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As far as i have heard these are the proposal up and the board for discussion. some time later this month.



Changing Structure of Euro league - 3 Proposals for 2006

There are three principal difficulties for clubs within the current league format
· Travel costs over the season are too high for many clubs
· Teams want the maximum amount of playing time when they travel to a tournament
· The standard of teams can differ greatly between the top 5 clubs and the lower ranking clubs (men’s league). This does not help the new teams develop and may result in them being discouraging them.

Below are three proposals which attempt to look at the league in a different way and which may improve and develop the league.
Note these current proposals concentrate on the football league only as the hurling sub committee have expressed a desire to keep hurling separate.
Also all these proposals give examples of who may host and on which dates these are examples other clubs not listed here may host.
Clubs should rank these proposals 1 to 3 (1 being their preferred option) to indicate their preference or better which option clubs feel is best for the league and all clubs in Europe.

Proposal A

A Two division men’s league based on each teams 2005-league position and incorporating ladies football.

If we look at the men’s league standings 2 things are clear
· The top 5 teams participated in a total of 31 tournaments
· The next 15 teams participated in a total of 30 tournaments
Under the above proposal
Division 1 would consist of the top 5 teams playing each other over 5 rounds, taking each clubs best 4 results to calculate final standings
(Rennes, Paris, Munich, Luxembourg and The Hague)

Division 2 would consist of the remaining 15 teams playing each other over 6 rounds, taking each clubs best 4 results to calculate final standings
Ladies would consist of the best 5 results from 7 rounds. The ladies rounds would be organized in the cities where ladies teams are based at the same venues and dates as the men’s rounds.
Nations Cup
A separate nations cup ladies men’s and hurling would be organized mid season
Where teams compete on a Nations basis

Example of Rounds
Below is an example of who may host rounds it could be other clubs hosting
Men’s Division 1 Rennes late March
Ladies and Men’s Division 2 Guernsey April
Ladies and Men’s Division 1 Luxembourg May
Men’s division 2 Bruxelles May
Nations Cup Ladies, men’s football and Hurling Budapest Early June
Ladies and Men’s Division 2 Madrid Late June
Ladies and Men’s Division 1 Munich July
Men’s Division 2 Copenhagen August
Ladies and Men’s Division 2 Amsterdam early September
Ladies and Men’s Division 1 Paris late September
Ladies and Men’s Division 1 Hague October
Men’s Division 2 Maastricht October
Non-league Invitation tournament Barcelona November


At season end the top team in division 2 would be promoted to division 1. There would be no demotion for the first two years to bring top tier to 7 teams.

Positive Benefits of above
·Teams travel less, 4 or 5 times instead of 6 or 7.
·Men’s teams would play against similar level competition
·The second strand of teams would have a realistic goal to win the division 2 title
·Games could be longer, it is assumed that not all division 2 teams would go to all rounds
·Nations cup would bring the whole European GAA family together at mid season
·We could facilitate the presence of local youth teams at tournaments, as there would be fewer teams to manage.

·Included is a non-league invitation tournament at season end where junior teams from Ireland could play a selection of European teams, this could be combined with our annual convention.

Concerns
·The Sponsor benefits of attracting up to 150 players to a tournament would possibly be gone for some rounds but not all.
·No major other concerns clubs need to be open to change and the proposal would need the buy in of the vast majority of clubs

Proposal B

Men’s teams qualify regionally to determine whom they play in the final stages of the Euro league.

Below is one such proposal dividing Europe into 4 regions
A 7 round ladies competition, where best 5 results count for final standings, is integrated into the model.

Region 1 Spain and Portugal

Barcelona
Madrid
Costa Del Sol
Bilbao

Region 2 France and Channel Islands
Paris
Rennes
Guernesey
Brest
Other Breton teams

Region 3 Germany Denmark and Eastern Europe
Munich
Vienna
Budapest
Copenhagen *
rest of Germany and Eastern Europe

Region 4 Benelux
Luxemburg
Den Haag
Amsterdam
Maastricht
Groningen
Bruxelles


Note on Regions
*Copenhagen could effectively choose to belong to region 3 or region 4
In this plan I have placed Copenhagen in region 3

A GAC officer would manage the dates and competitions in each region

First Stage of competition
Each region would play a series of 3 qualification rounds between March and June

Note these regional rounds could be on separate dates, however as different clubs would be playing in different regions it would not be a problem if regional tournaments were on the same dates.

