Alert: Next decades Netherlands will be the new Hungary of Europe. Once great, but slipped into mediocrity.

Reportedly the future of 2 Crimean clubs is uncertain (they like to join Russia) ... nobody is planning an old fashioned landgrab over here though ... unlike big countries, UEFA encourages that small leagues unite ... besides the Benelux, the single market and Holland/Belgium relations in the broadest sense provide a very different context.

I'm confident that smaller countries will start merging their leagues ... Czech Republic + Slovakia (friendly neighbours), Balkan countries (some not so friendly), etc. ... Holland & Belgium could lead the way ... although sentimental nostalgia has its merits ... innovating with an eye on a brighter future looks like something the Dutch would at least consider ... yet can we even afford to waste opportunities for much longer? During EURO2000 we showed that we can unite forces and hold a great tournament ... maybe I'm biased but imao: the best (European) Championship that I've seen live ... uniting our leagues back then would have improved our chances to co-host the 2018 World Cup and with the extra revenue I doubt that our clubs would be less competitive ... some might not care about the UEFA coefficient but don't you think it's alarming that the average age of top talents who move abroad has been dropping ... Cruijff isn't the only one trying to hold onto them longer ... our clubs have been at it too ... yet fishes quickly outgrow a small pond.

Belgian clubs have been growing and most likely all clubs can show another season of operational profit (without transfer revenue) ... Anderlecht's budget is now much closer to that of Ajax ... the gap between Belgian & Dutch clubs is smaller than when Van Basten backed the BeNe League in 2006 ... still our clubs will have to keep working hard. Also the most recent BeNe League polls in Belgium show huge support ... I saw increases in Holland during the noughties but I'm unsure how you guys feel about it today.

Do you feel that hurdles exist which prevent the best clubs from competing in a joint league ... a solid format could be beneficial for all stakeholders (our women are showing us, it can be done) ... you can even get the formula right for the lower divisions or lead to smaller clubs joining forces, e.g. 1 big club in Antwerp that can challenge Feyenoord ... eventhough Belgian clubs are underdogs in the big matches, we don't fear the new (Holland/Belgium) rivalries that will be added, e.g. Ajax v Anderlecht ... and so on ... my only worry: can I buy a decent beer in Holland?

 

I wonder how the European spots would work out in a BeNe league. Would the two FAs agree to pool their European spots and award the CL spots to the top four regardless of which country they're from, or would the spots have to go to the top two Dutch and top two Belgian teams, or would EUFA take issue with the BeNe league having a total of 11 european spots and the same number of CL spots as the top three leagues?

 

As a Belgian, I'd even look forward to the start of a BeNe league that unites the 12 biggest clubs of Holland with 8 from Belgium ... actually when the Belgian G5 (Anderlecht, Club, Standard, Genk and Gent) feel that they stand a fair chance of avoiding relegation, they'd accept the challenge ... Rotterdam might be the 'common enemy' that pushes clubs from Antwerp closer together (probably the call of more money convinces those clubs to bury the hatchet). Also in an initial 'engagement period' Bene Orange and Bene Red could keep their current European spots ... unsure that an agreement with UEFA can be reached that allows for this to continue ... once you have 1 league, it would only be fair that the best teams are rewarded regardless of their nationality ... I'm confident that a solution for the European competitions will be found.

What we stand to gain could quickly change the minds of sceptics ... even VI pundits will find new ways to monetize a joint league without losing their disdain of Belgian football ... the BeNe league's main objective is to make our clubs more competitive (in Europe), to increase their revenue (better tv & commercial deals) and allowing them to offer our top talents reasons to stay. Here are a few quotes from a key sports economist in Belgium (S. Kesenne) ... I'm too lazy to translate but maybe google can do a half-decent job:

... De schuldige is hier de UEFA met haar foute organisatie van het Europese voetbal. Ook de plannen omtrent 'financial fair play' van de UEFA zullen weinig of niets veranderen aan de krachtverhoudingen in het Europese voetbal. Zelfs zonder de gulle buitenlandse geldschieters in de Premier League, en zonder de gulle Spaanse banken in La Liga, zouden de Belgische clubs er niet aan te pas komen in Europa. De televisierechten en de commerciële inkomsten van clubs in grote landen zoals Engeland of Spanje toren zo hoog uit boven deze inkomsten in de kleinere landen zoals België of Nederland, dat de jaarlijkse budgetten van Engelse en Spaanse clubs bijna het tienvoudige blijven van de budgetten van Belgische of Nederlandse topclubs.

