Uefa consider new European club competition below Champions League and Europa League from 2021

While the thought of a third tier for European football may well horrify any fans who have watched their side slog through the turgid early stages of the Europa League, the prospect of a sub-Europa competition just got a whole lot more real.

According to Bild, at a meeting of football bureaucrats from across the continent ahead of the Champions League draw on Thursday evening, it was decided that a third tier of European football could be launched from 2021 onwards. The Associated Press reported way back in 2015 that another continental club competition was on the cards, and it seems that Uefa have taken the idea and are ready to run with it.

The new competition, currently without a name, would reportedly consist of 32 teams from smaller domestic leagues whose clubs rarely qualify for the Europa League group stages. The idea is that this would improve the quality of the Europa League, which would be reduced from 48 participant clubs to 32 rather than being increased to 64 as had previously been suggested.

Analysis

This would, in fairness, make the Europa League a lot more maneagable, even if the quality of football offered by a European third-tier will inevitably be called into question. The sheer number of fixtures involved, especially for teams who have to go through qualifying, has been one of the main complaints levelled at the Europa and has led some clubs to treat the competition as an unwanted burden.

Speaking to the AP back in 2015, Scottish Football Association chief executive Stewart Regan said that a new competition would also allow teams to “maintain European football throughout the autumn and perhaps into the new year”.

With considerable football fatigue among supporters already, that may not be a universally attractive selling point. If the new competition helps to make the Europa League a more enjoyable experience, however, it could well be a good thing.