[What If] A Catalonian League: How Strong Would It Be?

[JJ Mindset]

Face it. Talk of Catalonian separation has never died down completely. So, in the event that they actually split, how do you think a Catalonian league would fare in Europe?

To me, this would be the case where FCB would fare worse being in their own league than as part of Spain, even though the nationalists would never admit that in public. Then, there's the case of Espanyol. I don't know how the hell would a club named for the very idea of belonging in Spain would agree to being part of a league that's outside Spain. It would be very weird, indeed.

It would be like Cardiff City deciding that they'll be fully in the Welsh league, after all. Sure, they could come in and dominate the league immediately, but long run they'd lose the prestige of being part of a bigger, more stronger league (English Coca-Cola Championship), and with it the economic incentives of playing against English cities, as opposed to small Welsh villages. Same problem with Catalonia. Then there's the very tricky question of where the borders should be. The nationalists say that the Valencian Community and the Balearic Islands are part of their territory. I don't know if they'd get even those. History's a bit more complicated than that.

But I won't get into politics here. More than likely a Catalonian league would start off with just the Barcelona clubs (or just FCB if Espanyol refuses to join) and a bunch of small town clubs. From checking the Spanish league, after Barca and Espanyol, the next highest is Lleida (is Eibar Catalonian, BTW?), in the second division. After that, you have to go to the third and fourth divisions to find more Catalonian clubs. I would expect Lleida and Tarragona to be woefully unprepared to compete in a new league. Unless they can drag Valencia in, I don't see how it would work. Can a Catalonian league be strong in Europe? Would you include Valencia CF and Real Mallorca in the league? Why or why not? Would Espanyol be allowed to stay in the Spanish league in the event of separation? Why or why not?

[Johnlong]

Quite Simple,The Answer is NO.

Would fans Really pay to come see some crap team v Barca instead of Real Madrid ! lol

Would Ronaldinho and all barca class players stick around when they are playing crap clubs and also barca can't pay the wages because no tv company will pay any decent money to screen a catolonia league !

Same applies to most teams in catalonia.

[Quango]

(is Eibar Catalonian, BTW?)

I believe Eibar is Basque.

[dmar]

Yes, Eibar is Basque.

And what has been already said about an hypotetical catalan League is what I think. Too weak.

You can't include Valencia or Mallorca. The only ones who think that the Levante regions are part of Cataluña are extremist catalan nationalists... telling a guy from Valencia that his team should play in a catalan league is a sure way to piss him.

[markitos]

i don´t see anybody really interested in a catalonian league, neither do i see anybody imagine madrid playing without barca in a league.
in terms of strengths, i`d personally rank such a league a bit higher than the Dutch - in second division there are three teams at present: nástic, terrassa and Lleida. in the third there are some historical clubs as well: sabadell, girona, figueres,...
there is already a catalonian cup being played every year, with barca and espanyol participating. in the copa del rey this year, barca and espanyol got kicked out by other catalan clubs: la gramanet and terrassa...and all catalan clubs classified for next round (except for these two important ones), playing against teams like Valencia and Villarreal.

By the way, Espanyol isn´t "against catalunya". The club was founded as a local alternative to the "foreign" F.C. Barcelona, which was founded by a swiss and had mainly foreign players. Espanyol is as catalan as any other club in catalunya, although F.C.B. might be catalaníssimo.