... Op die manier verliezen de kleine landen uiteraard al hun topspelers aan de veel beter betalende topclubs in de grote landen, en is ook sportief concurreren met deze clubs onmogelijk geworden. Daarnaast is er nog de Champions League, die met haar ruime tv-inkomsten en sponsorgelden, en met haar prijzensysteem, de rijke clubs nog rijker maakt en de clubs in de kleine landen in de kou laat staan. De UEFA zou dat onding dus beter meteen opdoeken en vervangen door een volwaardige Europese topcompetitie.

... Om het evenwicht te herstellen, moet worden gekozen voor een liberalisering, niet alleen van de Europese spelersmarkt, maar ook van de Europese productmarkt van het voetbal. De piramidale structuur van het Europese voetbal, met onderaan de provinciale afdelingen en daarboven de nationale afdelingen, moet logischerwijs verder worden uitgebreid met Europese afdelingen, waarnaar clubs kunnen promoveren die hun nationale kampioenschap hebben gewonnen, en waaruit clubs degraderen die het Europees niet kunnen waarmaken. Op die manier zullen de topclubs in de kleine landen, die dan ook hun deel opstrijken van de ruime televisierechten en commerciële inkomsten van een Europese topcompetitie, weer kunnen meedingen met de Europese top.

... Een beperkte, maar zeer zinnige opstap naar zo'n volwaardig Europees voetbalkampioenschap is precies de BeNeliga, waarin de topclubs van België en Nederland aantreden, met promotie- en degradatiemogelijkheden van en naar de hoogste nationale afdelingen. Met de extra tv-rechten en sponsoringinkomsten in een ruimere BeNeliga met 27 miljoen inwoners zullen de Belgische en Nederlandse topclubs betere spelers kunnen aantrekken, en de concurrentie met de Europese top beter aankunnen. Een stevige duw in die richting zou wel eens kunnen komen van mediamagnaat Rupert Murdoch, die onlangs de tv-rechten van de Nederlandse eredivisie opkocht voor een totaal bedrag van 1 miljoen euro. Murdoch heeft zich al een fervent voorstander genoemd van een BeNeliga. Ook Anderlechtvoorzitter Roger Vanden Stock, Standardvoorzitter Roland Duchâtelet, en Adrie van Kraay van PSV zijn voorstanders. Roland Duchâtelet dreigt er zelfs mee de Belgische competitie te verlaten en zijn club in Frankrijk te laten meespelen, als niet snel werk gemaakt wordt van een BeNeliga. Feit is dat, in een open Europese markt en met de Europese concurrentieregels, een club niet kan worden belet om over de grenzen, binnen de EU, te gaan spelen. De volgende bom in het Europese voetbal, na het Bosman-arrest, zou dus wel eens het Duchâtelet-arrest kunnen worden. Ook nu weer blijft de voetbalwereld de Europese regels koppig negeren, tot ze weer het deksel hard op de neus krijgen, zoals in 1995.

 

That are nice words but what has Platini done so far during his presidency??

 

http://nos.nl/artikel/633702-sportbonden-gaan-kopje-onder.html

Including the KNVB

 

@Blondo

What's the situation in Belgium?

 

@Blondo

What's the situation in Belgium regarding membership levels and financial/sponsorships?

 

The KNVB will do just fine when orange fever hits ... maybe this summer red fever breaks out too ... those Belgian cities and villages that turned orange when our NT skipped a few trnys probably won't join your international fanbase this time round though.

