Cup losers no longer qualify for Europe
By: Ian Rose | September 16th, 2007In what I think is a great move, the Scottish Football Association has removed one of the back-door ways of getting into European competition. The winner of the Scottish Cup currently gets Scotland’s second UEFA Cup spot, but in the event that the winner has already qualified for Europe, which is quite likely considering the Old Firm’s record in the tournament, the runner-up is given the spot instead. That’s how relegated Dunfermline got their chance at the UEFA Cup this season, a chance that they gave up with a disappointing loss to Hacken of Sweden. The SFA believes, as I do, that this is not an appropriate way to select our representatives in Europe. In order for Scottish football to continue to gain respect around the continent, we need to send the very best teams in the league to international play. Now, if the Cup winner has already otherwise qualified, the fourth-place team in the final SPL standings will get the nod. Personally, I’d have much preferred to see last year’s fourth-place, Hibernian, up against Hacken in place of Pars. I think they would have stood up significantly better. Nice move from the SFA. Wow, I don’t remember the last time I’ve uttered those words, and I’m sure it will be a long spell before I recite them again.
Category: Scottish Premier League
Tags: Dunfermline Athletic, Europe, Häcken, Hibernian, Hibs, Pars, Scottish Cup, Scottish Premier League, SPL, Uefa CupSubscribe
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Comments
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Completely agree. Being runner up in a cup competition doesn’t necessarily mean you were the second best team in the tournament. You still got knocked out, you just didn’t get knocked out until the final.
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United States
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You might be right when it comes to Scotland. With only a few spots for international football available for the Scotish Premier League, you want the best teams representing the country and if possible help collecting points to move Scotland to a higher position in the 5-Year-Ranking. But in case of the Bundesliga I really like it that the runner up gets the UEFA Cup spot. While last season saw underdogs Nuremberg grab the trophy, in previous years it was often the likes of Bayern, Bremen or Schalke who had qualified for the CL or UEFA Cup via the league. This opened the door for runner up teams like Frankfurt (lower end of the table) or even second division sides like Aachen and Mainz. And for those teams it’s sometimes a once in a lifetime opportunity for the players and the fans. And all of them actually reached the group stages, different to let’s say Schalke last year.
Posted from
Germany -
Jan - I agree that for the big leagues, it makes sense, although I do believe that the big boys (England, Germany, Italy, France) have too many European spots overall. 4 Champions League places is too much, but with the power of the G14, I doubt that will change. Still, I agree that for Germany, I like to see mid-level teams getting shots at Europe. Germany, unlike Scotland, isn’t in the position of having to prove they deserve more spots.
Posted from
United States
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