F–K UEFA and FIFA

I can’t forgive UEFA and FIFA for destroying the game that I love[d]. Having the Eight Champions League Second round ties spread over a Fortnight is the height of nonsense.Of course,it’s all about money,now, and sponsors and TV – common sense has taken a back seat and it looks like it’ll stay in the back seat for a long time to come.The last Sixteen of the ‘Champions’ League has Four teams each from England and Germany and Three from Spain-that’s almost Three Quarters of the draw from just Three countries.Why don’t they re-name it the ‘We’re no’really interested unless you’re a big team from an elite League in Europe with a Billionaire chairman’ League. If you go back to March 1984 you’ll find that Dundee United were preparing to meet Rapid Vienna in the Quarter Final of the old ‘European Champion Clubs Cup'[Thankfully, from day One, it was known simply as ‘The European Cup’]-not Two of Europe’s richest or most glamourous clubs by any means,but Two clubs that had earned the right to compete in the Champions cup by winning their respective domestic League titles. In those days,the UEFA Cup would have Four clubs from England,Spain Italy and West Germany-making it like the Champions League of today.It would have made more sense to play the Super Cup between the winners of the European Cup and the UEFA Cup-the Cup Winners Cup was always thought of as being a poor mans European Cup-alot of the bigger Countries either didn’t take their Cup competition seriously or never had One at all and if you look at the Finals down the years you’ll notice that the bigger clubs of today, or back then, never dominated the trophy. Sadly,since the formation of the Champions League, the oldest Cup competition in the World[the FA Cup],has become a pale shadow of it’s former self.Gone are the days when a lower or non League team could draw one of the Giants and expect to see all the top players in action-now,a non League side drawing Man City or Chelsea or Arsenal would be lucky to see a couple of First team regulars on the opposite side-and all because The Champions League has become so lucrative.An FA Cup win pales into insignificance beside a top Four League finish-changed days indeed.