Issue 22 - Football Beyond Borders

Is La Liga about to cross the last sacred line in league football?

Barcelona and Villarreal could meet this December… in Miami. For decades, domestic league matches have been rooted in their home countries but this proposal rips that tradition out by the roots. It’s a move that promises big money, louder headlines, and a fierce backlash from fans and federations alike. Issue 22. Go.

An International Mission

Although the Premier League has many ills, the fact that it (for now) has not flirted with the idea of playing any of its games outside of the UK should be commended - 39th game idea overlooked of course.

Admittedly the competition has dipped its toe in the water with first the Premier League Asia Trophy and then the Summer Series across the pond but these have been nothing more than pre-season revenue earners for those involved.

380 games per season, the perfect balance of home and away for each and competition integrity intact. The top tier of English football is far from perfect, but at least the location of its fixtures are.

However, the equlibrium that is found in England is not something that holds much balance across the continent and with the announcement that Barcelona and Villarreal are set to face each other in Miami in December, this first drip could lead to a tidal wave.

Breaking The Dam

A drip that sees La Liga aim to be the first major European league to stage a league fixture outside of its own borders and although it already sees a four-team Super Cup held in Saudi Arabia, it also has previously staged 380 league games on home soil.

The same number in Italy and only slightly less in France and Germany because their respective Ligue 1 and Bundesliga competitions have 18 clubs rather than the 20 found across the other big five leagues.

But with the news Barcelona and Villarreal are set to fly across the Atlantic Ocean and stage a La Liga encounter before the end of the year, one of the last sacrosanct ideals of league football looks to be sold to the highest bidder.

Those with decent enough memories will remember that we have almost been here before and with Barcelona and Girona aiming to stage their own stateside encounter at the end of the last decade, they were foiled by a large overiding consensus movement.

A consensus of governing bodies, fans and other clubs that thought this was not a good idea. Which means if it was no back in 2018. why is it waiting FIFA signoff before it comes yes in 2025?

Mainly two reasons

1) A court case between FIFA and Relevant Sports in 2024 left the door ajar for such a switch.

2) The gap between the Premier League and La Liga has got much bigger.

With the Premier League’s finances becoming that of a runaway train compared to its Spanish counterpart, La Liga president Javier Tebas needs to think outside the box or in this case, think outside his own borders.

If this can be a vehicle that brings in extra revenue to Spanish football and helps narrow the gap in terms of revenue and then performance, the switch of league games to foreign shores will be seen as a necessary evil in all of this.

Of course, this raises all manner of questions and one of the first will be whether this impact the integrity of the competition. Villarreal having to give up a home fixture to play elsewhere, are they at a disadvantage in terms of their league campaign.

One could argue that pitting them against Barcelona either balances things closer to them in terms of potential outcome and therefore, it is actually the Catalan outfit at a slight disadvantage or it just confirms the away win that its expected to be.

If it is the latter then I guess it could be measured as a case of nothing ventured, nothing gained but how often would this venture take place per season? Would another be scheduled in the second half of the 2025/26 season. Does that become four in 2026/27.

While there is absolutely no doubt that other continental European leagues are going to want their own international payday. AC Milan are already awaiting permission to play in Australia. PSG would be in Qatar in no time at all given half the chance.

As always in discussion of this type, there is always the question regarding the fans and if you are Villarreal fan, following the Yellow Submarine in international waters may be worth your time.

Receiving Hush Money

With the announcement that any season ticket holder who wants to go, will get a free flight and match ticket. Why would you not go? With roughly 17,000 season ticket holders, any outlay for the club can easily be absorbed by a fee from a Miami showing.

The fact that this is nothing more than bribery wrapped up in a neat bow means that any potential pushback from Villarreal supporters has been cut off at its knees - even if there was pushback, they would be able to sell the tickets to Miami natives anyway.

Whatever happens, the Premier League will be watching with interest. Rather let someone else attempt to break the walls down of league football as we have known it for the best part of 100 years or more than be bold enough to risk it themselves.

As we saw with Richard Scudamore’s 39th game idea nearly 20 years ago, the pushback then was enormous and if the idea for English games was floated again, you could imagine the pushback to be just as big.

However, there is a one particular fly in the ointment and with 11 clubs currently in the grip of American owners and others with international interests, any decision may soon be voted through at boardroom level without any fan consideration.

If La Liga think they can plenty of riches by going abroad, the Premier League could dwarf that further. For Miami think Riyadh and think a far greater price for any tickets being sold.