Considering that for a long period before the current successful qualifying campaign things were bad ... we had lots of room to improve: ticket sales are up (500%), sponsorship revenue is up (38%), merchandising is through the roof and we again get that huge bonus for participation in the WC. Membership revenue is down because they lowered the tax + the same for the tax on tickets (clubs have to contribute less) ... instead the FA increased their expenditure for the Belgian competition (19%) while the NT got a much bigger boost (130%) and Wilmots' staff has been expanded. Even during the bad years our FA showed a profit from time to time ... losses were kept to a minimum 'thanks to' cuts and clubs helping out ... 2013 was a very good year ... more than the record breaking profit, the evolution of the KBVB's turnover is impressive ... 50% increase compared to 5 years ago and things are just getting started.

The KBVB also received a bit of exceptional revenue ... e.g. tricky Dicky had to pay damages for breach of contract ... our manager used to be paid a lot less than yours ... Advocaat did get a much better deal, yet that also meant the damages were much higher (Russia made sure he could afford it though) ... on the other hand Dick jumping ship probably is the reason why the KBVB didn't want Van Gaal to take over.

PS football is king ... in Belgian volleyball a 3rd top team (from Antwerp) has risen through the ranks partly due to the decline of football clubs in Antwerp ... still the revival of volleyball clubs and the NT can be shortlived without structural reform ... here's an article (in Dutch) about it ... a BeNe league, like in handball, could help ... but when they feel the presence of football, they'll struggle to draw a bit of the attention away from the king ... vying for a share of people's leisure time is very competitive ... there's a premium on the time of participants/players, volunteers, fans, etc.

 

Thank you. So the situation is much healthier is in the Netherlands, where the KNVB had to fire 50 people. Maybe Belgium in general is hit less hard by the economic downturn.

 

Oranje drops all the way to 15th spot on latest FIFA rankings

http://www.telegraaf.nl/telesport/voetbal/oranje/22493548/__FIFA__Oranje_zakt_vier_plekken__.html#

 

Why is USA worse? Take Robben out and they are better.

 

Those 50 jobs were cut in amateur football administration? The Belgian approach is probably less professional considering that the KBVB often depends on volunteers ... in any case I’d expect that the Belgians will commiserate with their counterparts in Holland.

For the KBVB the worst of the economic downturn coincided with missing out on the cashcows of the EUROs and WCs (from 2004 until the current campaign) ... I assume there wasn't much left to cut ... although Advocaat wasn’t happy with the decadence that the administrators surrounded themselves with while the only “luxury” that he received was a leaking fridge. Execs can invest more wisely than in their own fancy offices ... have to thank Dick for not being too friendly with the bigwigs.

Now we're back to a level where the only gains that can be made depend on results (performance on the pitch) ... I'd be amazed if the KNVB's turnover is lower than the KBVB's and probably the KNVB will always have a bigger budget regardless of results on the pitch ... yet we’re both dwarved by the likes of Germany and Brazil (like the Germans, they can also afford a state-of-the-art base) ... still most FAs have to manage with less than we do while the cashcows (major tournaments) are beyond their reach.

PS a derby of the low countries has always been very lucrative ... instead of scheduling friendlies with China & Indonesia, our derby can also have a positive impact on our FIFA ranking ... in the 70s and 80s Holland & Belgium regularly scheduled a derby ... also in the 90s and noughties these matches weren’t a rare occasion ... however in this decade, we only faced off once in 2012 ... the KNVB could boost revenue by scheduling a derby in the second half of this decade ... from 2018 onwards UEFA will have more control over which opponents we face in friendlies ... most likely a derby of the low countries won’t happen as often in the Nations League as it has in past decades.

 

www.football-rankings.info might look ugly but it contains reliable info ... Ed has tried to warn the KNVB in the past (IIRC also about the Asia friendlies that were harmful to Holland's UEFA ranking regardless of the result) ... seeing that he's Dutch, Oranje is often on his mind ... a few relevant quotes:
...
Others will drop to their worst ever ranking in the last couple of years:
Netherlands (15 - 15 in July 2002) - 11 years and 9 months
...
Chile will be ranked above Netherlands for the first time in the last 15 years and 11 months.
USA will be ranked above Netherlands for the first time in the last 11 years and 5 months.
Greece will be ranked above Netherlands for the first time in the last 5 years and 10 months.
...
A heavy drop for the Netherlands because of devaluation of past results, mainly the points-loaded WC-qualifiers of March 2013 and the EURO-qualifiers of March 2011.
But it coincides with average to very disappointing displays in their last friendlies against France, Colombia and Japan. No qualifiers in the near future, so a further drop could well be expected. A very good performance at the World Cup is mandatory to regain their position in the top 10.

