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How to reset the domestic calendar

Fixing the international football calendar would be a great accomplishment, right?

Well, that’s what we thought when we did just that. But no. Some overly critical people thought that it was meaningless if we did not also fix the calendar for domestic leagues. They also thought our answer, “Let the leagues set their own damn calendars”, did not get to the heart of the matter.

After some thought, we now agree with them. We now agree that the heart of the matter is that domestic leagues cannot be trusted to set their own calendars. Therefore, it falls to us to do it for them. So we now present the domestic portion of the GoobNet International Timetable and Schedule for Advancing World Football and Unifying Leagues.

KEY RECOMMENDATIONS

Our solution depends upon the following things to make it work:

  • First division leagues must shorten their schedules to 30 matches. In most cases, that means that they must limit themselves to 16 teams.
  • The continental tournaments, such as the various Champions Leagues, the CONMEBOL Copa Libertadores, and the UEFA Europa League, all drop their group phases and revert to knockout tournaments. Furthermore, they are all held simultaneously, immediately after the conclusion of the domestic season.

THE SCHEDULE

Preseason for each league begins in late July or early August. This is shortly after the conclusion of that year’s international tournaments: the Men’s World Cup, the continental championships, the Confederations Cup, or any regional tournaments. Players competing in those tournaments will therefore have less of an offseason. We encourage those players to go on sabbaticals or Vision Quests as needed.

The season begins in the middle of August and continues through early April. We have 30 matchdays, including 28 on weekends and two during the week. [Although we show all dates on Wednesdays or Saturdays in the calendar below, leagues need not use only those dates; they should feel free to schedule matches on Sundays instead of Saturdays, for instance.]

We also provide eight midweek dates for domestic cup matches. Each nation, of course, is free to use more than that. In England, for instance, the FA Cup has eight normal rounds but several preliminary rounds before that involving lower league clubs.

CONTINENTAL TOURNAMENTS

The continental tournaments, as we mentioned, are all held at the same time, immediately after the domestic season. As a result, they effectively become playoffs.

The seven weeks provide enough matchdays for a 128 team elimination tournament. However, that would be a crowded schedule, and so we are hoping that confederations will limit the number of participating teams accordingly. Here are our suggestions.

UEFA

The new UEFA Champions League should be a league of champions, as it originally was. There are 54 member associations of UEFA, but Liechtenstein do not have a league. Thus, we have 53 league champions; adding the defending champion gives us a total field of 54 clubs. The champions of the ten highest ranked nations in the UEFA coefficients receive automatic byes to the round of 32, and the other 44 play off in the first round.

The new UEFA Europa League should revert to the name UEFA Cup, as it is returning to an elimination tournament. Two teams from each nation may enter: the second placed team in the league and the domestic cup winner. [Liechtenstein may enter its two cup finalists instead.] Including the defending champion, we have a total of 109 clubs, so 19 clubs get first round byes: the teams from the nine highest ranked nations, and the cup champion from the tenth ranked nation.

CONMEBOL

Currently, 38 clubs participate in the Copa Libertadores, including the team that won the previous year’s Copa Sudamericana. Twelve of them play off in the first round, and the remaining 26 receive byes into the round of 32.

The Copa Sudamericana is already played in a knockout format, so no changes are required.

CAF

The CAF club competitions should be arranged in a similar fashion to those in UEFA: 56 domestic champions plus the defending champion in the CAF Champions League; 56 domestic second placed teams, 56 cup winners, and the defending champion in the CAF Confederation Cup.

AFC

The AFC may continue to play three tournaments: the AFC Champions League for clubs from the first tier of nations, the AFC Cup for the second tier, and the AFC President’s Cup for the third tier. Of course, these must be converted to knockout tournaments.

However, we recommend converting to a format similar to those to be employed by UEFA and CAF: champions of the 47 member nations in the AFC Champions League, with cup winners and second placed teams in the AFC Cup.

CONCACAF

The CONCACAF Champions League currently has 24 participants: 21 from North American and Central American nations and three from the Caribbean. The Caribbean participants are determined in the annual Caribbean Football Union Club Championship, which may be held in the first two weeks of the continental championship period.

After the Caribbean matches complete, the CONCACAF elimination tournament continues. CONCACAF Champions League participants are currently divided into three pots: under this system, the first round serieses would each be between a Pot B and Pot C team, whilst the Pot A teams receive byes into the round of 16.

OFC

The OFC Champions League is currently played with twelve teams: two from New Zealand and one from each other OFC member nation. We recommend having eight teams play off in the first round, with four byed teams joining the winners in the quarterfinals.

PROPOSED CALENDAR

Below is how our proposed calendar would look for the 2014-6 seasons.

CLUB DATES
01League date
01Cup date
01Continental tournament date
INTERNATIONAL DATES
01Friendly date
01Qualifier date
01Release period for international tournaments
01International tournaments
AUG 2014
MTWTFSS
    010203
04050607080910
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728293031
SEP 2014
MTWTFSS
01020304050607
08091011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
2930     
OCT 2014
MTWTFSS
  0102030405
06070809101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
2728293031  
NOV 2014
MTWTFSS
     0102
03040506070809
10111213141516
17181920212223
24252627282930
DEC 2014
MTWTFSS
01020304050607
08091011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
293031    
JAN 2015
MTWTFSS
   01020304
05060708091011
12131415161718
19202122232425
262728293031 
FEB 2015
MTWTFSS
      01
02030405060708
09101112131415
16171819202122
232425262728 
MAR 2015
MTWTFSS
      01
02030405060708
09101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
3031     
APR 2015
MTWTFSS
  0102030405
06070809101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
27282930   
MAY 2015
MTWTFSS
    010203
04050607080910
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728293031
JUN 2015
MTWTFSS
01020304050607
08091011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
2930     
JUL 2015
MTWTFSS
  0102030405
06070809101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
2728293031  
AUG 2015
MTWTFSS
     0102
03040506070809
10111213141516
17181920212223
24252627282930
31      
SEP 2015
MTWTFSS
 010203040506
07080910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
282930    
OCT 2015
MTWTFSS
   01020304
05060708091011
12131415161718
19202122232425
262728293031 
NOV 2015
MTWTFSS
      01
02030405060708
09101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
30      
DEC 2015
MTWTFSS
 010203040506
07080910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
28293031   
JAN 2016
MTWTFSS
    010203
04050607080910
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728293031
FEB 2016
MTWTFSS
01020304050607
08091011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
29      
MAR 2016
MTWTFSS
 010203040506
07080910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
28293031   
APR 2016
MTWTFSS
    010203
04050607080910
11121314151617
18192021222324
252627282930 
MAY 2016
MTWTFSS
      01
02030405060708
09101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
3031     
JUN 2016
MTWTFSS
  0102030405
06070809101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
27282930   
JUL 2016
MTWTFSS
    010203
04050607080910
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728293031

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