It would be the job of the regional GAC officer to ensure that the rounds are completed by end June or early July.

The Finals/Second Stage of competition

Winning Teams and Runners up in each region
Between August and November the winning team and runners up* in each of the regions would play a 4 round league (one round in each region) to determine The European Cup Champions. Each team would take its best three results over these rounds to determine the European champion.


Teams who were not winners or Runners up regionally

Between August and November the remaining teams in each region and runners up * would compete on the same dates and venues for the title of European Shield champions. Each team would take best three results over these rounds to determine European shield champions.

* Runners up regionally could be given the option to chose to play in shield if preferred over cup however they would have to state their preference at the outset of the second stage.

All European teams could potentially tender to host one of these 4 rounds at the start of the season; otherwise it could be the winners in each Region who host.

Integrating Ladies Rounds
The ladies committee would choose 7 dates of both regional and the second stage dates
To qualify as ladies rounds. Each ladies team would take the best 5 results over these 7 rounds to determine Ladies champion

Like Proposal A, a separate Nations cup would be organized mid season

Below is an example of who may host rounds it could be other clubs

Example of Rounds

Regional Rounds 1 March/April
Bilbao
Rennes (also Ladies Round)
Vienna
Luxembourg

Regional Round 2 April/May
Madrid
Guernsey (also Ladies Round)
Copenhagen
Maastricht

Regional Round 3 May / June
Marbella
Paris
Munich
Amsterdam (also Ladies Round)

June/July
Nations Cup Ladies and Men’s football and Hurling Budapest


August , September, October, November

Euro league Rounds
Round 1 Munich (Ladies Round)
Round 2 Paris (Ladies Round)
Round 3 Barcelona (Ladies Round)
Round 4 The Hague (Ladies Round)


Positive Benefits of above
· The proposal would be good for the regions better for emerging and young clubs as teams have the option to compete only at regional level should they prefer to
· Men’s teams would play against similar level competition at second stage
· Second strand of teams would have a realistic goal to win Shield title
· Games could be longer at both regional and non regional tournaments
· Travel costs would decrease for most clubs
· Nations cup would bring the whole European GAA Family together at mid season
· We could facilitate the presence of local youth teams at tournaments as thee would be less teams to manage.
· Logistically regional rounds would be easier to manage and organize than current
Rounds therefore a chance for emerging teams to host.


Concerns
We would probably have to train referees for regional rounds it may be unrealistic to expect Croke park to send 16 referees for Euro league football.
The Sponsor benefits of attracting up to 150 players to a tournament would be
gone for many rounds.

Proposal C

Same format as 2005 with some small modifications

This Proposal would maintain the current format a total of 9 rounds and 1 Nations Cup

Men’s Rounds would be best 5 from 9
Ladies Rounds would be best 5 from 7

Important Rule Change
Two of the top 5 league finishers in 2005 both men’s and ladies would have to be present in order for top points to be distributed.
If the above is not the case points would start at 16 downwards instead of 25 downwards

A separate shield competition would be held at each tournament for teams not getting to the final or Semi final, points could be allocated separately and there could be a shield champion at season end. A team could take their best 5 shield results over the year to be shield champion.
Example of Rounds
Below is an example of who may host rounds it could be other clubs hosting
Men’s and ladies Round Rennes late March
Men’s and ladies Round Guernsey April
Men’s and ladies Round Luxembourg May
Nations Cup Ladies, men’s football and Hurling Budapest Early June
Men’s Round Madrid Late June
Men’s and ladies Round Munich July
Men’s Round Copenhagen August
Men’s and ladies Round Amsterdam early September
Men’s and ladies Round Paris late September
Men’s and ladies Round Hague October
Non-league Invitation tournament Barcelona November


Positive Benefits of above
· System we know how to run and to a certain extent works
· Teams would have a wide choice of tournaments to go to
· Shield points would give second tier teams a goal at tournaments
· Travel costs would decrease a little (best 5 to win)
· The new rule on points distribution would ensure no “easy points”
· Good for club sponsors as large numbers converge on one city on one weekend

Concerns
· Does not solve all concerns on teams of different standards playing each other and game length would be difficult to increase
· Would be difficult to facilitate youth games at tournaments