HawkMan

New money has allowed Man City and Chelsea to expand the top four to a top six. It's true that PL clubs without such sugar daddies will never win anything, but if new investors were not allowed to spend what they can afford then Man U and Arsenal who dominated prior to Abramovich would still be winning everything. In Germany where they have a stricter regime regarding who can invest, the result is Bayern Munich have won 8 championships on the trot. Without allowing a reasonable freedom of investment the big clubs stay in control. To illustrate this Man City are now IN FAVOUR of FFP, they've got into the big six and want to pull up the drawbridge to prevent any new pesky little club getting a share of the spoils of the PL. Everton could be the next to break into the top tier with their rich owner promising to spend big. Good luck to them. Dare I say it but with the strict rules in SL and salary cap, no one other than the big clubs are likely ever to be champions. Anyway, why should Man City or Chelsea winning the league be a distortion? You can only mean clubs outside the historically big ones should know their place, be happy making up the numbers, and don't distort the status quo of Man U and other big clubs winning things

I actually agree with your tone about the greed and vested interests in Football , the point is it comes with the territory of being global. I don't want to return to seeing the Premier league not attracting the best players and teams unable to compete with the best in Europe. If you check out my thread How Big Is Enough I've posed the question whether RL fans want RL to follow suit if it means global reach but with the drawbacks that might bring.

So we should get rid of the money, to allow Forest and Swindon and hey maybe Preston and Blackpool to start winning things again, I mean Stanley Mathews and all that, stuff ever winning in Europe again. We like our league like yesteryear, such a RL attitude, remind me again, which sport is global, oh yes football. Think forward, push the boundaries, I want RL to push forward to new heights, it must embrace new ideas and money.

Perhaps someone can explain to me why so many are put off the EPL by the money in it. Money has ensured some of the biggest stars play in England. I want to see great players, and I'm proud that this country has the most watched league in the world. There's a myth going round that in the good old days before Sky everything was more exciting and open which isn't true. Big clubs have always hogged the trophies remember Liverpool in the 70's and 80's. Money has allowed Man City to make it into the big four, which is now the big six. So more money please, more top players, obviously I like the gritty honest toil of the lower leagues too but that is not mutually exclusive of watching the cream. Sorry , rant over.

Ice Hockey is bigger than RU. Played in virtually all of Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, Western Europe to lesser extent and North America all with professional leagues. It doesn't have a WC like Union, more important is the Olympics. But Union is not as big as they would like to think.

It does also mean previous ordinary smallish countries usually have a player playing at the top level therefore giving them a better chance and increasing competitiveness of International Soccer. Remember the Norwegian commentator, " Mrs Thatcher, Winston Churchill........your boys took a hell of a beating " Norway were nothing in International footy, a few years later, given regular exposure to top opponents and players like Thorstvedt the Spurs goalkeeper and others playing in elite leagues Norway were qualifying for World Cups. If RL gave more games to the likes of Italy, Russia, etc. perhaps International RL would grow.

I said elsewhere that the Broncos using London as a identification doesn't really sit well with a football dominated tribalised city, and perhaps Brentford Broncos would be better, also particularly as The Bees are going to a new stadium and Broncos could tie in with that. Opinions? BTW Brentford is near Ealing.

Interesting results so far, only two people want RL to be as big as Soccer, and four want to keep the game as it is, no expansion. What gives?

Or cars with the flag of St George poking out of the windows during next year's World Cup. We can but hope.

What would you do if Ancelotti gets Everton into Europe? A distinct possibility.

Er...tough question..hmm how about Watford and Bournemouth fans.

It's all about cost now, will RFL or SL or both fund the Covid tests needed. Simply put, if they fork out it'll be back sooner than if not.

My choice would be option 2. Too big and the game would lose that something that makes the game special, the ties to the fans and community.

Don't you mean you know nothing about football because you're an Everton fan ?

How big do you want TGG to be ? The obvious answer may be as big as possible , as big as Soccer. However it's naive to think any global sport could really operate without some sort of greed, MASSIVE tv deals means powerful agents milking the game for whatever they can get, players not showing refs great respect with so much at stake , vested interests evident in the game's governance, possible corruption in bidding for World Cups etc. In short if RL went global it would change massively. So how big do you want it to be ?