As with many things in modern football once the genie is out of the bottle, it is almost impossible to put it back in. La Liga have been granted three wishes, the first is to see Villarreal play Barcelona in Miami.

Listen To The Sister Podcast

Real Football Cast - Season 8 Episode 1

The Real Football Cast returns for its eighth season and that means Dan (me) is once again throwing out the biggest questions of the footballing week.

On the otherside is Stuart who looks back on an action packed Community Shield and plenty more.

Jack Is Back

All the transfer focus on Merseyside has been on the red half of Stanley Park, the blue half have been quietly going about theirs.

With the quintet of Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Charly Alcaraz, Thierno Barry, Mark Travers and Adam Aznou already signed, arguably their biggest summer capture has just arrived and it comes in the shape of Jack Grealish.

A loan for the Manchester City forward has been completed and with this being a World Cup season this could be one of those moves that ends being rather beneficial to a number of parties.

Whether this is a soft goodbye out of the Etihad is something that will be eventually answered but at least a switch to Everton’s new surroundings gives the 29-year-old the chance to get regular minutes under his belt.

Finding His Place

With Everton being short when it comes to creative options, there is no doubt that manager David Moyes will look to build the team around the former Aston Villa starlet.

Not only will Grealish be tasked with scoring goals himself but he will also be asked to serve as the pipeline for new forward Thierno Barry and therefore, manager Moyes may have a slight dilemma on his hands.

Do you play a player of Grealish’s ilk in the number 10 role or do you play him in the wide forward role that won him all manner of silverware at the Etihad. Then again, with Abdoulaye Doucoure saying goodbye, Everton’s new signing may drop deeper.

That headache is above my pay grade and a code that Moyes has to uncrack and in fairness to him, he will need to uncrack it rather quickly. The financials are rather eye-watering in terms of securing Grealish, enough to ward Tottenham off from signing.

If Everton’s new number 18 can perform to his best ability he could play his way back into World Cup reckoning. If he fails to deliver, it may end up being another costly experiment gone wrong for the Toffees. We will soon find out if he ends up in a sticky situation.

The Filter Five

Five football ice blocks to break the heatwave

Morata Money Laundering

Alvaro Morata’s loan move to Galatasaray has already ended after the Spaniard claimed promises were broken after his recent switch from AC Milan. The 32-year-old goes back to the San Siro briefly before switching to fellow Serie A outfit Como.

But something is not right when you look at his career path:

Follow the money they say. Surely you just have to follow Morata and you will find it anyway.

Mediators At Morecambe

According to Jason Whittingham, a mediation between himself and the Panjab Warriors is set to take place on Wednesday. Then again, the same process was meant to take place last week and the sale of the club was meant to happen back in May.

The statements are not worth the paper they are printed on. Then again, Morecambe have no money at all. Do not be surprised if there is another counter statement from the Shrimpers’ hopeful buyers saying that Whittingham never turned up.

Time continues to run out for the National League outfit.

Slotting Right In

Maybe Liverpool’s Community Shield defeat has prompted Arne Slot into the need for further business between now and the end of the season. The Alexsander Isak saga drags on but another defender could soon be on his way to Anfield.

If they can capture Marc Guehi before the end of the month for £35m-£40m that would be an incredible bit of business considering they sold Jarrell Quansah to Bayer Leverkusen for the same amount. Isak or no Isak, that might just clinch a title defence already.

Bournemouth Shipping Out

If you were a Bournemouth supporter 12 months ago and were told that three of your back for would be sold to Real Madrid, Liverpool and PSG respectively you would have every right to laugh at such a preposterous comment.

Of course, that comment is as true as any other and with Illia Zabarnyi completing his £55m move to PSG, Bournemouth have raised somewhere in the region of £150m for three sales. They may be cash rich but how much damage will this do long-term?

The Hollywood Duo

Wrexham and Birmingham began life in the Championship last weekend and they were both caught out by late drama. Twice in the case of the former as they threw away three points at Southampton, just the once in the case of the latter as they were foiled at home.

Birmingham were certainly lively at home to Ipswich and were it not for a dodgy penalty decision against them late on, they would have got the better of the Tractor Boys. A rude awakening for both clubs perhaps. One down, only 45 league games left to go.

Admin

Right, that’s the end of issue 22 as we edge closer to a new Premier League season

If you liked issue 22, tell a friend. If you didn’t like issue 22 don’t.

Also, continual feedback is certainly going to help drive this forward.

Feel free to email me to tell me what you like and what you did not.

[email protected]

Issue 22 will be out on Friday August 15th

Thanks for reading

Dan