Looks like we are forming a regional soccer league the Hungarians and will at some point include teams from Slovenia and BiH and might even expand into Slovakia and Austria. Seems to be in the forming stages right now...what are your thoughts on this?

__________________

that will be awesome if or when it happens. Think of how much more recognition HNL teams will get? That ALSO means EA will start putting them back into the FIFA games

(Nothing beat playing FIFA 2000 as Croatia Zagreb)

Good stuff.

__________________

Ziva Grana Hrvatske

Awesome idea. I think all the involved countries/teams will benefit greatly.

__________________

Awesome!

We've already started the first ever Royal League with the 4 four best teams from the Swedish, Norwegian and Danish leagues, over here in Scandinavia, and I really hope that this will help the clubs more then just financially.


P.S.: I wonder whether they're gonna call it the "Balkan League"

I always thought it was a good idea, and hopefully something will come out of this. Honestly guys, playing Kamen ingrad and Medjimurje just doesn't cut it and Hajduk, Dinamo and whoever else will be invited will benefit greatly from playing against bigger teams.

__________________
Ruke cemo skupa za bile dici, ko
jedno srce za Hajduk cemo biti!!!!!!!

HNK HAJDUK SPLIT PRVAK HRVATSKE 2004-2005 F.C. BARCELONA CAMPIONS DE ESPANA 2004-2005

Nah....I think it will be called Prinz Ferdinand....austro-ugarso cup

__________________
They wanted to put Chuck Norris face on Mount Rushmore, but the granit wasn´t hard enough for his beard...

Problem is, Dinamo isn't good enough to compete in the HNL what makes you think they can compete in a bigger league???

Actually, if you look at it, our league right now on its own is very competitive and any number of teams can take first place. Obviously in a regional league like this one, you will still get a first division, second division, etc and rely on promotion and relegation...but what would happen if say it becomes dominated with teams from one country, people will cry that it isn't fair, etc. etc. The money is in Western Europe with all the better teams and leagues there and that is where the better player will always strive to play..

Personally, I take Stimac's approach...UEFA should let more teams from other parts of Europe into the UEFA Cup and Champions League...this way you will garner more interest. Why should the EPL send what is it? 4 teams to Champions League meanwhile is a country like Croatia the first place team needs to go through qualifying games...if you bring in more team there would be a lot more interest and of course a lot more $$$ coming to the teams and the league. But, unfortunatly its the EPL, Serie A, La Liga, the Bundes Liga etc that control UEFA and want the money.

Then you look at the coutries involved...right now its the Hungarians...now, how good are their club teams and their league compared to ours? I would take our top 4 teams right now over their top 4 teams any time...then you look at the other coutries..Austria? Slovakia? Slovenia? BiH? Take Austria away, how good are their club team really? Do you think there would actually be any interest in seeing Slovakia's best club team playing in Poljud? It'll be simple...at first people may come to watch for the novelty of it,then when they see the quality of the competition sucks, they will keep away from the stadiums.

__________________

Yeah but Steve, how many people come to see Cro league games now?? About 1000-1500 a match and that's pretty sad if you ask me. At least with a regional league there would be more money from TV rights as the market would be 10 times larger (30-40 million compared to 4.5 mil). I believe RTL has already looked into the possibility of signing on and from what i've read they're HQ for East Europe is in Budapest. I don't know Steve, it just seems worth trying simply because it can't get much worse for our league than it is now.

__________________
Ruke cemo skupa za bile dici, ko
jedno srce za Hajduk cemo biti!!!!!!!

HNK HAJDUK SPLIT PRVAK HRVATSKE 2004-2005 F.C. BARCELONA CAMPIONS DE ESPANA 2004-2005

BTW, forget about UEFA ever letting in more teams from smaller nations(especially Eastern Euro country's). If anything they'll take away more spots from the smaller nations, and reduce they're participation to nothing.

__________________
Ruke cemo skupa za bile dici, ko
jedno srce za Hajduk cemo biti!!!!!!!

HNK HAJDUK SPLIT PRVAK HRVATSKE 2004-2005 F.C. BARCELONA CAMPIONS DE ESPANA 2004-2005

let's not forget about the goodyear liga.

just because serbia isn't involved doesn't mean the whole thing is going to magically work all of a sudden.

for us, it sucks about the biggest leagues sending 4 teams into at least the final qualifying round of the champions league every year, but there are plenty of reasons for it, and it's just something we'll have to put up with. these countries have a ton more people than we do, the teams all have more fans that are kept happy, and neutrals are given a better product to watch.

jure is fair in comparing our top teams to the top teams of the other leagues that are allegedly involved in this. for at least the time being, we might be able to really benefit from having the stronger sides and take advantage of better passage into the champions league or uefa cup. a concession would have to be made that we'd end up less teams, but that's not a bad thing if our better teams are seeing more money, more fan support if it does end up peaking interest, and more oppurtunity in european competitions.

on top of it all, it's just pretty european to work on "regional cooperation".

i think i like the idea, we'd still have OUR national team, and at the end of the day the league simply isn't much to write home about.

where are all the canadians at, i'd like to hear the expos/bluejays/raptors/and sorta 5 nhl team perspective on this one.

This is true...but I believe the Goodyear League doesn't draw that well either and that is a regional league as well but of course a different sport. But, don't you think our league could actually be better if say a Hajduk was able to keep a Pletikosa from leaving? Or a Dimano having their players leaving? And its not like these guys leave for stronger leagues..they leave for Ukraine or the Saudi Leagues...

Again, you let more teams into European competition, the more money it will generate for those teams and we will be able to keep our better players longer until the bigger clubs come a calling..then, we can actually get a better transfer fee for those players as well..which means even more money being pumped in...the more money, the more players are able to stay, the better the league gets.

__________________

I am against it. It will bring nothing in terms of quality or crowds. It is just HNS and clubs looking for a quick fix for problems they created.

It seems like something needs to be done about the hnl but I don't know if this is the solution. Really, do you think that dinamo or Hajduk playing any Hungarian or Slovenian or Slovakian team will increase attendance? It was agood point about the TV revenue and larger market but when you put traveling expenses and other such expenses I don't know if we'd benefit too much. Plus all those lopovi would steal any extra funds anyway.
I think it would be good if there was maybe a CUP tournament for central and eastern europe which excluded the big leagues so that we and other smaller countries may have a chance to play in Europe longer than just in July & August. I know the schedule is already stacked but who's to say those leagues couldn't shave off some league games to make room for this. Just an idea.

__________________

Ajmo Hrvatska!!!

I like Baraba's idea the best. A Cup for central European teams would work best because our best teams and the best teams from the other leagues would have a good test but at the same time it wouldn't take up as much time as a league season would. Also I think this regional league would just be the biggest names from thier respective countries and not neccesarily the best(ie Hajduk Dinamo etc...) Our league does suck and co-operation with like minded federations is good but its not the answer to all of our problems(poor attendance-players leaving early etc....)

__________________
DALEKO DALEKO IZA DEVET SELA

love baraba's idea of regional cup. It would be especially nice if UEFA agreed to let the first placed team directly into the CL (guaranteeing at least 1 spot to a team from a smaller league).

__________________
Borat vs. Svrbia 2:1