

St Mirren v Blackburn

Kilmarnock v Reading

Partick v Brighton

Hibs/Dundee v Wigan

Hearts/Hamilton v Derby

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I suppose it could depend on the format. If you took the 8 Scottish Premiership club which hadn't qualified for Europe, and the 8 EFL Championship clubs not promoted to EPL, there'd be some attractive names on both sides.

E.g. for 2014-15:

Dundee Utd v Notts Forest

Inverness v Bournemouth

Ross County v Ipswich

St Mirren v Blackburn

Kilmarnock v Reading

Partick v Brighton

Hibs/Dundee v Wigan

Hearts/Hamilton v Derby

Why would Championship clubs looking for promotion to the greatest league in the world want to take part in yet another tournament when a lot of them don't even put out full sides for the FA Cup, the greatest cup competition in the world?

If Championship clubs were involved they'd doubtless put out their development teams.

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Why would Championship clubs looking for promotion to the greatest league in the world want to take part in yet another tournament when a lot of them don't even put out full sides for the FA Cup, the greatest cup competition in the world?

If Championship clubs were involved they'd doubtless put out their development teams.

So what if they don't put out their first teams? If you're talking an occasional cross-border challenge tournament, say on the middle two weekends in July, you could still get more interest from supporters and a more competitive edge than your average friendlies over the same period.

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