See, here’s something that annoys me. Not that that takes much, mind. For years those of us who have been banging the drum for summer football in Scotland have constantly been told that it is impossible to implement, because it would clash with the major international tournaments every other year. And yet when is Aberdeen’s 2016/17 season going to start? The evening of June 30, in all likelihood running concurrently with the first of the four Euro 2016 quarter finals. I’d call that a bit of a clash, like. These are not just any games either; these are vitally important first qualifiers which must be overcome in order to retain the hope of accessing the glamour of the Europa League latter stages. In the event that they are selected, and their countries perform well enough to still be in the competition at the last-eight stage, there is a possibility that the Dons could be forced to go into that qualifying tie without Niall McGinn, Jonny Hayes and Adam Rooney; even at the very best, any players travelling to the European Championship will return to Pittodrie a mere week before the opening qualifier, and without having had any sort of close season whatsoever. Given that the Reds only just squeaked through that round at the start of this season with all three of those players in the team, this could present a most serious obstacle. Aberdeen aren’t alone in facing this possible headache. A number of clubs from the less-fashionable nations to qualify for the Euros, particularly Hungary and Slovakia, might find themselves praying for their homeland to be eliminated so they do not have to face crunch European ties minus star men. It is, sadly, just another example of how little these teams mean to those in charge of the game. The very fact that they are even being asked to play Europa League qualifiers in June is testament to that. They must start so early because they have so many rounds to fit in, with four two-legged ties to overcome (of increasing degrees of ultimately preposterous difficulty) before they are able to participate on the same stage as the winners of the Ukrainian Cup; then a further six group ties to successfully navigate if they are to be allowed to mingle with those teams who have already had a failed stab at the Champions League. Both the upcoming European Championships, at 51, and Europa League, slated for 399, will consist of a record-breaking number of matches, and to be honest I’m not entirely sure what the majority of them are supposed to add. Presumably they are intended as a means to make even more money, but most of the extra matches are, by definition, those between lesser teams who would not otherwise have been there, or mismatches between them and the cream of the crop, which surely cannot be moneyspinners. In the case of the Europa League in particular, it almost seems as if all these extra matches (266 before we even arrive at the group stage in mid-September) have been put in deliberately as a way of weeding out undesirables (such as Aberdeen). The eventual Europa League starting field of 48 will be drawn from a pool of 181 candidate clubs from qualifying, so if Uefa were at all interested in giving people a fair shake the qualifying process could be done in two rounds rather than four, throwing virtually everyone into the hat with only a small handful of first-round byes. It would mean smaller clubs (such as Aberdeen) could hold the real hope that, with just one big upset, they could find their way into the tournament proper, rather than the entirely pyrrhic victories which have been won in the last two campaigns. But for the time being, we will need to content ourselves with a summer wishing ill footballing fortune on our near neighbours for selfish reasons.
Just for a change.
Just for a change.
