Alternatives to Game 39.

Football may, at the end of the day, when all is said and done, taking all things into consideration, be a game of two halves, eleven men against eleven men, just a game, and a silly that only encourages ritualised prancing, but it is other stuff as well. It is a passion. From the slums and favellas of Rio to the painted houses of Buenos Aires, to the bazaars of North Africa, the ex tenement suburbs of London, there are literally millions, billions, of stoic fans addicted to soccer and intoxicated on its promise of excitement and the whiff of displaced glory. So when the head honchos over at the Premiership talk of a global game they ain't exaggerating. And this makes for big business in an age like this. Football is no more a colloquial expression, it is rather an international marketing phenomena. This is why an idea that truly maximises the games global appeal is such an appealing idea, tantalising, and not one without merit. Despite all this frontier crossing razzamataz there are some things you can't get away from. Football is built on local foundations that you can't fuck about with. But nothing will replace the drama of a local derby- be that River vs boca or Mersey Reds vs Mersey Blues. And the logic and symmetry of a league system is kind of sacrosanct. It was the disregard for this which made the Game 39 idea such a poor one; and why it was snubbed by the fans, and ultimately ridiculed by FIFA. This does not mean however that something similar couldn't and shouldn't happen.

In light of this, when all is said and done, at the end of the day, taking all things into consideration, Football Is not My God Football Overdose proposes somethings that the game surely has enough of already but that does not mean there isn't room for more. The ultimate dream of football after all is football every day, all year, 365 days of games forever. Another meaningless cup competition.

Let me float this up the flagpole then and see what sticks.

The Football Ryder Cup

Or inter-continental Cup- 8 teams from Europe and 8 from the Americas (that is both north and south) play off to decide which is the best footballing continent. The first four games are euro club vs american club (Barcelona vs River for example), the second four games are played between teams representing the best of the continent. Effectively Europe vs Americas. But, in order to ensure fairness and a degree of tactical complexity, at least three players from every club must play at least once in one the eight games. A Continental Captain must decide which clubs play in what order- and take the responsibility for coaching and selecting the continental teams. The contest can take place anywhere in the world. It would happen every year, in the summer, when there is not a European or World Cup.

In short this competition would have both partisan and international appeal, and would not fuck with any domestic arrangements. Complex it might be- but it surely has a lot more going for it than the Game 39 idea. And we would probably get to stick it to the yanks once in a while.

If in the unlikely event of this taking off this please remember where you read about it first....