Gambrinus Liga off-season discussion and future thread

Thought I would begin a thread to discuss topics such as significant transfers, proposed changes to the league, and other topics that span across individual seasons.

To start, since the tremendous success (in terms of attendance, excitement, and media attention) of the Slovan Liberec - Viktoria Plzeň decisive showdown there has been a little bit of talk in the media about possibly implementing a playoff round to the Gambrinus Liga. I believe that the Belgian and Turkish leagues already have a form of playoff round, which would serve as the model for the Czech one (a group round robin, not to be confused with a MLS style playoff). Some details have to be worked out I imagine, but honestly I think it's a good idea. Gambrinus Liga is very uneven in quality and ambition, and I think it would really help the entire league to have more big matches between the clubs (such as Liberec and Plzeň) that have invested in improving in recent years (as opposed to clubs like Brno that... well... ).

This isn't the only proposal to shake up of Gambrinus Liga in recent years, as many believe the league is deteriorating (I'd argue that the quality has picked up the last couple of years, but attendance, etc. is still poor). I recall seeing two other ideas over the last 5 or so years.

One idea was to reduce the size of the first division, the idea being again to demote clubs that aren't being well run so that the average quality improves generating fan interest. I don't like this idea honestly, it never seemed to gain much traction and I doubt it could ever get approval from the clubs.

The other was far more interesting, but unlikely - merging the Gambrinus Liga and the Corgoň Liga (Slovakia 1. Liga). The proposal I saw was for as 12 Czech - 6 Slovak team combined league. This would allow the top clubs of each country to face a higher level of competition, and provide a larger domestic audience (and presumably more money). I actually kind of like this idea, even though I doubt it would be approved (for starters, the Czech clubs didn't seem too interested). The reason that I tentatively support this idea, is that there are some bigger/ambitious clubs in Slovakia that would add value (Slovan Bratislava, Trnava, Žilina). That said, I just don't see this happening (at least in the foreseeable future).

 

So there's an interesting situation that's made the 2. Liga promotion less clear cut than it seems. Ústí nad Labem's stadium is still not up to Gambrinus Liga licensing standards, and indeed they are currently seeking an exemption on appeal. This was also the case in the 2010/2011 season when they had to use (relatively) nearby Teplice's stadium.

If that were the case then 3rd place Sokolov would be next in line, but their stadium has no under-soil heating and inadequate lighting, so they may have trouble getting licensed... which would leave Brno, a team that is guaranteed a license. 2nd place Jihlava may have some issues too, but it seems like they've made a firm commitment to improvements that will help ensure them a license.

I still doubt this happens (although it looks more likely than I first thought), nor would I really favor it - I want Brno in the top league, but Ústí nad Labem won the 2. Liga and shouldn't be held out on a technicality (although, if they want to be a top level club they need to get to work on that stadium).

 

In addition to promotion, Brno took a small step towards hopefully returning to our true home.

• For most of its history, Brno played at Stadion za Lužánkami located just north of the heart of the city by a large park. It was a large stadium (50,000 seats) and when it didn't meet FIFA standards by the late 1990's it was deemed more cost effective to do (rather minimum) renovations to the smaller Srbská stadium in Královo Pole (a neighborhood in the northern part of Brno) where we play now. (Of interest perhaps to Canadian_Supporter that stadium was originally home of what became LeRK Brno, a club that merged with SK Prostějov in the 90's)
• Since that time, there has been a steady effort to reconstruct za Lužánkami, but money and property disputes have stood in the way. The current plan calls for a reconstructed 30,000 seat "national stadium" za Lužánkami.
• Basically, there are property disputes involving the driveways, parking lots, and sidewalks around the stadium. The city of Brno and a company called Czechcity both claim it. The new information in the article that I linked is that Brno won round 1 of the legal battle.

My take is that when the dust settles the property dispute will probably go in favor of the city. The stadium is currently dilapidated and increasingly overgrown, so there is certainly a desire on both the city and clubs part to do something about it. The biggest obstacle to overcome will ultimately be money. I agree with Karel Kroupa (a legendary player at Brno), who said that the plan should be modified from 30,000 to ~ 18,000, a modern 18,000 seat stadium would still be adequate attract national team matches to Brno and be more than ample for even the biggest league or Europe matches. Unless the FA wants to make a serious push for a Euro joint bid (most likely with Slovakia) there is no need for a 30,000 seat stadium in Brno (plus the government would have to commit some serious money). With the reduced cost of a smaller stadium, the stadium has a better chance of getting built, and sooner.

Btw, here's an artist rendering of the the new Brno stadium plan (at 30,000 seats):


Off the top of my head, I seem to recall that Ostrava and Hradec Králové also have new stadium plans. Ostrava's is having similar problems to Brno in that they will most likely need a considerable amount of public funds. HK is smaller (though the plans I saw look like a nice upgrade) and is being done with a combination of private and public funds, so I think construction either has begun or will soon.

 

You're welcome, and might I say that you've chose your Czech club wisely.

 

Ústí nad Labem will soon not have to worry about their stadium keeping them out of Gambrinus Liga anymore: City council approves stadium reconstruction.