 

Meh, I'm not worried. Holland is just gonna go through a bad period, thats all. Eventually we'll be a top 3 country again. It might take 10 to 15 years though

 

I agree that Holland will bounce back ... still it seems as if the KNVB is looking to reach rock bottom asap ... the results of Brazil2014 (Qs + final event), France2016 (Qs + final event) and Russia2018 (Qs only) have gained in importance as they'll be used to calculate Holland's coefficient for the UNL (and until they're outdated in the upcoming draws for Qs and final events) ... so far the KNVB isn't showing that they're aware of the risks of a drop in the rankings today ... opting for lucrative friendlies while knowing that Holland will lose points even when winning those matches = in Brazil, the KNVB could end up losing money (the WC is a bigger cashcow than a friendly in Asia).

Although the Asia trip was one of the reasons why the KNVB could show a profit (according to this article in Dutch) ... it was also one of the (avoidable) culprits that made Holland end up a few points short of overtaking Switzerland: missing out on a top seed in Brazil = Asia trip was too risky? In the group of Ecuador, Honduras & France: Holland would have had better chanches of winning the group and facing one of Argentina, Bosnia, Nigeria or Iran in the R16 ... still as things stand, I think Holland can reach the R16 together with Spain or Chile although Brazil could very well offer an early exit at that point ... the KNVB's objective of SFs or better seems overly optimistic (optimism is a moral duty though).

Looking for silver linings: defeating Spain means racking up the most points that you can possibly earn (WC final event + facing the No.1 in the ranking) ... a draw against Spain however is worth less than a win against a lowly ranked NT (which usually is a lot easier than a draw against Spain) ... so if Spain v Holland does end in a draw, you could earn more ranking points if Holland wins against Australia.

PS in a FIFA ranking without taking friendlies into account ... Holland, Italy & Chile would have earned a top seed while Colombia, Uruguay and Switzerland wouldn't have.

 

don't forget about maher vilhena van ginkel boëtius some good players just give it time

 

Maybe, but whenever it happens it is good to look at the foundations rights?

 

The blog is focused on providing information, not eye-candy. I'm a programmer, not a web designer

There's indeed a Dutch reader Ed, who often posts comments on my blog. However, I (Edgar) am Romanian.

 

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder: for some it might while for others it might not ... I did however say that your blog contains reliable info = no ifs or buts about it. I inadvertently gave you Mourinho praise while looking to heap full praise on you

Although you (Edgar) deserve to be credited ... (Dutch) Ed comes across as a guest or even co-blogger .... not only does he pop up often, he sometimes answers questions from other readers ... usually when Holland is involved ... regardless I admit that I made a mistake.

 

Yes, frustrating. Countries like that have 40-50 ppl employed for data analysis alone!

 

What's according to you the reason for that smaller gap?

Also, maybe I read the wrong things, but I thought the financial situation of some big Belgian clubs is rather precarious?
http://www.voetbalbelgie.be/nl/article.php?id=73321
http://sportmagazine.knack.be/sport...-exploitatieverlies/article-4000489452064.htm

 

Netherlands hasn't any good rivals any more it seems... E.g. rivalry with Germany was it its peak in the 70s to early 90s. Rivalry with Belgium faded after the 1985 qualifiers... Regardless of that, some sections of the populace do look down upon Belgium but at the same time there is natural sympathy. In 2002, when Netherlands did not qualify, something like 80% of the Dutch said in a NIPO poll that they have the most sympathy for Belgium (question was something like "now Netherlands hasn't qualified, who do you wish the best"). And when they bowed against Brazil the general reaction was not like 'good riddance' but surely one of disappointment, also at the state media. In any case; very certain the elimination was not received with applause and cheers. However, like they say: if it rains in Paris, it trickles down in Brussels...