Atlantic League (football) - 2000-2001 Proposals

2000-2001 Proposals

The first Atlantic League proposal was made by Peter Fossen and Harry van Raaij, chief executive officer and club president respectively at Dutch club PSV Eindhoven. Fearing that their club would be left behind in terms of financial revenue and ability to attract star players relative to those that play in the largest European national leagues, they contacted a number of other clubs, both in the Netherlands and abroad, with large fanbases, with the proposition that they secede from their existing league competitions and form an international competition with one another. A plan was drawn up for a league featuring clubs from the Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal and Scotland, plus a contingent from Scandinavian countries. Talks were held with AFC Ajax, Feyenoord, F.C. Porto, Rangers F.C. and Celtic F.C.; Celtic were particularly receptive of the idea. The league was slated to begin in 2002 at the earliest, following the conclusion of television rights contracts in the affected countries.

By 2001, Fossen had abandoned a parallel idea of setting up a completely Europe-wide league competition (the Euroleague) - he had forwarded this idea through the influential G-14 group of clubs, of which PSV was a member, but was forced to relent following opposition from clubs in the largest national leagues like England and Germany. He instead furthered his Atlantic League proposal, entering into discussions with UEFA's marketing director Lars-Christer Olsson with a project that now included the other Dutch and Scottish clubs contacted in the initial stage, plus S.L. Benfica and Sporting C.P. from Portugal's Liga Sagres, R.S.C. Anderlecht and Club Brugge K.V. from Belgium's Jupiler League, IFK Göteborg and AIK from Sweden's Allsvenskan, and Brøndby IF and F.C. Copenhagen from Denmark's SAS Ligaen. A system of promotion and relegation would be maintained, with the least successful clubs relegated back to their national top leagues to be replaced by that league's champions. Qualification for the existing European club competitions (the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup) would be available through the league.

With a target population of over 40 million in Atlantic League represented countries, and with a proposed average attendance of over 30,000, which would be the third largest of all European leagues, van Raaij hoped to secure a television contract comparable to that of the larger leagues. The Scottish Premier League (SPL) were actively involved in the negotiations, but other domestic leagues affected offered lucrative deals to clubs to remain in their national setup.

UEFA chief executive Gerhard Aigner accepted the need for action in preventing the disparity between the largest clubs and the would-be Atlantic League participants, but during a two-day summit in Nyon, Switzerland in February 2001, ultimately rejected the proposal. He instead proposed a revamp of the UEFA Cup competition to try to redress the balance. With meetings still on-going between the Atlantic League group that September, UEFA insisted that if they broke away from the governing body to set up the league, they would suffer from no longer being able to compete in Europe-wide competition such as the Champions League.