Celtic: Peter Lawwell predicts 'significant change' to European football

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/43080086

Celtic: Peter Lawwell predicts 'significant change' to European football

Scottish clubs could be "regular participants" in the Europa League in six years' time amid "significant change" in European football, says Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell.

Lawwell says discussions are taking place about the format of the second tier continental competition from 2024.

And he believes Scottish clubs can take advantage of "transformational" income.

"We should be getting ready to bring in new money from European participation," Lawwell told BBC Scotland.

"Growth in Scottish football will come from looking outside Scotland, and getting more participation of our clubs in Europe.

"For clubs like Aberdeen, Hibs and Hearts, it's very possible they could be regular participants in the Europa League or it's equivalent in six years."

Celtic beat Zenit St Petersburg 1-0 in the first leg of their last-32 tie in the competition, having parachuted down from the Champions League.

But Scotland's three other representatives - Aberdeen, Rangers, and St Johnstone - all went out in the qualifying rounds last summer.

'You have to have more games in Europe'

The format of the Champions League and Europa League has been agreed between Uefa and the European Club Association for the next broadcast rights cycle.

Celtic have qualified for the Champions League group stages for the past two season, with the financial rewards of that evident in the Scottish champions' latest figures.

However, Lawwell says that changes are being suggested among clubs in the likes of Scotland, the Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium and Sweden that would help address the financial disparity between them and their counterparts in Europe's top five leagues - England, Spain, Germany, Italy and France.

"There is a thought that we should be expanding the Europa League, that European football takes a bigger chunk of the calendar and your domestic [game] becomes smaller," Lawwell said.

"You have to have more games in Europe. We should be looking to export Scottish football to a European competition - that's where the money and the interest and the competition is.

"We've got to look at bringing in new money. The transformer may come through greater participation in Europe and giving more access to Scottish clubs.

"Including gate money, sponsorship, the central pool, it could be between 8m and 10m euros for a club like Aberdeen. That is transformational.

"There is recognition that clubs like Celtic and Ajax and others have an important part to play. A study showed we were the eighth highest attendance in Europe last year - that's remarkable. Rangers were 11th or 13th, that's two clubs from the one city in a European context.

"We need an opportunity to exploit the strong fundamentals of Scottish clubs."

'We define ourselves as a Champions League club'

Lawwell cites Paris St-Germain as an example of the changing face of European football. The French club's president, Nasser Al-Khelaifi, is also on the board of broadcaster BeIn Sports and film company Miramax.

"Nasser, who I know very well, describes what they're doing as a movie. They're an entertainment company and they're going to take these products around the world," added Lawwell.

"He's got the broadcaster, the creativity from the production company and he's got the content through his club and Neymar. These are substantial changes in how global clubs are going to view football. We want to be part of that.

"We define ourselves as a Champions League club in everything we do, our standards, our values, how we run the club, the organisation. When you go round Europe, we are regarded as such, a top-class European football team, our history, our tradition is second to none.

"There are a lot of discussions in terms of format for the Europa League, from 2024 onwards it's a clean sheet of paper and we're planning to be part of that."

 

Apologies for the formatting - if a mod can fix it, please do.

 

CELTIC could be guaranteed a Champions League Group Stage place every year under new proposals that would grant wild card entries for clubs with 'great historical importance to football.'

The current format for Europe's top club competition is set to change and a variety of new formats have been proposed.

But reports in Holland have suggested a new format has been proposed by Europe's elite clubs which will see four Champions League groups of eight clubs each, meaning extra revenue for every club.

The top four teams will qualify for the knock-out phase, the bottom club would be 'relegated' and the remainder going into the Europa League. Matches could also be played on some weekends.

But crucially, the proposal includes granting wild cards to clubs of historical importance in European football.

That would mean Celtic - the first British club to win the European Cup in 1967 - would be granted a spot in the new format.

But the proposal could also limit the route to the new Champions League to countries outwith the big four of England, Spain, Italy and Germany.

And director of the Association of European Professional Football Leagues, Jacco Swart, has vowed to fight any proposals that would lead to a closed shop to clubs from leagues like Scotland.

He said: "We have a meeting with the big clubs at the beginning of May to discuss these proposals.

"National competitions are the engine of the football economy.

We would therefore like to see more financial solidarity from UEFA towards the clubs that do not participate in Europe.

"The rewards in European tournaments are becoming so great that it's very predictable and attractiveness is decreasing at national level.

"And a closed shop for the Champions League must be prevented at all costs."

 

If they're going to make like mini Leagues then they should do 4 Groups of 10, adding 8 more clubs that could be from our type of Leagues.

The CL really as it is now would be fine if clubs like Celtic, Dinamo Zagreb, Basel, Salzburg, Legia, Ajax, Sparta Prague, Anderlecht, Steaua Bucharest, Red Star, Malmo, Rosenborg were all getting into it every season if we won our Leagues instead of only like 5 of us.

Even just adding an extra team to the current system and having 5 teams in a Group would be able to include more Leagues while it only adds 2 games.

It's a disgrace how Celtic need to start our season a month before other European teams and play 8 games to get to Group Stage football when your Barcelonas and Liverpools dont want 2 extra games when it only takes them 13 games in total to win it.

 

Auld pistil Pete strikes again!

 

Clubs with great historical significance, what does that actually mean though? Will Nottingham Forrest and Aston Villa be getting automatic entries?

 

That’s what I was thinking or will it be those who finish in a European place within their domestic league more likely

 

They don't really have great historical significance though. They only played in it about 5 times between them.

Celtic in CL/EC history have won like the 10th most games in it.

 

That will put further distance between us and the rest of Scotland, but it won't help close the gap between us and the elites. We need to be exploring a breakaway from Scottish football and the formation of a league with European clubs in a similar predicament.

 

This doesn't sound like the Armageddon news it's first appeared to be. It actually seems to be painted in a good light for us and our future. I really hope it's the case. I think we all find it frustrating that limit beyond our control are placed on us. We are a huge club and it feels like our potential is always hindered by various factors....

 

I really doubt they were thinking about the likes of us when they dreamt this up. More likely they were thinking about the likes of Man Utd, when they finish outside the top 4. They can just propel them into the groups, undeservedly, so they don't miss out on all that Asian/ American revenue.

It'll mean less available spots for smaller leagues, and even more of a closed shop. The rich get richer

 

Aye but if you've won it, and play out with an automatic entry league then you should gain entry if you win your league. Guaranteed money every season will mean after 4-5 seasons we could build to the point of challenging for the Europa, or even do an ajax.

 

Yes, this is a huge can of worms that might come back to * us. They will try to accomodate teams like Milan or Manchester United at the expense of the smaller leagues

 

We are the only club from Scotland that has a proper European pedigree.

Aberdeen are the next best.

It makes sense for us to be given automatic qualification if we win our league.