A play off match should be commissioned. Have it as part of the 'qualifying' round, or something. Have it in mid August. 4th vs Chelsea, winner progresses to the CL proper. Therefore Chelsea still technically get chance to compete in competition and 4th get a shot at it as they would.
As an arsenal fan I would be gutted if we ended up losing a place due to Chelsea winning it but at the same time qualifying as champions is much more legitimate than finishing 4th so I would see it as a fair call.
I would be almost as gutted for Newcastle as I would be for us as they have been awesome and I want to see their team/squad grow and move forward rather than their new stars leaving (which may happen, maybe not but it is a risk).
"Traditional method!" Previous winners have always qualified for the next seasons champions league, regardless of league position. In 1981 Liverpool finished 5th in the league, and won the competition, entering it in the next season.
Qualifying by winning it the previous season is the "traditional method."
The Champions League didn't exist in 1981! It was called the European Cup,and only the CHAMPIONS from each country were allowed to enter it,so giving the winners a place the following season was obvious,otherwise you'd hardly ever have had the winners defending it.
No doubt someone can tell us how many times the European Cup was won by a team that won its domestic league in the same season.
After the Champions League revamp the winners weren't allowed a place the following season if they didn't qualify through their domestic league. It was only when Liverpool won it and finished fifth that Uefa changed the rules to what we have now,after Liverpool argued their right to defend the trophy.
No,not always,those are the rules they bought in AFTER Liverpool were allowed to defend the trophy despite not qualifying through the league. We effectively had an extra place with five English teams in the tournament that year,so they bought in the current rules to prevent the situation from happening again.
Here is a BBC sport archive page confirming that Liverpool did not have automatic entry to the following season's tournament when they won the Champions League but finished outside of the qualification places in the Premier League,and that Uefa changed the rules to let them in.
Uefa were caught out because,since the expansion of the tournament to include more than one club from a specific country,the winner had generally qualified through league position for the following years tournament. One exception to this was in 2000,when Real Madrid won but finished outside the qualification positions. In that instance Real Zaragoza,who finished fourth in the Spanish league,were demoted to the Uefa Cup-which is actually what happens now. Quite why Uefa decided to admit five English teams rather than drop the fourth-placed English team into the Uefa Cup is unclear,but they then confirmed the rules as being the ones we have now,namely that the winner will be allowed entry the following year even if they haven't qualified through their league position.
OK I know the Champions League didn't exist in 1981, but its really a bit of nitpicking. Its still the competition to decide who is the European Champions.
UEFAs own access list does state that TH (title holders) are given a SEPERATE place in the group stages (and it has for as long as I have had the internet since about 1999.)
So UEFAs own tables didn't make it clear. I think they let 5 English clubs in because the FA had already notimated the top 4, and as they had already been notimated by the FA, they felt they couldn't go against that, but would be embrassed if they didn't have their own champions, in their own competition.
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I would be almost as gutted for Newcastle as I would be for us as they have been awesome and I want to see their team/squad grow and move forward rather than their new stars leaving (which may happen, maybe not but it is a risk).
The Champions League didn't exist in 1981! It was called the European Cup,and only the CHAMPIONS from each country were allowed to enter it,so giving the winners a place the following season was obvious,otherwise you'd hardly ever have had the winners defending it.
No doubt someone can tell us how many times the European Cup was won by a team that won its domestic league in the same season.
After the Champions League revamp the winners weren't allowed a place the following season if they didn't qualify through their domestic league. It was only when Liverpool won it and finished fifth that Uefa changed the rules to what we have now,after Liverpool argued their right to defend the trophy.
Go to UEFAs own website, and look at the access list! It clearly states TH (Title Holders) in a seperate box, in the group stage.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/l/liverpool/4613695.stm.
Uefa were caught out because,since the expansion of the tournament to include more than one club from a specific country,the winner had generally qualified through league position for the following years tournament. One exception to this was in 2000,when Real Madrid won but finished outside the qualification positions. In that instance Real Zaragoza,who finished fourth in the Spanish league,were demoted to the Uefa Cup-which is actually what happens now. Quite why Uefa decided to admit five English teams rather than drop the fourth-placed English team into the Uefa Cup is unclear,but they then confirmed the rules as being the ones we have now,namely that the winner will be allowed entry the following year even if they haven't qualified through their league position.
UEFAs own access list does state that TH (title holders) are given a SEPERATE place in the group stages (and it has for as long as I have had the internet since about 1999.)
So UEFAs own tables didn't make it clear. I think they let 5 English clubs in because the FA had already notimated the top 4, and as they had already been notimated by the FA, they felt they couldn't go against that, but would be embrassed if they didn't have their own champions, in their own competition.