Richard Sutcliffe: Champions League play-off idea will challenge 'Big Four'

"THE League has just become the longest cup competition in the world – 44 games and we go out on an away goal."

So said Joe Royle in 1987 after his Oldham Athletic side had become the first to experience the gut-wrenching disappointment of a dramatic exit from the newly-introduced play-offs.

It was easy to feel sympathy for Royle, who had just watched the Latics knocked out at the semi-final stage on Boundary Park's plastic pitch. Keith Edwards had kept Leeds United's season alive with a last-minute goal to halve the home side's advantage on the day but, crucially, lock the aggregate scores at 2-2.

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To add to Royle's crushing sense of disappointment, the Latics had finished the regular Second Division season in third place – a position that 12 months earlier would have been enough to clinch automatic promotion to the top flight.

Almost a quarter-of-a-century on, however, and his then perfectly reasonable words now belong to a bygone age.

The play-offs have become such a familiar and exciting feature of the season that no one now questions the fairness of a system that can lead to the side finishing sixth going up at the expense of one that has earned 10 to 15 points more across 46 games.

At the end of a week when the possibility of a play-off being introduced to decide the fourth Champions League place in the English top flight has been floated, it is a point worth remembering.

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The idea was raised at a meeting of all 20 Premier League clubs this month, and may well be aired again at the next gathering in April.

Under the proposal, the top three teams would continue to be given automatic entry with the sides finishing between fourth and seventh then fighting it out via a play-off.

Understandably, the 'Big Four' of Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool are not exactly enamoured with the prospect. They have claimed the top four places in five of the last six seasons and see no reason to change, especially as failure to reach the Champions League group stage would leave a minimum 20m hole in their respective balance sheets.

However, as any Premier League vote requires a 14 to six majority to be passed then the remaining clubs may still be able to force the idea through.

Whether they should is, of course, the 20m question.

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In the 'yes' camp are those who, rightly, say Champions League qualification has become a closed shop.

Okay, this season the race for fourth place looks like stretching into May but can anyone wager with confidence that it won't be the existing 'Big Four' in situ come the end of May? I know I can't.

And to those who claim a play-off system would distort the Premier League, what do they think the Champions League and the untold millions that have poured into the coffers of the 'Big Four' over the years has done?

As for anyone insisting the league table should be the

be-all-and-end-all, there is one pertinent question: Should there really be that much glory attached to finishing fourth, a position that in an Olympics would not even be enough to earn a medal?

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The big risk of a play-off being introduced is that forcing through a change may split the English top flight – and move the possibility of a breakaway European League a step closer.

There are also dangers of allowing an ill-equipped club to compete for a place in the Champions League. If, for instance, Fulham had followed last season's seventh place by winning a play-off only to then lose in the Champions League qualifying round then English football's co-efficient would have been hit.

A country's co-efficient decides how many clubs can compete in the continent's flagship competition each year so the danger is fourth place could subsequently only be enough to qualify for the Europa League.

There is, therefore, plenty to consider.

The hope, however, is that those in charge of the top flight show they are not afraid to explore ways of bringing even more excitement to their competition just as the Football League did almost 25 years ago.